Hi Guys new to the forum.. Helping my elderly aunt. she has a 2006 ranger base base .. no power locks etc. she has two keys .. both worked for 2 years and then all of a sudden the PAS system starting locking the car. no idea why. took to ford stealership and they said that they wanted to order a new key.. they said 300 CAD and if it wasnt the issue then no money back and they will have. to keep diagnosising.. long story short she got the other key and same issue. I told her about the turn on right before starting the car 8 times on and off and that started but she has to do this all the time and sometimes it doesnt take and then she has to wait 30min pus to re try. Ive done research and no one seems to have this issue at least from what I can find. any ideas why this is occurring as it doesnt sound like the key given it starts after doing the 8 time son off trick but sometimes doesnt and she is stuck for 30 mins till she can try again. any insight from the pros be appreciated as I dont trust the dealer here at all. Love to Get rid of it completely if possible

 

sorry 2006 auto 2wd v6 sport

 

Welcome to the forum

Victoria Canada, England or Australia

We are in North America so could never get the T6 Ranger Ford sold in other countries

We had PATS system, passive anti-theft

When you turn on the key a THEFT light on the dash should come on and go off.....if the key used "passed the PATS test"
If it didn't then the THEFT LIGHT on the dash would start to Flash Rapidly and engine would not start
If this happens LEAVE THE KEY ON, and wait
After 45 to 60 seconds the Theft light will start to flash a code number
11 to 16
So one flash, pause, 1 to 6 flashes, longer pause, REPEAT, it repeats 5 or 6 times

11 Transceiver [transponder coil] not connected, or there is no power to it.
12 Transceiver internal fault.
13 No Key/no PATS key has been used to turn the ignition switch.
14 Incomplete key code received.
15 Invalid key code received.
16 CAN communications error.

The Transceiver is the most common issue, it is located around the Key Slot, its a ring antenna that reads the chip in the PATS key
Not hard to replace if that's the code number, no re-programming is needed


You can buy new PATS keys but they can't be used as is, they need to be programmed into PATS Memory, most locksmiths can do that with a laptop hooked to OBD2 port on vehicle

And just a Heads Up
If you try to start the engine 4 times and get the flashing light or a No Start, PATS will go into Lockdown Mode, so you have to wait 90minutes from the last attempt to start, so don't bother, just wait
Unhooking battery doesn't help