Hi I'm new here I have been trying to fix my ford ranger and its been having this issue for a while now, sometimes it does start and there are no clicks, but most of the time it doesn't and when we turn it on it does a weird clicking sound like 123-12345-1-1-1 and 1 clicks then repeat. I know its an electrical problem, a bad connection somewhere, I've tried the fuel pump circuit and that is fine. But before the fuel pump circuit there is supposed to be a security/anti-theft circuit but they say its only on some models but the wiring diagram seems to be a secret. Please if anyone has them I need the entire wiring diagram for the truck. Please help and thank you.

 

Welcome to the forum

If your 2000 Ranger has a V6 engine(3.0l/4.0l) then it DOES HAVE Fords PATS(passive anti-theft system)
If your 2000 Ranger is a 4cyl engine then it does NOT have PATS

So which do you have?

Things to check
Battery voltage key off
12.3v to 12.8volts is needed
12.2v or less means battery is done, replace it

Clean battery terminals

 

Hi and thanks for responding, the truck is a 3.0L/AT/2wd and the battery is fine.

 

Then you have PATS, for sure

PATS is VERY susceptible to low voltage

"battery is fine"?? whats the voltage at battery?
Clicking relays means voltage at the relays is not "fine"

When you turn on the key the THEFT LIGHT on the dash will come on and then go OFF if the key in ignition passed the PATS test
If THEFT LIGHT starts to flash then PATS was activated and engine can not be started
If that happens the leave key on, and wait 45-60 seconds, the THEFT LIGHT will start to flash a 2 digit code number, a 1 and then a pause, then 1 to 6 flashes, then longer pause then it will repeat a few times
So codes are 11 to 16
That will tell you WHY PATS was activated

If you have a 3rd party alarm that can also be an issue, you will need to find its "brain box" and get the model number off it to diagnose if its the problem
PATS is not an "alarm", its "passive", an alarm will flash lights and sound horn or siren if activated

 

The future of the automobile. Simplicity works better than complexity.
Auto driving electric cars.
Mechanically, the truck is perfect. But as seen throughout this forum...
Oh the electrical woes. and that is on the engine electronics.
modular electrical cars. built to fail. The future looks programed.
Anyway, thank you so much for your thoughts. It seems written
manuals are so limited, divided, seemingly secret coded.
The problem seems to be a weak connection, out of thousands
of un-needed connections, but integrated into...
Guess the joke is on the consumer. No more used cars in the future.
Time to do what was hoping to be avoided.
Chase down the circuit and find the weak link Thank you for helping.