[FIXED] Ford PATS key learning, what am I doing wrong?

Struggling on this one I know some of you have been here, help!

'99 Ranger, owner lost all the coded keys, obviously won't crank. Got two keys at the dealer, go to erase the old ones and learn the new ones. The Modis with 16.4 says it'll do it, But kicks out an error code every time I go to get security access

OK, be that way then. I grab the Autel, now I have security access, sweet. Go to erase the old keys and... "No communication". Try again, same thing.

What the... Now I go check data, and it actually says zero keys are programmed. So it worked anyway? Whatever. Go to program keys, stops during the process, some error about codes stored? No kidding, that's why I'm here! :pinch:

This should be a slam dunk job, what am I doing wrong? All comments are welcomed, thanks!

Ford changed the type of shop on the keys somewhere along the way. They went from a 40 bit code to an 80 bit code. The newer 80 bit keys are 'supposed' to work on an older 40 bit system as the older system only reads the first 40 bits. I have heard mixed reports about this actually being the case though. There are also multiple companies making these types of key blanks and many of them are junk. When I was researching this I found a lot of recommendations for 'Strattec' brand key blanks ( I think they are an OEM for Ford). This is the brand I bought when I made, programmed in the keys for my 2011 Ranger.

I used a cheap OBDII (USB) adapter and a free program called 'Forscan' to program my truck to take the new keys. One of the steps that they recommend before trying to program the keys is to insert them one at a time and look at the PID that tells you if there was an error reading the key. If the key is not programmed into the vehicle you will get an security error of course but it will still be able to read the keys code, if it can't read the keys code there is a separate PID that is set. The point is you find out if your vehicle can read the key before trying to program it in.

JeffBirt wrote: Ford changed the type of shop on the keys somewhere along the way. They went from a 40 bit code to an 80 bit code. The newer 80 bit keys are 'supposed' to work on an older 40 bit system as the older system only reads the first 40 bits. I have heard mixed reports about this actually being the case though. There are also multiple companies making these types of key blanks and many of them are junk. When I was researching this I found a lot of recommendations for 'Strattec' brand key blanks ( I think they are an OEM for Ford). This is the brand I bought when I made, programmed in the keys for my 2011 Ranger.

I used a cheap OBDII (USB) adapter and a free program called 'Forscan' to program my truck to take the new keys. One of the steps that they recommend before trying to program the keys is to insert them one at a time and look at the PID that tells you if there was an error reading the key. If the key is not programmed into the vehicle you will get an security error of course but it will still be able to read the keys code, if it can't read the keys code there is a separate PID that is set. The point is you find out if your vehicle can read the key before trying to program it in.

Thanks, sir! I did end up testing out the keys the way you described, just to make sure that the lock cylinder transceiver was working.

Well, it's [FIXED], but it took WAY longer than it should have. Ultimately, I found that whenever the Autel was saying that the key programming failed, that it was actually working! Figured this out when I was checking data again, saw that it showed one key programmed. Way to mislead me, Autel

Anyway, got both keys programmed, back on the road. Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth... Two different brands of scanners that struggled to get the job done Maybe I shoulda gone with Forscan in the first place! :lol:

Glad to hear you got it sorted. As I understand it different years and different vehicles have different programming protocols and the manufacturer of tool/software has to have an accurate database of what vehicle/year/market uses which protocol. Initially Forscan did not work with my truck but I sent the session log file to them and had a test version of the program in about a day to test out. It seems absurd to me to have to jump, through so many hoops just to make a key.