Help save a Sable - They're endangered! (Not a canoe!)

I mean really, when was the last time you saw one on the road

Mother in Law's 2002 Mercury Sable won't start. Accessory lights work, etc. "Theft" light flashes rapidly which the internet believes means that PATS system doesn't like the key being used.

Had car towed to Ford dealer. They made 2 new keys - still no start. Then said there was an aftermarket alarm that was likely the problem. removed that. Still no start. Did further diagnosis and say that car needs a new PCM ($900 not including install and 0 stock nationwide - dealer believes part is NLA). Dealer also says used PCM won't work, has to be coded to that car and can't be re-coded.

Sooo... Anybody know about the Ford anti theft system and coding the PCM to the car - what equipment is needed, can a used PCM be reprogrammed? The service writer I'm talking to is not very technical, so it's hard for me to trust what he's telling me.

Unfortunately, the car (which I've never seen and is located 500 miles from me) is headed to the junk yard unless I get some good news here. Ran fine up until a week ago, and would probably run fine again if the electrons would allow it.

Megasquirt? :)

I'm surprised to hear that 2002 Ford would have an ECU with single-time coding to stuff in the rest of the car. Worst case, if you could buy a wrecked-but-complete donor, you ought to be able to swap over all of the coded modules, including the existing keys.

I know you can bypass PATS for that era of F150 pretty easily, there are defeat boxes that sacrifice a key, but I think you have to start with a working system.

On the Mustangs I remember that there is an underhood fuse that can fail and break the PATS system with a flashing theft light for known-good keys, but hopefully a dealership would have checked this.

Maybe a (good) alarm shop can help? I occasionally call a guy who knows aftermarket immobilizers inside and out.

Does it have the good engine?

Also, where is it?

500 miles in which direction? Those cars having rather poor compatibility with salt is why you don't see many anymore, I've seen subframe mount points rust right off the body.

ssswitch wrote: On the Mustangs I remember that there is an underhood fuse that can fail and break the PATS system with a flashing theft light for known-good keys, but hopefully a dealership would have checked this.

Rule 2 of troubleshooting: The guy before you couldn't figure it out, so don't trust anything he did or ruled out.

I saw a nearly pristine Sable in the parking lot at work Thursday. A clean Sable in the Midwest is memorable. That's all I have to add here.

Is there a after market ECU that will get the car up and running?

A tuner with the right software should be able to turn off the anti-theft. My mod motor 57 T-Bird is running the Ford ECU and doesn't need a special key.

Endangered? More like open season where I live.

PATS can be shut off with an aftermarket OBDII tuner. They're not cheap, but they're cheaper than a $900 NLA PCM. Is it the DOHC 3.0, or OHV 3.0?

Thanks for the replies everybody. Car is in FL, and I don't think it's a rust bucket (never seen it).

Don't know which engine, but will get the VIN and figure that out.

No interest in buying a parts car to swap parts and get this one running. Trying to fix this remotely.

I had a chance to do a little more digging, and there is website called flagship one that sells PCM's programmed to your specific VIN, plus keys that are coded to the VIN also - for $225. Anybody bought from them or hear of them?

I'm not too confident in what the service writer is telling me, so I'm not super stoked to spend money on a PCM and ship it to the dealer and assume that will fix the issue. I guess I'll try to talk to the actual tech on Monday before ordering anything.

Anyone know how exactly PATS works - i.e. would it make the PCM appear to be "shorted out" as the service writer put it? I THINK if key is not verified, the PCM won't engage the starter or fire the fuel injectors. Haven't found much good info online - just lots of BS info and speculation.

Easy to tell the engine, if it's got 3.0 badges on the fender that's what you want. I think the other engine was called a Vulcan, you don't want it. I had a sable with the good engine and I was happy with it. I also had an svt contour with a sable 3.0 and I was happy with that too. Well, as happy as one could be with a contour I suppose.

On a '99 you could definitely use a used PCM as long as it was the "right" one. I'm not familiar with changes that may have taken place between '99 and '02, but they definitely didn't go to CANBUS. it could be that the Ford dealership no longer has the equipment to program the PATS on an old EEC-IV PCM like would be in the '02 Sable.

PCM's on these cars were known to just fail on occasion. It happened on my grandma's '98 Sable Duratec (under warranty).

Any chance these guys might help?

http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/#/?_k=qwj14f

Hah, I used to be a very active member of TCCA, my login still works, Apparently I last logged in 12/14/04!