First let me say I am posting this here because this question applies to all Ford PATS II equipped vehicles and I want to get a big audience so my question will be answered. Not much traffic on the Escape forum.

I just bought an '05 Escape and my wife already has an '05 Freestyle. What I am trying to find out is this - is there a way for both of these vehicles to share a PATS key? I want to reduce the number of keys in my pocket so I would like for 1 key to work in both the Escape and the FS.

The Escape came with only 1 key. The FS has 3 keys.

I called my local locksmith and he said he could change the Escape's lock cylinder so it would take the FS key and then reprogram the Escape to accept 2 of the FS keys (I could then presumably program it myself to accept the 3rd key). This sounded like the easy solution but he then said when I get home, the 2 keys I just programmed to the Escape will no longer work in the FS. He said the programming was going to change the code in the FS keys.

Well, this was news to me because I thought the code in the key stayed the same and only the car's PATS module was being programed to accept the keys you wanted to use. However, I called a friend at one of the local Ford dealers and he confirmed that the keys are indeed reprogrammed.

However, when you have 2 good keys and want to add a 3rd, which you can do yourself, surely your car is not able to reprogram the keys, is it? So I am thinking, if each car had 2 keys of it's own that had the same tooth pattern then couldn't I add another key to each car (the same key) that they would then share? Or am I wrong and the car itself can reprogram the key?

I have searched this site and the web and kind find no kind of specifics on the KEYS actually being reprogrammed. Does anybody know in what circumstances the key itself is reprogrammed and in what circumstances the PATS module is being reprogrammed to just accept an existing code?

To be clear, the steps of my proposed process are as follows:

1) Toss existing Escape key in the trash.
2) Cut 2 new keys the same as the FS keys.
3) Rekey the Escape lock cylinders to take the FS keys.
4) Program the Escape to accept the 2 new keys made in step 2.
5) Take 3rd FS key and program Escape myself to accept this as it's 3rd key.

This would leave me with 2 FS-only keys, 2 Escape-only keys, and 1 shared key. Will this work?

 

I do know that the older double sided keys could be double cut, that is, one vehicle on one side and another on the other side, PROVIDED THEY USE THE SAME BLANK. I've done that with several different Ford vehicles.

From what I know about PATS programming, you are programming the vehicle to accept the key. So the same chip should program to more than one vehicle.

Therefore you should be able to do as you wish without even having the Escape re-keyed. You'd have to mark the keys so you would know which side "UP" to keep from having to do the trial and error each time you inserted the key.

This should get the ball rolling!

 

When you program/ re-program a pats key it is told the code that is in the vehicle. You will have to have two different keys for the two vehicles. Get a second key made for the Escape. Buy four more blanks. About $10 each on E-bay. Now program two spares to each vehicle. Have someone keep 1 of the spares to each vehicle. If you are locked out you can call them as backup to bring you a key. Keep one spare so that if you lose one of the two primary keys you can obtain and program a replacement. You must have two programed keys in-order to program a third. The only thing that can be matched between the vehicles is the keyless entry code. You can add a second code to the existing code for a vehicle. My two Taurus have their original keypad codes and the code for the other car in their systems.

 

Just wondering about this .....We bought a used Escape, with only one key. I purchased two more off Ebay, and had the dealer program them (for free, as they had only supplied one). I was told that the original (missing) key would no longer start the car. So, either the keys are unique and don't change , which I suspect is the case, OR, the dealer has to give the vehicle a new code (doubtful). Just saying......


”The right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” -Hubert Humphrey-

 

When the dealer programed the 2 new keys he should have gone ahead and programed the original to match. Do you still have the original key? Take the 2 new keys and following the instructions in the owners manual program the original to match them. https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenan...ls/default.asp

 

Pats keys don't store any info or get programed. They only get accepted or rejected by the vehicle which has been programed .
What you proposed should work just fine.

 

That's what I always thought but the locksmith and the Ford guys tell me the keys do get programmed, as does shorebird up above. I would like to try it but it's kind of expensive if it doesn't work.

 

The missing key won't work because when the dealer programmed the new keys, he set a new master in the PATS module in your car which wipes out the memory of any old keys.

 

The vehicle PATS programs the key. End of story. Good luck!

 

True had my other PCM programed and the old one now does not see the truck

 

So the car has a code and it then sets all the keys that you program to it to the same code? I guess this kinda makes sense because if the code in the key was fixed, and the car was keeping a list of acceptible keys, then there would be many, many more codes needed because there are WAY more keys out there than cars. Or perhaps the car has 8 codes (the max number of keys allowed) and it picks one for each key? Still the principle is the same and Ford controls the number of available codes. If they farm that out to everybody who wants to make key blanks with PATS chips in them they lose control of the codes. I guess I can see that.

 

The Pats system was not made to be a free for all with keys.
It is a complex system made that way for theift prevention and works very well.
It it were, you may unlock 10 other Ford vehichles in the same lot.
It's not going to happen very often that you will unlock one other nearby car or truck once a year.
The code is integrated with the dash and the PCM after the first operation.
All the sections must sgree before the correct signal is sent to the PCM to allow the motor to start.
Fool with keys long enough and you will be towing one or both vehichles to the dealer for a reprogram and be back to the original scheme from the factory plus a lighter wallet and alot of hassle before you find out you can't circumvent the system.
Even when a PCM has to be re initalized with a new program for some other unrelated reason, the PATS has to be done again and they would ask you for 2 keys, not just one.
Good luck.

 

See: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...lock-keys.html

Posts 8 & 12.

 

Well, of course, that info says that it is the PATS module that is getting programmed to accept the key code, not the other way around. No wonder there is so much confusion on this issue.

Note to Bluegrass7: Maybe you ought not lecture me on what I should or should not do with my keys when you don't even know the diff between PATS and Keyless Entry. PATS has nothing to do with the ability to "unlock 10 other Ford vehichles in the same lot."

 

I was wrong in my earlier post!!!
From; Ford, Lincoln, Mercury Passive Anti-Theft System (PATS) - William Michael Automotive
Ford, Lincoln, Mercury Passive Anti-Theft System (PATS)

Many of the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles sold since the late 90’s have come with an anti theft system known in the industry as PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System). PATS uses radio frequency identification technology to prevent the vehicle from being stolen. PATS uses a specially encoded ignition key. Each encoded ignition key contains a permanently installed electronic device called a transponder. Each transponder contains a unique electronic identification code. Each Key's code is completely different so each encoded ignition key must be programmed into the vehicle's instrument cluster module, before it can be used to start the engine.

Now I take this to mean that the car/ truck learns what keys are to be used. So theoretically You could have two key cylinders that are keyed the same and teach the two vehicles to use the same keys.

BUT you will have to take one of the vehicles to the dealer to have the PATS learn the first two keys from the other vehicle as the base set of keys. Then you could program additional keys.

1. You use the base set to program 2 additional keys for vehicle A.
2. You use the base set to program vehicle B to recognise the same 2 additional keys.
3. You now have 4 keys to use between the two vehicles.
4. You can program up to 8 keys to any one vehicle.
5. Maybe you should program a couple of keys only for each of the vehicles. Say 4 shared and 2 just for A and 2 just for B.