About a month ago walked out to the truck to leave for work and no start. Theft light was blinking. Tried various quick fixes i had read about on this forum and others, still no start. So had it towed to the Dealer. New keys? no start. Replaced the ECU? No Start. Replaced the Gauge Cluster? Was then able to program the keys and the ECU. Started. Got a call this afternoon that it was ready to go and to come pick it up. Got there, paid for everything, shop manager went to bring me the truck, and you guessed it. It doesnt start!

It has been a few hours since then, so i called to see how things were going. Was told that they moved it back inside and that it starts every time they turn the Key?

This has happened to me once before, about five years ago, when it happened then it started straight of the rollback. I drove it home, and it has been fine up until now.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? if so what was the solution? I really dont want to pick it up and have it leave me stranded somewhere.

 

any TROUBLE CODES, such as P0500, P1502 AND/OR U1039 ?

 

Dont know if they are getting any or not? I know i didnt find any codes the morning it happened, but that could of been from the cluster being bad. the mechanic couldnt program the ECU until he got the new cluster installed. so im guessing i would not have been able to get codes either?

 

through the OBD port. = On-Board Diagnostic
not a mechanic but i'd be also looking at all the grounds

let us know what they found....

 

sorry thats what i was saying he has not pulled any codes through the OBD and neither have I.

he did find one bad ground earlier today, that was before i went to pick it up.

ill definitely post about the progress good or bad.

 

Just now received a call from the dealer. it has started for the mechanic at least twenty times over the last 5 hours. he is not giving up though, putting in a hot order to ford, so hopefully will know more after Christmas.

 

If you turn on the ignition to run 'when it does not start'.
Let it set in that condition for 'several minutes' and if the PATS blinks a code on the light, the PATS is seeing a problem.
If yes, bring the blink code back and I can tell you what the system is complaining about. Then you or the dealer will know what to go after.
They should know all this anyways.
Good luck.

 

Thanks Bluegrass, but i have left the truck with them, i really want them to figure this out. it could not only help me, but also alot of others im sure.

im just glad it acted up for them after they thought they fixed it, and not at my house.

 

My 99 went though the same thing last year. I would put money on the starter. Your no start problem sounds like what happened to me. Since the starter has been replaced, knock on wood, the truck starts like a champ every time. I didn't have to invest in new clusters and ECMs though thankfully.

 

His sounds more like a PATS issue and not a mechanical problem.

 

Hi,

Yes I reread what was posted. When I posted it was at the end of a long day. Yes it does sound more electrical than mechanical. Could it be in the harness (es)? I have seen in construction equipment where wires were rubbed bare causing electrical issues. It usually drove the guys in the shop nuts since each wire in the connection were tested for continuity and resistance or leakage. 9 times out of 10 the trouble would show up in electrical issues. I would do the same thing when I was doing copper telephone line work.

My troubleshooting has been look at the quick list first. connectors, ground wires, easy to access items first before going deeper.

 

could be a GEM issue. Your wind shield leak?

 

the mechanic talked with ford about what had happened. they recommended replacing the anti-theft transceiver, basically the ring around the ignition switch in the column that reads the key. they started it several times this afternoon before they called me to get it. so hopefully it is fixed, i guess time will tell.

one thing im not so sure im happy about is since i got a used gauge cluster my mileage on my odometer is now 126000. i was actually kind of proud of it showing 220000. oh well, maybe try to see if i can hit that number again.

i will have to try and remember to update this at a later date with my progress.

 

Didnt know that was possible just by swapping the cluster. Thought the pcm stored the mileage.

Also, I would imagine there are some legal issues with that if the mechanic is responsible for this. Might be a concern you should bring up with him.

 

That's exactly what I had thought. So I went back and asked. I was told that the cluster is actually what stores the miles and since I bought a used cluster instead of a new one that I legally had to go with the mileage that was on it.

Seems wrong to me, but I guess its what it is. The used cluster was 300, a new one was around 500, I was at the limit of what I had to work with and had to go used.