2003 Harley F150 Factory Alarm System has rendered truck un-startable
 

I left my keys in my girlfriends car and used my spare, probably for the first time ever to try to start my truck.

Upon turning the ignition over, the alarm starts going ape ****. I didn't have the fob so the only way to turn it off was to unplug the battery.

I got the key fob and primary key I use to start the truck this morning and hooked the batter back up and turned the ignition, same result.

Except this time, I can get the horn to stop blaring because I have the fob.

Problem is, I cannot get my truck started.

1) I've seen lots of people posting about this ****ty alarm system (on my 9 year old truck no less) not working correctly, but no solutions. What can be done to resolve this problem?

The ford dealership says I may need to tow it 30 miles in to the dealership for them to re-set something. That sounds absurd.

2) Longer term, is there a way to completely disable the alarm? I don't need it and don't want it. From time to time when pumping gas it does this, but I usually can lock the car and then open the car door by sticking the key in the door, thereby indicating to the alarm system that I am indeed the owner and then it starts.

Please help!!!!

PS Thank you ford for an awesome truck but no thank you for a ****ty alarm product. When you keep the owner of the car with the official key from starting his own danged vehicle, you haven't quite hit the mark.

Guess it say's you don't own the truck!! the tow is cheap insurance that you not trying to steal my truck!
Frank

Like all things...it is great when it is working correctly, not so much when it is not.:-X18

most likely, yes the "PATS" system it needs to be reprogrammed. and dealer is the better place.

other things to check is to make sure your battery is good. Improper voltage can really mess with the electrical's Also make sure the relays and fused are all good.

do have a after market remote starter??

Did you try starting it with the back-up key again?

I have had mine alarm a few times and had to use remote to lock and unlock it to get it to stop but never had issue with it starting.

My truck is acting weird as well, just slightly different symptoms. I have a 2003 F-150 XL and occasionally the entire dash (theft, service engine soon, low fuel, battery, and oil/coolant lights) will flash rapidly when I turn the key to ON. If this happens, the truck will NOT start. A couple of times, pressing the trip odometer reset button will make the dash stop flashing and allow the truck to start.

Not sure if it's the anti-theft system or not, but I don't really feel like spending the money at the dealer on a "maybe" solution when it could be several different things. I have a bigger battery in there now and the truck hasn't acted weird since I changed the battery out (yet, anyways... I'm not holding my breath). The last one tested good at 12.41 volts but I never did a load test because I couldn't get it started to drive it to AutoZone... New battery has the correct cold cranking amps (650-700 vs. 500-550) so maybe that was causing something funky to happen, I don't know.

yes..... that is what can happen when the battery is failing, gauges go crazy and what not. Most likely your old battery would have failed a load test. You have found your solution.:-X22

Just make sure that your battery cable & connections are in good condition.

Hey Guys, I'm new here because you guessed it, got a problem. My 2003 F150 started not un locking the driver side door. Had to do it manually. Then yesterday it wouldn't start, just turned over and the theft light was blinking. There were no codes to clear but after I hooked up the code reader it started. later it did the same thing. The battery turns over fast as always but no fire. Any ideas? Thanks

Mine does that if I jump in and turn the key too fast. I think the PATs system didn't get enought time to read the key before I hit start. But that's just a guess.