Hello,
My wife came home yesterday and complained the idiot light for the charging system came on while she was driving. I put a voltmeter on the battery terminals and noticed the voltage was about 11 volts which is low if the car is running.

So I gave the vehicle a little gas and the voltage shot up to 14 volts and everything was looking just fine. I then decided maybe I should clean the battery terminals just to be on the safe side.

I turned the ignition off and disconnected the battery terminals and reconnected them since they didn't appear all that dirty. I then when to start the car and to my surprise everything was dead except for the door locks and dome lights.

Thinking the battery was low I put a charger on it and it took a full charge in about an hour. So I tryed starting it again and still nothing except for door locks and dome lighting.

Now things where looking quite bad since she wanted to get this Christmas tree before the big football game. So I said we will take my 85 Skyhawk and strap it on the roof. Needless to say the overheating problem I am having on the Skyhawk would have to wait until another day.

So we get the tree and she beings to watch football while I go back outside and check the fuses on this 2000 Windstar. Everything looked just fine with the fuses but still the thing wouldn't come back to life.

Now it is starting to get cold as the day is coming to an end and the wife is worrying about her car not working. I looked into the owners manual and it stated it had something called a Securilock system I thought might be causing the problem.

Well between the owners manual and the Hanyes manual it said absolutely nothing special had to be done when replacing a battery on this beast. It mentioned how to program new keys but that was about it except for bringing in to the dealer.

So I figured what would I have to lose if I turned the ignition switch on and then connected the negative battery terminal. If it was drawing a lot of current I would find out rather fast.

Low and behold the 2000 Winstar came back to life and everything appears to be working fine now. Since I have an 85 Skyhawk and 86 F-150 I am not used to anything but a faulty ignition switch, battery, starter, or solenoid that may cause an engine not to crank.

So I was wondering if anybody had a similiar problem with the newer (2000) F-150? I think this was a problem in dealing with the Securilock (PATS) system on the Windstar. Is there something special you need to do when replacing a battery on these newer vehicles?

Any assistance with information on this Securilock (PATS) system would be appriciated. It not much fun having your dead vehicle towed to the dealer for this type a garbage. I am quite disappoined with Ford and Hanyes for not detailing a manual overide in the owners manual.

Anyway thanks for your time. My entire day was just about shot yesterday trying to figure out this stupid problem. The 85 Skyhawk is still overheating but it got me to work today. My 86 F-150 needs a battery but I know it will start after I replace it.

My wife doesn't understand why I still drive these cars. Maybe if she drove one I would have been able to watch football yesterday.
Regards,
Erik


.

 

I have had this problem several times with my 99 f150. Took me a few tries before I figured out what was happening. I have the factory alarm system and what was happening was this: because my alarm is so loud when my head is under the hood (such as reconnecting the battery terminal), I was hitting the "Disarm" button on my alarm remote (same one as the factory keyless entry) too soon. If I let it sit a few seconds (like 10-15 secs after reconnecting the battery) then everything is fine. If I hit it too soon (like 2 or 3 secs after reconnecting the battery) then it won't start and the alarm doesn't work right.

just a thought...

 

Hello Jc,
Thanks for the responce but I don't have an alarm on this vehicle. The keyless remote is only a three button with open, close, and panic. Besides I never touched the remote and the vehicle sat for several hours without starting.

So far the vehicle is working still today. My wife complained about the 'theft' indicator flashing while she was driving though. I didn't do it for me last night but when I started it this morning it appeared it was sending some type of morse code. It appeared to be a dash, then a pause, then 6 more dashes in a row. Then the thing would repeat itself.

It would be nice if the owner's manual or the haynes manual had the 'pats' codes listed. Once again I am in the dark so maybe I will have to do some searching to figure out what it going on.

I am thinking this error might be related to the battery since it happened after the vehicle sat all night. Maybe cranking the thing over in the cold today dropped the voltage to the 'pats' unit. The battery is 5 years old so I might just replace it and see what happens.

Needless to say the Interstate Battery in my F-150 lasted over 10 years! Guess what is going in the Windstar.

Regards,
Erik

 

Hello,
Just wanted to say I replaced the battery and everything is working normally again. I took the key out of the ignition prior to disconnecting the old battery. Once the new battery was installed the 'theft' light pulsed until the ignition was turned on.

From what I have read if the 'theft' light doesn't pulse it is considered a 'glitch' situation. The documentation said using a pats programmer go to a screen and reset the pats computer. Since I don't have access to a pats programmer hooking up the battery while the ignition was in the 'on' position must have done the same thing.

I would not recommend doing this on a normal basis but it saved me from having to have the vehicle towed to the dealer. By the way the new battery was cheaper then was the dealer wanted to diagnose the strange 'theft' light pulses that irritated my wife going down the road.

 

Thanks for letting us know what you found

 

This thread sounds similar in someways to my issue. I would appreciate any help that could be offered.

Two Ford Dealers have looked at this problem with no succses. My wife has relegated me to driving her Winstar until it is corrected.

The door locks, dome lights, and door ajar idiot lights start locking unlocking, flashing non stop, and etc while driving. I have diconected battery and reset. I have attempted to find any sensor that is causing the issue.

I am at a loss. I would love to disable the "auto door lock feature. It seems that is what is tripping. I can't find any info. Any ideas?

 

Welcome to the forum David

Problems like this can be pretty hard to find and Windstar wiring can be a real pain in the neck.
I've seen problems with the wiring above the headliner, usually on the passenger's side, problems with it under the carpet, bad Front Electronic Modules etc.
Chances are pretty good it will take a well trained, experienced tech with lots of time to work on it to find it