New Start

Since my decision to pull the GT off the road and make it a drag racing car I had to go through a couple things to get it off the road. I called my insurance agent to cancel the insurance, but he told me that the State of Georgia will fine me if I don't turn in my tag and tell the State that the car is no longer on the road.

I thought that by not renewing the tag would be enough for the state to know it's not on the road anymore, but I was wrong. So, before turning in my tag I had to fill in the empty space with something new. I searched Amazon and found this Ford Racing plate for $6.99 with free two day shipping since I'm a Prime member.

I got the plate today and installed it. I'm not sure if the tag office will be open on Monday because of the 4th of July holiday. If not I'll have to wait until Wednesday to turn it in and cancel my insurance.

A very small upgrade and a small step toward my race car project, but "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao Tzu

Or to put it another way, "A journey of many quarter miles begins with a single step."

R.I.P. Project Street Machine. 2008 - 2017

My Street / Strip Project is dead. The new transceiver did not fix the problem. From today, I only have four days to get my emissions checked and get my tags. That is not happening, so off the road my Mustang goes, to start life as a drag car that will also be trailered to parking lot shows.

I am not going to dump a bunch of money into the car to chase down an electrical problem. So far I'm leaning toward a carbureted build using the 4.6 Edelbrock intake, a 650 CFM carburetor and the MSD Ignition Controller Mod 6. This way I can strip out all the 19 year old wiring and start fresh. I'll need a wiring kit to wire the rest of the car, something like the Bare Bones Wiring Kit from Ron Francis.

I will strip out what I don't need and sell it on eBay or Craigslist to fund this. Things like the perfect all black leather interior, the '98 gas tank with the SVO Focus racing pump, the Mach 360 stereo system, the EFI wiring harness with the ECU and the heavy 18x9 Bullitt wheels and tires.

I know it's odd to strip apart a super clean 1998 Mustang just to drag race it, but I will be starting with a car I know, that has not been in an accident and will make a great platform for a race car. I have only driven the car 7,000 miles since I got it 9 years ago. This will start out as a budget build. I'm going to try and get as much as I can used except for the MSD Mod 6 and the wiring kit.

The downside is I can never drive it on the street again. The upside is I don't have to worry about keeping it emissions legal and I won't have the yearly costs of insurance and tags.

Stupid PATS problem, Ordered A New Transceiver F8SB-15607-AC

OK, I talked to a mobile locksmith and he does not think it is a problem with the key. He thinks it's a problem with the transceiver module, a blown fuse, a short or a bad relay. I checked all the fuses and they look fine. I looked in the owner's manual for my car and did not see a relay for the PATS / Anti-Theft system. So I took the steering column apart and removed the PATS transceiver. I have ordered one off eBay for $25 shipped.

It took a bit to get the covers off and the large metal plate from under the dash off to get access to all the screws for the cover. I had to fiddle a bit with the connectors and finally got them loose. The transceiver is held on with a T-20 bolt. My T-20 bit seemed a bit large but I was able to get the job done with some extra force. There is a wire going to the ring where the lock cylinder goes and there is a small brass tab that looks like it makes contact with the lock cylinder. It had a bit of white lithium grease on it. I'll make sure that is cleaned and re-lubed when I put it all back together. I hope my next post is one that reports the car has started and is running.

Stupid PATS II Key.... The Neverending Story

OMG!

Well, went to take the Mustang out to the carwash. Started right up, I backed down the driveway and it stalls. I try and start it again, but it just cranks over. I take the key out, put it back in and try and start it and the Theft light is blinking again. Ugggg.

I did the key reset, it did not work the first try, but does the second. So, I'm not going to drive this thing until I get a new key. Not sure if the transponder is weak or it was because the key was back on it's ring, but I have to get this fixed if I'm going to drive it without worrying about getting stranded somewhere.

Charging the A/C with A/C Pro by STP

I wanted to make sure that the A/C was bad in the car before I pulled it out. I had noticed that the compressor would try and cycle on every now and then, but would not stay on. If the system is not charged the compressor will cycle like that till you charge it.

I got a bottle of A/C Pro by STP and tried to charge it. The gauge on bottle said that my system had a full charge, in fact was a bit over charged. I thought this might have been from a cheap gauge so I tried to put a bit in. It did nothing for the system, the compressor still only cycled now and then and the A/C did not get any colder, I had a thermometer on it, no change.

I then checked my daily driver and it was a bit low, it took just about the whole can and dropped the temp 10 degrees.

So that is that, I'll be pulling the A/C to take some weight off the nose of the car. I'll post some photos when I get around to doing that.

Stupid PATS II Key, The End!

The transponder inside a PATS Key.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and take the Mustang out to do some chores. I made many stops and the car started each and every time. I had my cellphone and AAA auto club card with me just in case. I thought I'd state exactly what I did just in case someone else is searching the net for an answer to their Mustang key problem.

This is what I did to reset, or pair my PATS key with my car after the battery had been dead in it for months:

1.)  Put key in ignition and turn it to the on position, don't start.

