Electrical Vehicle immobilized (stumped)

jay99914

New Member
Apr 3, 2019
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USA
Hello everyone. Before getting into detail I tried searching this specific issue all over the web and I cannot find anyone with the same conditions. It seems like 99% of the theft/immobilization issues have a rapid blinking theft light, which is not the case for me. Just over the winter time I brought my car out of the garage to move some stuff around and parked it back inside again for the remainder of the cold weather. Came out one day and I could not hear the fuel pump kick on and the car wont start. Checked the connection at the fuel pump and everything is getting good voltage which means it would have to pass the cut-off switch to get thus far. I actually got the car to start one day when I took my keys to Walmart to replace the battery in my remote lock/unlock and came back, but since then I have had no such luck. I plugged in my SCT tuner/scanner only to find that my car is in theft mode but there is no theft light blinking nor am I using a key without a chip. So this is my question: If the chip in my key or the reader inside the steering column was bad would the theft light blink rapidly, and if so I can check that off the list? My next question is what would be the next thing to check? I was going to open the passenger side kick-panel to ensure there is no lose connection to the ECU but I have not gotten that far. Any thoughts as to what my next steps should be? Also, I would like to add that when I put the key on and turn on the ignition all my gauges light up and the theft light goes out within 2-3 and seconds and I can hear the usual clicking sound in the engine bay. Also, when I originally thought it was the fuel pump I got another CCRM from the junk-yard to try, and no luck.
 
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Hello everyone. Before getting into detail I tried searching this specific issue all over the web and I cannot find anyone with the same conditions. It seems like 99% of the theft/immobilization issues have a rapid blinking theft light, which is not the case for me. Just over the winter time I brought my car out of the garage to move some stuff around and parked it back inside again for the remainder of the cold weather. Came out one day and I could not hear the fuel pump kick on and the car wont start. Checked the connection at the fuel pump and everything is getting good voltage which means it would have to pass the cut-off switch to get thus far. I actually got the car to start one day when I took my keys to Walmart to replace the battery in my remote lock/unlock and came back, but since then I have had no such luck. I plugged in my SCT tuner/scanner only to find that my car is in theft mode but there is no theft light blinking nor am I using a key without a chip. So this is my question: If the chip in my key or the reader inside the steering column was bad would the theft light blink rapidly, and if so I can check that off the list? My next question is what would be the next thing to check? I was going to open the passenger side kick-panel to ensure there is no lose connection to the ECU but I have not gotten that far. Any thoughts as to what my next steps should be? Also, I would like to add that when I put the key on and turn on the ignition all my gauges light up and the theft light goes out within 2-3 and seconds and I can hear the usual clicking sound in the engine bay. Also, when I originally thought it was the fuel pump I got another CCRM from the junk-yard to try, and no luck.
In addition, I would also like to add that I made sure my battery was charged up 100% which was giving off a little more than 12 volts.
 
Well, I am going to start the process of elimination this weekend. To completely check the CCRM off the list I bought a new one from Autozone today which I will return if my mustang does not start. From there I will move on to buying a fuel pump relay if there is one in the kick-panel area next to the PCM, then I will move onto the inertia switch and so on until the car starts.... Two years ago I was having this same issue which ended up being the CCRM so I put one on and it fired right up. At the time, I had not looked into or considered anything other then the CCRM so I do not know if my car was throwing a theft code two years ago as it is now. I mean i guess it is possible for the CCRM to go bad again and if so, it will be another journey to figure out why they keep going bad when the car sits for a long period of time. Either way, I will post my progress until I get the car running so that way other people with the same issue can better pin-point their particular problem. Once I get this thing running I am going to see if it is possible to omit this PATS system via my SCT tuner because this is all very unnecessary for a car that is 20+ years old.
 
This thread does not mention the model year of this Mustang. I'm going to assume 1999-2004 model year.

If the theft light goes out 2-3 seconds after initial key on, THEN the PATS system has "proved out" and PATS is not the reason for the crank with no start.

Also Ford factory PATS does not disable the fuel pump. It works by withholding fuel injector pulse. So PATS is not the reason why the fuel pump isn't running.

Here's some information to help you trouble shoot your problems rather than replace expensive parts such as a CCRM on a guess.

1996+ Crank with no start check list
https://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/4-6l-tech/336452-1997-mustang-wont-ignite.html#2984838

Note the part about testing fuse F2.34, F2.2 and F2.8. By knowing which fuses have key on power and which do not it's possible to KNOW if the CCRM is working or not.
 
