Urgent PATS Question

[howarddleach@yahoo.com]

The chip in the key for my wife’s 2002 Ranger has quit working. Was going to replace the computer with two new matched keys, but notice that Ford states the keys also have to be matched to the instrument cluster. Why and how?

 

[adsm08]

If the key has stopped working and you are sure it is the key itself, there is no reason to replace the computer.

This is a security system, so being able to swap out a few parts that you can buy online and have it work makes it not very secure. The PCM and the instrument cluster are the gate keepers here. They each have to agree on the other's identity, and that of the key you are using, or the system won't let the engine start. So when either the PCM or the IC are replaced the system has to be reset, those two modules reintroduced, and the keys reprogrammed, or the system won't enable starting.

To do it you either need to take it to the dealer and have them do a PATS reset, or get a true ELM327 adapter and use ForScan to do it yourself.


I spent years diagnosing and repairing PATS issues professionally, and only once did I ever see the test get to the "replace PCM" result, and that didn't even fix it because the real problem was the chip in the customer's only key was dying, working intermittently, and that messed with the test results. So unless you have diagnosed it well, and are very very sure the computer is the problem, you are probably about to go down a very expensive road unnecessarily.

 

[Rearanger]

I think Lowes now makes chipped keys from an old one.

There is a procedure for matching the key, someone here should be able to give instructions.

 

[adsm08]

I think Lowes now makes chipped keys from an old one.

There is a procedure for matching the key, someone here should be able to give instructions.

Lowes, and most hardware stores, can do that, but they way they do it required the old key be fully functional. Each key chip has a unique ID code. The hardware store method clones the key you take in, so it imprints the ID code from your old key onto the new one. If the chip in the existing key has failed their machine probably can't get the ID code.

There is a customer programming procedure but it requires a total of 3 keys (counting the new one you are adding), all with different IDs.

You need two already programmed keys, with different ID codes, so you can't use one original and one hardware store duplicate that was made from that original key, the computer can't tell the difference between them. You put key 1 in, turn the ignition on for about 5 seconds, turn it off and do the same with keys 2 and 3 (3 being the new one) and then put key 1 back in and turn it to run. The new key should then work, but it won't work in the scenario presented with a new module.

 

[RonD]

Most locksmiths can "Clone" a PATS key IF it can be read, thats the big if

A PATS key has a unique number inside, an ID number, that number is what is stored inside the computers memory.
If a locksmith can read that number then he can "write" that number to a Blank PATS key, and then cut the key to fit the cylinder.
So you have a duplicate PATS key as a spare, without programming costs

 

[howarddleach@yahoo.com]

Thanks everyone! I was a mechanic before all this new-fangled technology. I assumed it was either the key or the computer as everything else checked out. As I’m in a rural area, with the nearest locksmith almost 100 miles, guess I’ll have to haul to the dealership.

 

[Rearanger]

You need two already programmed keys, with different ID codes, so you can't use one original

Does that mean my original spare key and my original in-use key have different codes?

 

[adsm08]

Does that mean my original spare key and my original in-use key have different codes?

They should. If they are both original they will. But the car can hold up to 8 key IDs.

 

[howarddleach@yahoo.com]

Instrument Cluster and PATS

Why would the instrument cluster be tied into PATS on a 2002 Ranger Edge 3.0? I thought Ford didn’t start that until 2004.

 

[adsm08]

Why would the instrument cluster be tied into PATS on a 2002 Ranger Edge 3.0? I thought Ford didn’t start that until 2004.

Then its the PATS module. The name of the other module is the only thing that would be incorrect about what I said.