OK....Last week my wife's 2003 Ranger XLT SC 3.0 4x2 Automatic would not start. The power comes up to the dash and all lights. KOER everything works.
When I turn to start, there is nothing. No noise, nothing.

I took the battery to Walmart where I purchased it 12 months ago. It did not pass so they replaced it. I took the starter off and had it tested. It kind of passed the tests, but it was the original starter, so I replaced it also. I then replaced the ignition switch. All of this to no avail. I verified fuses and swapped the relays to make sure the starter relay was good. Nothing helped.

Had the truck towed into a reputable shop for diagnosis/repair. They called me and told me the starter was no good. That made no sense. I drove over and the shop foreman tells me that he personally put it on a bench and that it throws the bendix but does not spin. I explained that it is a brand new part and that I did not understand. If it was throwing the bendix, I would at least hear that engaging even if it did not spin. I asked if there was power to the circuit when the switch was turned and he said yes. I drove to the parts store and exchanged the "bad" starter. Today he calls me and tells me that the PATS system is not reading the key and I need to take it to the dealer.

My bill was for diagnostics and starter replacement. We went around because he told me that he verified power to the starter and that was obviously not true since the original problem still existed and that was stopping power from getting to the solenoid. He dropped the starter charges and jumped the starter relay so that I could drive it away.

Had a locksmith cut another key and attempt to program it to the truck. Now I have two keys programmed to the truck and it still won't crank. Did some reading at this forum and someone mentioned the neutral safety switch. Climbed under the truck and I have found a broken wire on the harness that plugs into the neutral safety switch. I'm not sure how I'm going to repair it because it is so tight. I also put the truck into reverse and verified that I have no reverse lights.

The wire in question looks like it is blue with a yellow tracer. I'm trying to dechiper if this wire could be the culprit. I would like to know if anyone has the schematic for this connection. Also, I tried to remove the large nut holding the shifter on, and it doesn't want to break lose. Does this need to be removed? Is there a trick or is it just brut strength? I'm trying not to break something else.

Any guidance, assistance and/or advice would be greatly appriciated. I'm tired of throwing parts at it and sending it to the shop didn't help a damn bit.

 

Welcome to the forum

Should have come here first :)

Below are the wiring diagrams, but that blue wire is not part of starter circuit, at least from what I see

Yes starter relay in fuse box is part of PATS system, but engine wouldn't start when you jumped starter relay if PATS was the problem
PATS turns off fuel pump and fuel injectors if wrong or bad PATS key is used in ignition, theft light on dash will also start to flash rapidly


With an automatic the transmission must be in Park or Neutral to start, because Ranger(any ford truck) can get a loose shifter that can cause a no start if shift cable/linkage doesn't close the Digital Range Sensor enough in Park.
But it would start in Neutral, so try that

Also check Fuse 24 in cab fuse box, that sends the power to Starter relay

 

You're probably correct about starting here!!




I have verified all fuses are good. There is no crank in any position on the gear selector. Neither Neutral nor Park will allow a crank. Once the starter relay is jumped.....it runs fine. To me this eliminates all PCM/PATS concerns (I could be wrong though.) It would seem that if the Neutral switch itself was bad, I should be able to get it to crank in neutral at least. It was pretty dark under the truck and I could be wrong about the colors of the wire.


The wiring diagrams help a lot.

I need to make the wire repair for sure....I'm just trying to decide where else to go with this.

I wish I knew the pinpoint test(s) to run to help diag this.

 

If you pull out the starter relay then use a Test light or voltage meter you can eliminate a few things

Hook meter or test light to Ground, battery negative
test meter/light by touching to battery positive

Key off
Test each slot that the starter relay plugs into, should be 4
One should have 12volts, power all the time, that would be the yellow wire in the diagram
Remember that slot

Have someone turn the key to START and hold it there
Test the remaining slots for 12volts
If no 12volts then ignition switch, fuse 24, thru trans switch to relay wire has bad connection or wire

If you have the 12volts at relay with key turned to START then that pathway is OK

Next is harder to test but by the process of elimination you should only have 2 slots left to test.
One goes to the starter motor, the other is the GROUND for the relay's Coil provided by the PATS system
You are jumping the relay slots to start engine so you may already know which slot goes to starter motor.
If so then hook meter/light to battery positive
Turn on the key
Test remaining slot for Ground, meter/light shows 12volts
If not then Relay's Ground wire to Computer PATS is bad, Dark Blue/orange strip wire

You can locate this wire where it comes out of engine fuse box and ground it, this takes PATS out of the equation but ONLY for starter interrupt, fuel system would still be disabled if someone tried to steal the vehicle.

