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clicking noise, theft light rapid flashing

27K views 66 replies 8 participants last post by  Chelle251 
#1 ·
i jumped my car yesterday and all was good

get up this moring, do the dishes, and go outside to drive a bit before the day starts. i open the door, sit down, here some clicking noises. i get out, and close the door, and return inside the house.

after a bit, i go back to see if i can locate the direction it comes from... its from around the driver's side fuse box. i get out, close the door, and return inside the house. thinking.

after some more time ( a few minutes ) i go back out, trying to here the clicking outside the car. i dont. so i open the door and theres the clicking again. i get inside and shut the door, it turns off.

i open the door from the inside, and the clicking returns. i close again, clicking stops, and open again, clicking resumes. i look for the switch that tells the computer that no doors are open, and press that in, but that doesnt stop the clicking. so maybe the return signal is somewhere that also depends on the door being closed. i get out, close the door, and return to the house.

i do a little searching with google, and nothing shows up related to my issue.

i go back outside, with the intent to start the car. i watch the theft light, noticing that thats the only indicator on ( normal flashing ). i put the key in the ignition, the flashing goes to steady for 3 seconds ( normal behavior as well ) and then flashes rapidly. this is only at the run position, havent gotten to the start position yet. so i get out, close the door, and return to the house.

i do some more research on the quick flashing, and come across an article that references the 2000 mustang gt owner's manual, and change the link to the 1999, or so i hoped, and it works. loading the page, i see its just whats in my glove box, so i just continue to read on. i look for something in the index related to anti-theft, and found it. looked in the book, on page 7, finding a forwarding paragraph to the controls and features section. browsing that, i come across a paragraph that says something to the effect of " if "theft" is blinking rapidly, get to a service center immediately" ... that didnt sound good, so i call local ford dealership ( jones ford ) and jones' service department isnt open until tuesday. so im outta luck for servicing.

after that call, i grab a recently purchased code reader, and go back to the car. i open the door ( clicking ensues ) and do what is necessary to get the codes, but upon plugging it in to the port, the clicking stops.

.... weird

so i attempt to get some codes, but the scanner just did its " pocket " " scan " thingy, which happens when it gets plugged in. that just lets you know that it is ready for you to put the key/ignition in the run position. upon doing so, my "theft" light goes out, the scanner display goes blank ( normal ) and no dash lights of any kind, no bells either ( as well as all the other times, there were no bells when i had the key in the ignition with the door open ). so im like crap, now what?

i press the read button, it doesnt move an asterik across the led display like it should. so somethings wrong with the computer.

recalling what i was reading about in the online owner's manual, i thought that maybe since the car was electrically dead for so long, the car forgot that my key is the key to start the car. makes sense.

until i remembered that the computer is in control of starting the car, and it started last night when i jumped it.... and last night i also ( after a time ) restarted the car twice, just to see if the battery held a charge the alternator was throwing at it. it started up both times nicely.

so that means the car ( at least last night it ) recognized the securilock coded key of mine... but now this morning it doesnt. so that means reprogramming the key is out of the question, since i dont have another key to work with...

service opens tuesday, and i cant wait that long :pimp

any ideas?
 
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#2 ·
did you jumpstart it or start it with the key. your battery will hold a charge to start the car 2x and then it is done.

if your car accessories wont independently work, you have a poor connection on the positive battery terminal. check and see if you have any corrosion on your battery or the terminals themselves. if so, buy a terminal kit with a new terminal cap for the positive and negative, dip them in a basic solution like baking soda, then unbolt the stock ones and bolt the wires into the new terminals and then you should be fine. my positive terminal corroded away and my car would tick tick really fast, wouldnt start, and it was the positive terminal...

also if you bolt the terminals too tight or too loose to the battery post on the tops, you wont have a proper connection. make sure you have a good .5cm gap when bolting the positive terminal to the battery post



your terminal shouldnt be necessarily this clean, but if it looks remotely close to this:



you need a new one. you probably have a poor connection...
 
#3 ·
actually my temnial is almost that clean :D


its probably a loose connection somewheres ... ill check the battery cons first...

thanks for some input ab.


jump started, ran for 30 mins, then shut off, start, couple minutes running, shut off, start, running.. ok, shut off.

^^^ procedure yesterday night
 
#4 ·
so can it start consistently with the turn of a key, or is it needing to be jumpstarted?

the scenario you posted was exactly what happens when you have a loose positive terminal, or a too tight of one as well...
 
