ford PATS issue?

a little back story: i'm retro-modding a 69' fastback mustang with all new MII front suspension, 03' cobra IRS, new pans, rear quarter, tons of new parts already on hand (bought as an abandoned project)... i've settled on a Mod 4.6 engine/5r55s swap from a 2004 lincoln aviator ... i bought a rolling shell with only 4,500 miles! apparently it fell off a transport truck at the dealer back in 04' or 05' smashing the roof and the side in ... went through a few hands before i spotted it on CR and snapped it up... here's the problem, it does not have the original key and of course the PATS system is preventing cranking, fuel pump operation, and injector firing ... i towed the truck to a local modular performance dealer and had the ecm flashed along with a PATS (securilock) delete ... still same issue, so i installed a second known good ecm on the spot and no different... i towed it back home and checked every related ground, fuse and wire between the ecm, relays, and modules ... it's all in order...the ecm is not grounding the starter relay, is not grounding the injectors, and is not grounding the fuel pump driver module ... i can jump the starter relay ground and run it on ether so the coils are firing .... my question is this: is there something special about the lincoln ecm that requires an extra step to turn off PATS that the tuner may have missed ? ... i know this tuner mainly deals with mustang ecms so i'm not even sure he's encountered this issue before... thanks for reading and any pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Check to see if it has a battery disconnect that got triggered when it rolled over. I worked on Audi for a long time and the have a battery disconnect and a fuel shut off roll over valve that has to be reset after a crash or roll over ( it bit me in the ass one time and from then on I always checked them when I had a no start ). Hope this helps. Also check the airbag controller for crash codes

Hyde7278 said:

Check to see if it has a battery disconnect that got triggered when it rolled over. I worked on Audi for a long time and the have a battery disconnect and a fuel shut off roll over valve that has to be reset after a crash or roll over ( it bit me in the ass one time and from then on I always checked them when I had a no start ). Hope this helps. Also check the airbag controller for crash codes

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yeah, one of the first things i checked, known issue on a ford ... airbag module may or may not have codes but i have no way to scan it... another question: do ford ecm's usually supply reference voltage to sensors @ just key on or just crank and run ?

I believe you have another issue beyond PATS

PATS will prevent the injectors from firing, but the starter should crank all day.
PATS has a status LED. Varies in location from model to model. How does it look when you are cranking?

As an additional note, you might be better off with an aftermarket ecu, the ones with simplified features (remove airbag, remove cluster etc), unless you are transplanting airbags and so on, it will also make transplant to your musclecar easier since wiring is also simpler. You still get a functioning CEL and a OBDII port. There are different budget ranges. Any search in hotrod, car craft magazine or mustang forums should give some direction.

Carlos_TJ said:

I believe you have another issue beyond PATS

PATS will prevent the injectors from firing, but the starter should crank all day.
PATS has a status LED. Varies in location from model to model. How does it look when you are cranking?

As an additional note, you might be better off with an aftermarket ecu, the ones with simplified features (remove airbag, remove cluster etc), unless you are transplanting airbags and so on, it will also make transplant to your musclecar easier since wiring is also simpler. You still get a functioning CEL and a OBDII port. There are different budget ranges. Any search in hotrod, car craft magazine or mustang forums should give some direction.

Click to expand...

pats issue solved!! ..took ecm back to the tuner and he had left a box unticked on the pats defeat ... as far as the pats disabling the starter motor it depends on the model of car, some early pats systems do not disable the starter but this one is a lincoln aviator and pats disables the fuel pump, the starter and the injectors but not the spark, so if you send 12v directly to the starter solenoid it will run on starting fluid ....aftermarket ecm's are big $$$ as are the harnesses to go with em so i'll be using the ford ecm and modified factory harness in my swap