Any help with this would be unbelievably appreciated. I have a 1997 Ford Expedition XLT with the 5.4 Triton. It is four wheel drive and up until a year ago, ran perfectly. A few months after parking the Expedition, I came out, started it up, and unfortunately it would not shift out of park. I read online some where that a specific relay may be bad (unfortunately I can not find this thread any longer) and it stated that if I could turn the key on with out starting the vehicle, shift in to neutral, then start it and if it went in to gears that way, it was this specific relay. Well this process worked. Unfortunately, that is where I left it. I never replaced this relay. A few months after that, I went out and attempted to start it. Nothing. The starter wire (the main large one) had come apart. I replaced the starter and now the Expedition turns over but will not run. The theft light blinks excessively and it gets no gas. I do not believe it is the fuel pump as I have attempted to spray starter fluid in to the intake. It does not fire at all. Now I as well as my mechanic believe that it has something to do with the theft system. I bought a new key, programmed it, and unfortunately it still does the same thing. We also by passed the theft system by rewiring the section that runs under the dash at the back/bottom of the steering column. That too did not work and we have since rewired it back to how it originally was. I am totally puzzled as to what I can do next. At one point it was spewing out tons of error codes when we hooked it up to the computer. Now it only is giving out one error code which is DTC B1845. I appreciate you folks who are taking the time to read through this novel and any help with this matter, well I’d probably fly to where ever you are and kiss you.

 

Do you have 2 good keys? It takes 2 good ones to program another one.

 

A 97 (and 98) Expedition only requires one operational PATS key in order to program more keys. However, if PATS is triggered, you cannot program a new key in-vehicle.

A fast-flashing THEFT light indicates that PATS has immobilized the vehicle. You cannot bypass the PATS systems, so you'd best undo whatever it is you did under the dash.

You probably should re-read the fault codes for the PATS system. I cannot find the one you gave in any of the relevant Ford service docs.

 

Well the thing is the theft light was flashing before we ever attempted to disable it. We did rewire it back to how it originally was but again, it still continues to do the same thing. I also bought another key directly from Ford and we programmed it. We followed the process exactly how it is supposed to be done but the second key also does not work. I do have the original key which always worked up until this point but I just don't know what to do with it at this point. Nothing seems to be working and that code is the only error code we are getting now.