1999 Mercury Cougar Pats Problem

[MelanieGriffith]

Hello Rob, from what i have read i believe you to be the best expert on these crap PATS systems.

I have a 1999 mercury cougar that has the predictable pats registry issue, i had changed my battery and when trying to start my car after all i got was the red blinking light and the car would not turn over at all.

I do have both of my keys but neither Will work,  I called my local ford dealership and they gladly quoted me $600 for a 1 hour reprogram!!!! I have declined as you have probably guessed.

So my question is, would there be any way for me to reprogram, reset, or bypass this POS system in any way? Without costing me hundreds of dollars? I do have a parts car as well could i just swap the keys, ignition and transponder over to my steering column?

Thank you for your time and any help you can provide.

[Daylen]

Hi,

The car PATS was designed differently than the SUVs and trucks. On the trucks and SUVs it was just a matter of closing the points on the PCM power relay. Cars on the other hand were equipped with a relay module having a number of relays in a non-servicable box. I suppose the same theory on the trucks can be used by rewiring, but you would need to purchase a factory service manual from Helm, which will set you back around $100 unless you find one on Ebay, but you still don't know if it will work until you try finding the circuit and rewiring it.

The swap would be the way I would go in my opinion. On most Ford to remove the ignition you put the ignition in the on position and find the hole on the bottom of the steering column. Take an ice pick, insert it in the hole and depress the retaining pin and remove the lock. Take your other ignition and push in hole turning very slightly on key until cylinder lines up. Push in and done. That is on most Fords.

Ford said it was virtually impossible to defeat the PATS in a case I had agsinst them. Los Angeles "Greines v Ford" I studied a service manual electrical schematic(something that many of today's techs have no clue to do). I found a back door and defeated this junk on 10/10/2000 on video for a judge. I shared my bypass with peers. They too made videos after using my bypass. To this day, the idiots at Ford will tell you impossible on this system that was in their vehicles until 2003.

OK, sorry about this, but I appreciate you opening the door on the fantastic piece of crap, which commonly like other factory installed deterrents stops the owner from driving until extorted a very high price from the dealer.

There are times like this that I get on my soap box.

Ford lied to all consumers and still does and this issue would be great for a class action. Insureds are injured on a daily basis being accused of fraud when their unstealable vehicle is stolen. PATS(Passive Anti Theft System). A big lie and this system(nor anyone elses)has ever been designed to stop theft! These systems only control the start/ignition circuit. That hardly prevents towing! No system made prevents theft! Unless of course you were to listen to the all-knowing forensic locksmiths that the insurance companies contract.

They will accuse the insured almost every time with the boiler plate conclusion through out the nation stated as this: No ignition damage was present and the vehicle was last driven with a key of the proper type. Although there has never been a definition as to what the heck that is! Could be the insureds key if towed, some other unaccounted for key, another programmed key or a cloned key. Never specified because it cannot be done!

It gets better--These conclusions are the same on totally burned vehicles when all electronics have been destroyed by fire and no way of checking the computer. I am considered an outcast in my industry because I dare successfully question their methodology and conclusions for validity.

A group of these goofs working with insurance defense attorneys and prosecutors have done everything to destroy me both personally and professionally for the last 16 years in court, because of their fear of exposure. The defense attorneys can't defend the facts, so they have made a referendum on me. Sometimes, I don't even hear anything about the evidence at deposition. In April 2012, the State Farm attorney was more concerned about my romantic life, asking how to cotact my ex-wife from a 20 year marriage, if I blamed State Farm for my divorce.

In 2007-2008 I was going through a divorce at the same time we had 12 months of our life stolen costing me everything. Courtesy of a State Farm defense attorney and a opposing expert, the deliberately took the corporate gross without salaries and all other expenses considered and confused it with my personal income, coupled with an anonymous letter, causing a 12 month federal investigation on us. We needed permission from a federal judge to get divorced! 12 months all over when the idiot feds deposed me and realized what I was accused of was a lie!

This is what happens when one bucks the status quo of accusing insureds of fraud. I could go on and it would sound like a rant, but this has been my life because I was doing what I felt to be the right thing.

The worst thing is to piss off a smarter man who has nothing to lose. I am more dangerous today than ever! I have taken the bull by the horns in this fraudulent industry and learned how to best represent my insured clients over being an expert witness for 16 years. I now am assigned Power of Attorney by my clients which gives me the same power of a plaintiff attorney in civil claims/cases in many states. The difference is that I know what I am doing in this field, where a plaintiff attorney argues the law, I argue the fact!

The reason I bring all this up, yet again, I literally saved a person's life. This involved a US Navy court martial based on State Farm's Forensic Locksmith in California involving a burned Ford truck with PATS and only one key. The expert said the vehicle was last operated with a key of the proper type. Once denied, the US Navy was prosecuting my guy for actions non-becoming, fraud, arson. I demanded the ignition lock evidence(attorney never thought of it) and all was destroyed in fire as well as computer. The Jag prosecuting the case had no choice but to dismiss! This happened in December 2012. And I have another exactly the same with USAA in Texas right now.

The insured is victimized on the theft, victimized by the forensic locksmith who can't prove anything, then victimized by denial of the theft claim. Worse yet, possibly prosecuted on what is known as circumstantial evidence(bull shit-construed as fact).

Its sad, we are the only firm in the world in this field that assist insureds on theft claims. The insurance investigation uses a fraud(forensic locksmith) in my opinion to facilitate a fraud investigation, to accuse the insured of fraud. All because the Ford PATS and every other so-called "anti theft system" by the forensic locksmiths allegedly prevent theft of the vehicle.

The first assumption used as fact, is that the vehicle was driven from the theft scene. Te next assumption used as fact, is that a thief would remove the parts before burning the vehicle. Well, they did not catch the person that set the fire, so it had to be the insured, or at least that is the assumption used as fact!. If the vehicle is not recovered, the forensic locksmith examines the keys and states the vehicle was last driven with a key of the proper type. No vehicle to examine, no ignition to examine. No PATS or other transponder system to examine. Assumption of insured involvement transposed as fact. I am not afraid to tell the truth and that is not allowed by the insurance industry or trust me, anyone questioning them is not allowed to have a business or exist. What a con, starting from the manufacturer and going forward. If these cases are lost by a plaintiff attorney, it is not because they are not good at being an attorney. They are just out of their league. My ability to defeat the Ford PATS in trucks and any other system out there is great. Another proven way to illustrate this, is I gave y'all and idea as to the type of questioning used on me by defense attorneys.

Anyone going through an auto theft claims investigation, an EUO or that has been denied, the first thought is to get an attorney, which in my opinion is the worst thing you can do. If you give us power of attorney to represent you, we ae a force that no attorney can compete in dealing with this field. Please visit our site at http://www.autotheftexpert.com You will see inside information that is never supposed to be divulged to assist insureds. Nothing like this on the web!

Rob Painter ASE,CFL,CFEI, CVFI

Auto Theft , Fire & Forensic Consultant/ Expert Witness

Auto Theft SIU Investigation/EUO Expert