soldier in iraq needs pats pro

Greetings from the frontlines. I am SSG Beeman, an American Soldier on my second tour in Iraq. I am a tank mechanic and a well rounded jack of all trades. I work on some of the US Army's most sophesticated pieces of electronic weaponry but I am beating my head on the wall. I am about halfway through my tour here and have stumbled upon somthing great...almost. In a junk yard out here I found a 2000 F150 4wd in pretty good shape. Its an eyesore but its mine. The entire drum cylinder for the ignition is destroyed and obviously there is no key. The white plastic box with a crapload of wires (actually the start switch) is hanging down but intact. There is also what looks like a small circut card in a plastic casing with a 4 prong connector hanging down. I believe that this is part of the evil one I call PATS. I got the engine to crank over and put some gas in it and a new battery. As you have already guessed, the PATS is kicking my butt. I am not opposed to ripping out any kind of wire that doesn't directly affect the running and driving of this truck. Where is a good place to start? Could I just run a hot wire directly to the fuel pump and put a toggle switch on it? Does PATS affect ignition? I am all for rigging this truck up. If it runs and drives, its good enough for Iraq. It also needs a cool name if anyone has any good ideas. I will try to take some pics and post them. Your all going to get a good laugh.

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Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. EPHESIANS 6:13

Sounds like a fun time you're having, killer - I'm kind of amazed that there was an F150 in Iraq...never saw one in either of my tours though some US civilians had Explorers/Expeditions.

As far as the PATS goes it unfortunately can't be easily bypassed. The PCM(or whatever Ford calls their engine controller) will not operate the injectors if it doesn't think that a valid key is being used to start the truck up...the PCM could probably be reprogrammed to ignore the PATS if someone had the right tools/knowledge.

It also may be possible to order a key from a Ford dealer if you give them the VIN - this would be a viable option under one of two conditions:

1. The key could be programmed without the vehicle being present.

2. The key could be programmed to the vehicle by some procedure which does not require an existing key or a Ford dealer scan tool.

If either applied, the key, along with a new PATS antenna ring, could be affixed to the steering column once it got to you. Obviously you're smart enough to get around the destroyed ignition cylinder.

In the case that your phone access situation there would prevent you from calling a Ford dealer, PM me and I'll ask them about the spare key programming. If you could include the VIN in your PM it'd be great.

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C Renner's Auto Electronix
My service is cheap, quick, and good - pick any two

Thanks for your willingness to help. Are you saying that there is no way to get around PATS because of the engine controller? If its a matter of sending 12 volts to the injectors, couldn't I just run a hot lead? Basically an engine is an engine...right? It sounds crazy but cant I just mount a whole bunch of switches to the dash that individually control power to the fuel pump, starter, injectors, ect? I am afraid that it may screw with the throttle position sensor and other things. I guess the real question is can I bypass the engine controller LOL.

What branch of the service were you in?

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Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. EPHESIANS 6:13

USMC - 3531 motor vehicle operator. I was in Truck Company, 4th MARDIV which basically gets broken into small groups and attached to infantry battalions when they need medium truck support.

The problem with the fuel isn't the 12 volt side - that's powered when you turn the ignition on. The ground side of the injectors are individually activated by the PCM sequentially, however, and that's what is stopped by the PATS.

It's not really a viable option to switch all the injectors like that - you'd never get the fuel ratio correct and the engine would run badly. If you could somehow get a carburetor and an intake manifold that might work - but I think it'd be just as easy to get an ECM with PATS bypassed.

You have any friends at a Ford dealership?

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C Renner's Auto Electronix
My service is cheap, quick, and good - pick any two

I wish I had buddies that worked for Ford. It would make all of this less painful. Do you know where I might be able to buy an already bypassed ECM? I have gone around to some other motorpools out here and I ran across a guy who wheeled and dealed himself an F350. He has the same issue. He has replaced the steering column but didn't know about the ECM compatibility. We could probably get the Chain of Command to fork out some money for parts since these are "mission essential" trucks. Any ideas?

Thanks for your service in Iraq. How many years did you do?