This thread does not mention the model year of this Mustang. I'm going to assume 1999-2004 model year.

If the theft light goes out 2-3 seconds after initial key on, THEN the PATS system has "proved out" and PATS is not the reason for the crank with no start.

Also Ford factory PATS does not disable the fuel pump. It works by withholding fuel injector pulse. So PATS is not the reason why the fuel pump isn't running.

Here's some information to help you trouble shoot your problems rather than replace expensive parts such as a CCRM on a guess.

1996+ Crank with no start check list
https://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/4-6l-tech/336452-1997-mustang-wont-ignite.html#2984838

Note the part about testing fuse F2.34, F2.2 and F2.8. By knowing which fuses have key on power and which do not it's possible to KNOW if the CCRM is working or not.
Sorry it is a 98 mustang gt. Also, you made a good point about the PATS system and thank you for posting that link. Yes, the light goes out after 2-3 seconds which means the key should be reading just fine also my scanner is communicating with the PCM. Perhaps I am throwing a immobilization code from excessive cranking without the car actually starting. I am going to eliminate the CCRM by trying the new one today when I get home and if that does not work I will start digging into things such as the inertia switch and the other fuel pump relay in the kick panel. In regards to the link you posted, I checked all grounds and made sure the battery was 100% charged up and is giving off the proper amperage/voltage. Also, I just put new battery terminals on last summer. I know for a fact the reason the car is not starting is due to no fuel being primed into the fuel lines. I crossed off the issue being the actual fuel pump because I bought a new one and hooked it up to the pig-tail connector at the rear of the car to see if it would even kick on, which it did not. I had a different code which I should have made of note of because it did not come back on after clearing it out, it was something like "fuel (something) circuit high".
 
For the 1996-1998 model year the "gold standard" fuel pump test is to use a test light at the trunk mounted IFS cut off switch. The test light will "load" the circuit that a VOM won't. Be sure to use a known good ground. The test light should light for a few seconds at EACH key on cycle. This is done to "prime" the fuel pump. The PCM will keep the fuel pump off until the PCM senses that the motor has started.

IF the test light never lights, EXPECT problems and more trouble shooting will be needed as there are several possible failure points.

The first thing to check is that all the fuses in the battery junction box are good. There are some model years of Mustang where there's an error in the owner's manual. The PCM and fuel pump fuse are labeled backwards. Regardless, all of the fuses can easily be tested with a test light by probing the metal test tabs on top of each fuse. No parts swapping needed.
 
For the 1996-1998 model year the "gold standard" fuel pump test is to use a test light at the trunk mounted IFS cut off switch. The test light will "load" the circuit that a VOM won't. Be sure to use a known good ground. The test light should light for a few seconds at EACH key on cycle. This is done to "prime" the fuel pump. The PCM will keep the fuel pump off until the PCM senses that the motor has started.

IF the test light never lights, EXPECT problems and more trouble shooting will be needed as there are several possible failure points.

The first thing to check is that all the fuses in the battery junction box are good. There are some model years of Mustang where there's an error in the owner's manual. The PCM and fuel pump fuse are labeled backwards. Regardless, all of the fuses can easily be tested with a test light by probing the metal test tabs on top of each fuse. No parts swapping needed.
Over the weekend I put on the new CCRM and it did not work, but I got my money back so no harm no foul. I checked all my fuses under the hood and under the driver side dash and none of them looked blown. Also, I got a reading of 12+ volts from the fuel pump fuse under the hood. Are there any other fuel pump relays other than the CCRM which is supposedly built in? I have not checked my inertia switch yet (which I will do on Friday) but before I do, how certain are you that the the P1260 (car immobilized) has nothing to do with the pump not priming? Could it be possible that nothing is wrong at all and by letting my car battery go dead with a costume tune on it, did something to the computer? How do I get the immobilized code cleared out? I tried deleting the code numerous times without even trying to start the car again and it pops up. Also, I disconnected my battery many times and even let it sit overnight and it did not clear the code. With my key FOB I locked and unlocked the doors, used my key to lock and unlock the driver side door, and even tried letting my key sit in the ON position for 12 minutes or so. Even if there was several points of failure like you mentioned (unrelated to the PATS), would that cause my car to throw a theft code?