Electrical problem

[Twisted_Steel]

This is for a friend. She has a 1996 Ranger that has the factory anti-theft on it. The other day she drove the truck, let it sit for 30 minutes or so and then she lost all power when trying to restart.
I went through the usual things over the phone with her such as having the battery checked/cleaning the posts, checking for loose grounds and corroded positive and negative battery cables, broken or corroded wires, blown fuses, etc.
I am going to her house monday after work to look it over and try to diagnose the problem. For you guys with the anti-theft accessory on your truck, has it ever caused your truck to lose power in this way?
From what she was told the anti-theft circuit is wired in with the fuel pump (which makes sense) so someone can't remove the anti-theft fuse and then steal the truck.
She really needs to get her truck going and she has offered to cook me dinner if I can. (She is a kick ass cook!)
So.. Help me to help her if any of you have heard of this problem before. She will thank you by feeding me!

Seriously,
Thanks in advance

 

[doorgunner]

I DO know that my aftermarket security has shut ALL power off to my truck twice----------once while driving at 60mph on the highway....same thing happened to my daughters vehicle last year...but we can remove the inline power-fuse on our aftermarket units without affecting the vehicle....

 

[snake]

When you say factory ant-theft, are you referring to the theft light that blinks in the cluster when the truck is off, the PATS system? All that does is read the key, and if it doesn't see the key properly shuts down the starter. The light will blink really fast in this case also. If so, they say having a lot of keys on your chain can screw it up, or maybe the key has gone bad? Also, if it has a performance chip, this will cause the problem as well, as it did to mine a few times. Took the chip out, put a programmer on it, no more problems. If it is something other than the PATS, forgive my stupidity...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If I use my non-chipped key in my '02 F-150 it will crank its little heart out but will not try to say a word. Dunno if it is the fuel or fire or both that it cuts but it will very well crank.

Some people have been known to remove the chip from their key and tape it near enough to the sensor to get picked up so they don't have to buy the expensive key... works great until someone tries to use a chipped key.

 

[RangerSVT]

Check the fuse for the ecm, also, check the eec relay. You can pull the ac blower relay to test...


SVT

 

[Dune Runner]

If it has an alarm on it you will need to hold the valet button under the dash while you hit the unlock button on the key fob. It sounds like it's in alarm mode and needs to be over ridden. I have had this happen on both my Mustang and my Explorer. Im assuming this truck has the alarm system. If it doesn't then it's a problem with the PATS or PCM.