 

RonD or anyone else wishing to respond......

OK.....There are 4 slots that appear wired. For reference, I will refer to them on their position on a clock face. The 12 o'clock slot is the hot constantly. The slot at 3 o'clock is the slot that I have been using to jump the starter manually, so I already know which wire this is. That leaves two slots with which to play.

The 9 o'clock position is constantly reading as open. The 6 o'clock position reads no voltage with key off. When I reverse the tester and check for ground, I am getting just over 12 volts. If I am understanding correctly, this would be the lead for the ground wire to the PATS and this pinpoint clears the PATS from being an issue.

Therefore, if I am correct, the opening at the 9 o'clock position is the wire for the ignition system and this appears to be the issue. Fuse 24 (10 amp) is good. I also switched it with another 10 amp just to be sure. No change. This tells me that I should be correct that I have a wiring issue. I have found the broken wire that plugs into the neutral switch. Later today, I will attempt a repair of that wire. It does look like it will be very easy due to its location. I am thinking I will remove the switch in order to lower it and gain a bit more room to make the repair and then retry to start the truck.

If anyone has any feedback or thinks that I am on the wrong track, please feel free to add your thoughts.

The help I have received so far has been immensely beneficial....I appreciate it more than you know.

 

Reads like you are exactly right, good work

Broken wire/connection between fuse 24 and Starter relay, Transmission switch would be logical place to start.

You could pull fuse 24, then with key in START position one of the Fuse 24 contacts should have 12volts, from ignition switch, if not then go back to ignition switch.

The OTHER contact for fuse 24 will run to the Transmission switch
You could use OHM meter and long wire to test if that wire was good

Just as a heads up
All Rangers are wired for Manual transmission and its Clutch switch, this disables starter if clutch pedal is not pushed down all the way, so same function as automatics trans switch
When a truck gets an automatic they plug in a Jumper wiring harness into the Clutch switch plug under the dash, and those wires run to the automatics transmission switch.

Picture of clutch switch connector here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ntitled-3-.jpg

Would be above where clutch pedal would be in the cab, and it would just look like a connector because the automatic trans wiring harness is plugged into it
Look for the PINK wires
If it was pulled loose then there's the problem

Fuse 24----------------clutch switch by-pass------------------------transmission switch-------------------starter relay

 

Just finished soldiering on the wire. Upon closer instpection it is indeed the violet/orange wire that was damaged. After the repair, I attempted to start and nothing. I did verify fuse 24 is still good.

Now my question is.....could the tranmission safety switch have been shorted when the wire came apart or grounded on something? I hate throwing parts at this.

I know something is better because I now have reverse lights. Testing fuse 24, I have no power at either pole regardless of ignition switch position. I know you said that points to the ignition switch, but I already replaced that.

 

OK, the post about fuse 24 not having power was the final solution. Once the wire was fixed, I went back to fuse 24 and there was no power from either pole. I still had the original ignition switch which we know now was not the issue. I switch back to that part and she fired right up!

Everyone's help was invaluable. I cannot express my gratitude enough. Thanks for taking to the time to reply, pass on your knowledge and uploading the schematics. Everything helped....especially since the shop I sent it to couldn't do it!!!

 

Good work

That was a hard one for sure

New ignition switch didn't work?

I wish I could say that's a surprise, but unfortunately it isn't anymore

"new" used to mean "tested and working"

Now "new" means "you test it and we warranty it"

We all want cheaper parts, and making the parts with machines used to be the expensive part of manufacturing, now the labor to run the machines is the expensive part
Quality Control is labor intensive, testing parts before they are shipped
So that was what was taken out to get the parts to us for less money

We often complain that Dealer(Ford) parts are way to expensive, lol, and they are, but..............each one is suppose to be tested before shipping it to Ford, because Ford pays for that, Quality Control, Ford can't "hope" each of the thousands of parts put into a vehicle on the assembly line "might" work, that would be a disaster

 

new ignition switch...do you mean the actual ignition switch or the key switch...if its the key one , with a new key it would not work unless you had it reprogrammed to your pats