Theft light flashing car won’t crank

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DIEJAI

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Hi. New to the forum. On mother’s day I was left stranded for about 2 hours. The theft light was flashing and car wouldn’t crank. Finally found a fix of turning the car to the on position, put the car in drive, then back in park, and it finally cranked. Just wondering what the actual fix was for anyone who had this problem and how much did it cost?
 

1955moose

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Usually a flashing theft light followed by a no start is your PATS anti theft system being activated. It can be as simple as using a different chip key for the ignition key, or as complex as having to replace the Pats system, and having the dealer re flash the system to identify the key. Do you have more than 1 key on your key ring for the vehicle? I once disarmed a 2001 Lincoln Town car by using the non chip key in the ignition. Had to tow it back to our garage, where our mechanic re flashed it work with the chip key. I yanked the valet non chip key off my key ring.

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Yupster Dog

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Sometime the PATS just has a hiccup(reads chip wrong, didn't like the position...ect) and if you take the key out close all doors and let it sit for 10 minutes then try again it will start. If it continues to hiccup or the hiccups becomes more frequent or doesn't work at all the Moose is spot on.

NOTE: DO NOT try a reset (remove battery cable) while the PATS is active. If you do you will defiantly need a re-flash then.
 
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DIEJAI

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Thank you all so much for responding!!!! It’s cranked with no issues this entire week. Just wanted to prepare myself in case a repair is needed.
 
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DIEJAI

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And I only have one key so i pray the PATS system isn’t going out on me.
 

craig sargood

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I had a similar issue on my old 99 5.4 awd, went in the store , came out, just turned over and over, theft light was flashing, ended up having towed to ford and the replaced the pcm for like $900
 

1955moose

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Diejai, go to an Ace hardware store and make a chip copy of your key while it's working. Had my 2000 done about 3 years back. Cost is around $75.00.

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