So someone tried to steal my expedition. They pulled the black cover off the ignition cylinder and actually attempted to start it, which I could hear from our security camera footage. Anyway, when I first tried to start it today it wouldn't. Theft light was flashing rapidly. Found some instructions to reset that involved turning the ignition to ON until the THEFT light goes off completely, which it did, but still wouldn't start. I tried this several times and even threw a battery disconnect in there for good measure. PATS still gets triggered when trying to start.
After talking to a dealer service person it sounds like the ignition switch was damaged and needs to be replaced.
Can I just buy a new cylinder with keys, swap them out and be good to go? Seems like some kind of programming would need to be done, like to the main module? If it's not the cylinder what else could it be?
At least this is better than not having my expy anymore.
I experienced this issue with my 99 XLT 5.4, but my cylinder was destroyed so I had to replace it. Which was a nightmare as I only had one key.
Before spending any money...
If your ignition cylinder is turning with the key, it's probably fine. Is your engine turning over? Does the door chime turn off when your key is removed? If yes to these questions, I think you're good, parts-wise.
What codes are you getting?
B1232 PATS Transceiver Circuit Fault.
B1600 Someone tried to steal your car and the PCM disabled your engine.
If you get either of the two codes above, I would suggest using Forscan to:
1) Read codes:
2) Initialize your PATS (This takes 12 minutes or so...10 for your vehicle to grant access and 2 for forscan to do it's thing)
3) Choose the option to tell your PCM you replaced the pats. This shouldn't impact your learned keys. However, DO NOT do either of these unless you have 2 keys programmed or 2 keys that can be programmed.
4) Clear your DTC Codes.
I bought an aftermarket Lock Cylinder with 2 Transponder keys and was able to correct this issue with some messing around with Forscan. I used Forscan version 2.3.8. I was told it isn't possible from a few sources, but it certainly is.
if the door chime continues to chime,you may be getting B1352...this could be an indicator of a damaged cylinder as well.
Here is a Forscan post on how to reprogram keys. You DO NEED 2 BLANK KEYS FOR THIS.
https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=839
You will need a cable to connect a laptop with forscan to your vehicle. I used this one:
<a target="_blank" href="
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...iy-20&linkId=dd64db45411a20b82cc231d0a8cf2909">OBDLink EX FORScan OBD Adapter</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=professordiy-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B081VQVD3F" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
Best of luck!