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Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. EPHESIANS 6:13

I'd try Street & Performance in Arkansas - those guys do some crazy swaps and such...e-mail them and they might help you a bit.

I did 7 1/2 years total reserve and active - activated about 20 months or so, in Iraq for 14 mos. total.

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C Renner's Auto Electronix
My service is cheap, quick, and good - pick any two

How about us forking out to buy a new PATS, ign switch and key?

I agree with Howie.....with all the people on this forum, we could just pool some money together and get what he needs...i think that it's the least we can do!!!

Thank you very much for you service in the military  SSG Beeman

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...half of the truth can be worse than a lie. <----Roger Russell said that..

Howie, I don't think a new PATS, ign. key, and switch would solve the problem.  The key would need programmed to the PCM and as far as I know that's only doable with a working ignition key or a Ford dealer scan tool. If anyone knows a bypass procedure it would be greatly beneficial - maybe if they have a secret combination of brake, throttle, ebrake, etc. that's specific to that truck.

Barring that, I think reprogramming the PCM to ignore the PATS or replacing it with one from a truck that didn't originally have it is the best option.

I'd be willing to search one out if we want to do this as a site.

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C Renner's Auto Electronix
My service is cheap, quick, and good - pick any two

I once worked on a Ford Ranger with the PATS system...must have been around a 2002 model or so. Someone else had put in a remote starter with a 556u and they broke the PATS ring that goes around the ignition cylinder. Customer complained that he would have trouble starting it occasionally by key and by remote. I get the truck back to the shop and do some trouble shooting. For some reason I hook up our OBDII scanner and the truck starts every time. Remove the scanner, the truck starts acting funny. After a while I realize it is the PATS ring around the cylinder that has been damaged, Move it a little, and the key works fine. Shake the steering column and move the ring a little bit, and the key doesn't work. After a while I realized that if you hook up the OBDII scanner it bypasses the PATS system. And before anyone asks, I'm sure the PATS system was what preventing the truck from starting without the scanner connected because the red light was flashing quick.

I didn't want to post this when I first read this post a few days ago, because it seems like an easy way to get around the PATS system and I didn't want to make it public knowledge. If someone has a vehicle with the PATS system and a scanner, try making a copy of your key with a PATS pellet, and try starting it with the scanner connected. I'm almost positive it will work. The scanner I was using was a Snap-On scanner, cost about $500 at the time. I know similar ones are less now. It was not one of those crazy scanners that can do almost any car that cost a couple grand. Also, anybody that works in a shop that has a scanner that is doing a remote start install in the coming days can try it as well. Install the starter and try remote starting it with the scanner attached. I don't remember the exact sequence I did. I may have had to turn the ignition on, hit Read Codes, then start it....or I may have plugged in the scanner, and turned the key to crank and it fired right up. It has been a few years so I don't remember everything.

Ford has done some weird things with there vehicles, so I'm not surprised a scanner can bypass PATS. Another example is the fact that a lot of vehicles that use a 70-1771 radio harness (Taurus, Ranger, Explorer, F150 from early 2000s) have a skinny RED / black wire in it that will actually crank the starter if power is applied to it. No reason for it to be there, but it does exist.

The original poster could probably buy a scanner for $150 and hook it up every time he wants to start the truck. Take it with him when he is not driving it, and it makes it hard to steal.

you can program a PATS key with a snap on scanner as well.

Thank you everyone for the replies and keep them rolling in. You guys have been the most help. I wrote to Ford about the matter and they just referred me to someone else.

I finally got off of my butt and took some pics. I hope to get those loaded up today so that you can see the mess I am dealing with.

It sounds like the OBD II scanner might work, but before I shell out cash for it, has anyone tried it on an F150, or is the PATS the same on a Ranger? I am confused about one thing. I know that you must have a transponder key that puts off the correct RF signal. Is there some kind of magnet in the ignition cylinder that picked up by a funky little circuit card that attaches to the steering column? If this is correct, its not intact. Would the OBD II scanner bypass this as well?

Again, thanks for all your support.

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Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. EPHESIANS 6:13