#5 ·
AtlanticBlue99 said:
so can it start consistently with the turn of a key, or is it needing to be jumpstarted?

the scenario you posted was exactly what happens when you have a loose positive terminal, or a too tight of one as well...
i dont know, its weird, last night it started with the key, but this morning, nothing :crazy
 
#9 ·
well, i went back to it at night, and tried me luck and didnt do anything


except


that at night, low light is more visible. so i saw the little light of the battery indicator under the speedometer, and it was not as bright as its supposed to be...

its supposed to be as bright as the theft when the key is not in the ignition or in the off position.

low battery? :dunno
 
#10 ·
did some more research, and i think i can fix it soon.

the research is leading me to believe that the "securilock" pats ( passive anti-theft system ) transceiver ( the component that communicates with the computer to "unlock" the starting of the engine ) is faulty. im going to be contacting the ford dealership or maybe autozone/advaced auto parts/etc to see if i cant find that part.

i got a copy of the ford technical service program program thingy that will help me install it and i might be able to get some pictures, and write something up.

ill keep you all updated :pimp
 
#13 ·
i keep thinking it is battery related as well. that clicking noise is synonymous with battery issues- all of which lead to either dead battery or a poor battery connection. what type of battery do you have and when did you get it?
 
#17 ·
tell me about it... now back to your car- you got it starting on its own yet? get a voltometer and see what voltage you have on the battery. should be around 13v or so with engine/acc. off
 
#19 ·
I have a friend that's got a 98 Cobra that didn't move or get started for a little over a year. When he got around to driving it again, all it would do was turn over, but it wouldn't start. He ended up taking it to the dealership, and it had something to do with the anti-theft. They told him something like the anti theft in the car put the car in a theft recovery mode because it hadn't been started in a while, but remember the car hadn't been started in little over a year.

I agree with everyone else....It sounds like you don't have enought cold cranking amps to start the car. If it was the anti theft, it probably wouldn't run at all.
 
#20 ·
slo2go said:
AtlanticBlue99 said:
tell me about it... now back to your car- you got it starting on its own yet? get a voltometer and see what voltage you have on the battery. should be around 13v or so with engine/acc. off
Sorry man your wrong. it is 12.6V on a fully charged bat. 2.1V per cell.
thanks for correcting. my bad- i thought it was 2.2v/cell putting it at 13.2...
 
#21 ·
1StockGT said:
I have a friend that's got a 98 Cobra that didn't move or get started for a little over a year. When he got around to driving it again, all it would do was turn over, but it wouldn't start. He ended up taking it to the dealership, and it had something to do with the anti-theft. They told him something like the anti theft in the car put the car in a theft recovery mode because it hadn't been started in a while, but remember the car hadn't been started in little over a year.

I agree with everyone else....It sounds like you don't have enought cold cranking amps to start the car. If it was the anti theft, it probably wouldn't run at all.

the securilock transceiver, it sends and receives information about the key being used to attempt to start the engine.

thats what it may be, and also it may be the battery.
 
#22 ·
I keep my GT up all winter, sometimes longer. I have never had a problem with my PATS, or even had a problem with PATS like youre saying with anything at work. Im not sure how a security system such as PATS can forget a key code? there is a small green circle that goes around the ignition cylinder. It gets the code from the key and allows it to start. First things first..... get a multi and check how much voltage you have.

Dont flame if you already did, cause i didnt feel like reading anymore after the first paragraph.
 
#24 ·
Casper98GT said:
I keep my GT up all winter, sometimes longer. I have never had a problem with my PATS, or even had a problem with PATS like youre saying with anything at work. Im not sure how a security system such as PATS can forget a key code? there is a small green circle that goes around the ignition cylinder. It gets the code from the key and allows it to start. First things first..... get a multi and check how much voltage you have.

Dont flame if you already did, cause i didnt feel like reading anymore after the first paragraph.
I didn't say winter.....I said a little over a year. What I posted was what the dealer told him. Also, I didn't say anything about it forgetting a key code. According to the dealership there is some type of anti theft mode that the car can go into that only the dealership can reset. I don't know if they were pulling his chain or not, all I know is we went to start the car and all it did was turn over. No flaming here, just sharing with everyone the only experience I have with the PATS having trouble.
 
#26 ·
1StockGT said:
I didn't say winter.....I said a little over a year. What I posted was what the dealer told him. Also, I didn't say anything about it forgetting a key code. According to the dealership there is some type of anti theft mode that the car can go into that only the dealership can reset. I don't know if they were pulling his chain or not, all I know is we went to start the car and all it did was turn over. No flaming here, just sharing with everyone the only experience I have with the PATS having trouble.
Sounds like BS to me....
 
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