1998 Ford Ranger 4.0 with a new crate engine that has around 20,000 on new engine.

Ran great until a few months ago the anti-theft system went on and I could not get it to shut off.

Tried replacing the ignition switch and that seemed to work for all of about 5 seconds.

Took it to Ford dealership and they said the PCM was bad as they could not communicate with it.

They put in a used PCM and can now communicate but is throwing all kinds of codes which it was not doing before (at least that I know of, again, it was running fine). They cannot get the motor to turn over (the starter).

Other misc symptoms:

For the last several months I could not always get it to turn over in Park but would frequently have to put it in neutral to get it to turn over.

Any ideas?

Steering column is kind of loosy goosy.

 

Welcome to the forum

1998 Ranger didn't have PATS(passive anti-theft system), that was optional in 1998 but not many takers, in 1999 and up all V6 Rangers came with PATS

So you most likely have a Dealer installed anti-theft system, which is an Alarm system, not Passive, like PATS
So does the horn honk or the lights flash when anti-theft is activated?
If so its not PATS

You need to know which one you have to go forward, I am surprised a Ford Dealer wouldn't know this

You can't swap PCMs if you have PATS, there is a separate PATS module that is "married" to the original PCM at the Ford Factory, so they are a "set" can't swap out either one, they can only be swapped as a set or "re-married" by Fords Dealer only link for software update.

And you would get "all kinds of codes" if you did swap out only the PCM with PATS, again Ford dealer would know all this

Factory/Dealer Alarm system info here: https://www.justanswer.com/ford/5y2v...untioning.html



The loose column shifter will cause no starter motor issue and quite common on all Ford trucks with column shifters
Google: ford ranger loose column shifter

As said in article above, a stuck door switch can cause alarm issues, was "Door Ajar" light staying on since this problem started happening?

 

Horn honks but no lights.

 

Its a Factory or 3rd Party Alarm, not PATS

So read the link above and see where that takes you

There will be a module under the dash, somewhere, which is the Alarm controller, if you can get model number or "picture" of its label that could help you as well
Factory module was called the RAP module

PCM was not part of this alarm system, so not sure why a Dealer would replace it
Alarm malfunction could cause PCM codes as it disables some engine systems

1996 RAP module wiring diagram below
Don't have one for 1998