2.)  Wait 10 minutes for the the Theft light to go out, it may go out earlier, just make sure you wait more than 10 minutes total.

3.)  Take key out of ignition.

4.)  With your remote key fob, lock and unlock the car a few times.

5.)  Put key in ignition and turn it to the on position, wait for the Theft light to go out, then start the car.

Here is a video that helped me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_kUlojMdYw

His car is a New Edge Mustang, 1999 - 2004. Mine is an SN95 Mustang a 1998. Just be warned that this might be just for the '98 and up Mustangs. My wife had a early 1998 Mustang and the key was different than mine. My car was made in Oct. '98. Hope this helps anyone that is stuck.

Stupid PATS II Key Part III

OK, it is working......for now.

I looked around on some Ford forums and found a suggestion to take the key off the keyring. Extra metal can sometimes mess with the transponder. My key ring is metal, it also has another key that is not a chip key, but a Home Depot full metal key that is cut for my car. It works with the trunk and doors, but won't start the car unless I have the PATS system turned off in a tune.

Well, I put just the key in, turned it and got the flashing THEFT light. I then started to wait the 10 minutes for the reset. While I was waiting the THEFT light did it's normal thing, blinked fast, after about 1 minutes it started to blink slowly, a few minutes later it blinks once, then three times fast then goes out for a bit, then back to the once blink then three fast. It then goes out completely. I still wait because the 10 minutes is not over yet. Then it does something it has not done before, the "Check Engine" light comes on. The car is not running and I thought this is odd.

After 10 minutes I took the key out, locked and unlocked the car via the remote fob a few times. I then put the key and only the key back in the ignition and turned it. All the lights come on and after a few seconds the THEFT light goes out. I turn the key and it starts. Yea!

I waited a few minutes and started it a few more times and no THEFT light problem. I am hoping all the metal on the keyring messed up the ECU / PATS reset the first time around.

I am still nervous about driving this thing. I would hate stalling the car, it's a 5 speed, and then not be able to start it. Or go to the store, come out and it not start. I'm going to test it for a few days to make sure this reset has really fixed it this time.

I hope this is the last PATS key post I make! It does look like I'll just have to bite the Bullitt* and get a new key cut and programed at Ford.



* Intentional Mustang pun...

Stupid PATS II Key Part II

Sometimes I want to blow up my car!

I went outside to take the Mustang to the carwash and it would not start, again. Same 'Theft' light problem. I tried the things that worked in my last post and nothing. Sigh.

I have a Diablo tuner and I hear you can disable PATS in a tune. The problem with that is my tuner is locked. I tried to test something on Nancy's car and it 'married' it to her car and I could not fix it. Diablo charges $129 to unlock the tuner, Ford charges $135 for a key and that was when it worked with one key I'm sure it would be a ton of money now. I'll have to research this some more. I'll update after it's fixed or even if it is not and I have tried something. ARRRggggg!!!

Stupid PATS II Key

The battery in my Mustang died. It was over nine years old so I got some good use out of it. I had not driven the Mustang in months so there was no power going to the car for awhile.

I got another battery, installed it, turned the key and it just turned over and did not start. The "Theft" light was blinking and would not turn on the fuel pump so I could start the car.

I looked on the internet for a fix and the first thing I tried was just let the ECU reset by leaving it alone for a few hours. I left it alone overnight. That did not work, still a flashing Theft light.

I then found a key reset video on Youtube that used a remote. I don't have a remote, but I gave it a shot. It worked, once. The light came back on again and would not start.

My wife had a '98 Mustang that is long gone now, but there was a spare remote. I tried to pair it with the car, but the batteries in it were dead. Off to Amazon to get some coin batteries.

They came in today, I put them in, paired the remote with my car and tried to start it. No go again.

I then waited 10 mins. after I put the key in to wait for the Theft light to go out. I took the key out, unlocked and locked the doors with the remote, tried to start the car, but the Theft light came back on. I took the key out again, used the remote to lock and unlock the doors a few times, tried to start it and it worked, but the Theft light was blinking while it was running.

I then just drove around the neighborhood for 15 mins. and the light went out. I went home, turned off the car and tried to start it again. It worked and no flashing Theft light this time.

I have gone out a few times today and it still works fine. I would hate to go somewhere and have the thing not start up leaving me stranded, but it seems to be working fine right now.

I hope to post more to this blog in 2017. I did not post at all in 2016. My A/C is dead and I'm thinking I'm going to get an A/C delete pulley and start to lighten the car. I'm also thinking about moving the battery to the trunk. I'm also toying with the idea of getting rid of the 18x9 Bullitt Wheels, because they weigh 30 pounds each. The 17x8 wheels that came with the car only weigh 21 pounds that is a bunch of unsprung weight to lose. Plus Mickey Thompson Street Comp tires in 245/45r 17" sell for only $118 each from Summit Racing. I'll post more when those things happen.