What does the flashing "THEFT" light mean?
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What does the flashing "THEFT" light mean?
I recently got my 2002 Ranger and I notice that after I turn the key off I see a flashing red sign saying THEFT" to the bottom right of the speedometer. It flashes on and then off every four or five seconds. To my knowledge there is no alarm system on my truck. The owners manual doesn't mention it. How do I shut it off?
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It's the factory anti-theft system that is blinking the "theft" light, it is not a typical alarm that goes off when you bump the vehicle or open a door, it's why the keys have transponder chips in them to help prevent the vehicle from being started without that key i.e. The Ford Pats system. My Viper alarm works in conjunction with the factory anti-theft, it does not bypass it except when the autostart function is being used.
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PATS (Passive Anti-theft System)
I used to have this in mine till i changed my gauge cluster from a 2000 to a 2003. So far I haven't gotten it working in the new cluster. This is because they changed the pinouts between the years. The 03 has a resistor on the back side of the gauge cluster plus it switches on the neg side where as 2000 switches on the positive(I believe). There is no resistor in the circuit traces for it on the 2000 gauge cluster.
What I'm thinking about doing the next time I have my dash apart is gluing a piece of plastic over the opening for the theft light in the gauge cluster and to install the led into it that way. Then tap directly into the positive and ground indicator wires coming up to the cluster plug for it.
I'd like to know where and what resistor they used on the 2000s so I could swap to a diff color led too
(different color leds use different voltages)
I know if i don't fix the thing at some point PATS is going to come back to bite me in the *** When they day comes my truck wont start because it cant read the chipped key properly for some unknown reason. Then I'll probably be trying to replace everything having to do with the ignition/power system but that lol.
I used to have this in mine till i changed my gauge cluster from a 2000 to a 2003. So far I haven't gotten it working in the new cluster. This is because they changed the pinouts between the years. The 03 has a resistor on the back side of the gauge cluster plus it switches on the neg side where as 2000 switches on the positive(I believe). There is no resistor in the circuit traces for it on the 2000 gauge cluster.
What I'm thinking about doing the next time I have my dash apart is gluing a piece of plastic over the opening for the theft light in the gauge cluster and to install the led into it that way. Then tap directly into the positive and ground indicator wires coming up to the cluster plug for it.
I'd like to know where and what resistor they used on the 2000s so I could swap to a diff color led too
(different color leds use different voltages)
I know if i don't fix the thing at some point PATS is going to come back to bite me in the *** When they day comes my truck wont start because it cant read the chipped key properly for some unknown reason. Then I'll probably be trying to replace everything having to do with the ignition/power system but that lol.
Last edited by crucialcolin; 09-28-2010 at 03:37 AM.
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probably a custom tune would help most with power. But The engine breathes better and it sounds great, and thats the main reason I did it (for the sound) I love it. As far as the part
number of the Magnaflow muffler I bought, it was either the 11216 or 11226, basically the same muffler, slightly different configuration, I just cant remember which one it is sorry about that. What I did was call Magnaflow and talked to customer service and they recommended that muffler, I then went to Summitt Racing and bought the muffler for $80 and took it to a shop to get it welded up with 2.5" pipe from the cat back, that cost me about $210, so all together almost $300 total, very happy with it. and that is usually alot cheaper than buying one of those catback systems that you can purchase too.
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It's the factory anti-theft system that is blinking the "theft" light, it is not a typical alarm that goes off when you bump the vehicle or open a door, it's why the keys have transponder chips in them to help prevent the vehicle from being started without that key i.e. The Ford Pats system. My Viper alarm works in conjunction with the factory anti-theft, it does not bypass it except when the autostart function is being used.
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the aftermarket alarms dont technically bypass they are sort of programmed to the computer. its almost impossible to bypass since theres part of it in the PCM the older ones had a relay brain in the dash but if you tamper with it it'll kill power to the injectors and starter so best to just leave it alone lol the idea is to not be able to disable it otherwise its useless. The aftermarket will bypass it to allow remote start to work but mine wont allow you to move the truck without the coded keys it will just quit as soon as you touch the break pedal if the correct key is not in the ignition.
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before you buy a new switch, try spraying some wd-40 in that latch mechanism, I seem to remember something about it sticking and causing the door ajar light to stay on, but wd-40 seemed to fix it . search on it there are a bunch of posts on it.