I believe the anti theft on my 96 Gt 4.6 5 speed has finally took the deuce. Went to crank it this morning and the theft light doesn't show at all when cycling the kill but the computer kills the fuel pump when cranked. For the last few months I've been having to blow dry the ignition to make the module read the chipped key in order to drive the car since the winter. In sequence it would take 10-25 minutes of warming the key/ignition while the theft light flashed. From doing so as time went on the low oil light would also come on along with the airbag light. The day before I was on the interstate giving it the beans and noticed the MPH needle was stuck at 70 even at stand still, me n my passenger smelled a burning plastic smell. Which I think was the plastic gear in the cluster that moves the needle. Don't have money to waste on a shop. I'm mechanically inclined. Fuel pump and gas tank and injectors and orings have been replaced roughly a year ago. Any tips or information will be helpful. I'm a young adult providing for his father and siblings. Job is on the line so I'm ready to throw any entertaining ideas or theories at this car. When my father called the dealer they were not assuring on bypassing or "flashing the computer" to skip the anti theft more or less said it was impossible. There's two keys, the valet key and owner key. Both act the same. Granted it's the original keys from 1996 chips were probably bad and never had time to test because of the module WOULD read eventually. Now module is not responding. Hooked up code reader. No codes.
-Eddy

 

Chips probably aren't bad. One might go bad if you use it all the time, but the other wouldn't, and even then that's a pretty tall order, really.

You're blow drying the ignition to make it work. That indicates maybe possibly the ignition cylinder and/or the PATS ring around it. The PATS ring can be replaced and it would probably fix the issue, but you'd want to test the ignition cylinder with a multimeter to see if it's correctly connecting wires as needed.

The lamps in the gauges will come on, that's normal, until the car starts and you're ready to go, ostensibly.

However... I'm going to say the words you do not want to hear: Take it to a pro. This car sounds like it's got issues and a pro would be a better move given your situation. Sure, you *might* stumble on it, get it figured out, but time is money, and you say your job is on the line. You ain't got the time, spend the money. Which I'm sure is easier said than done, I fully understand.

So keeping in mind money tight, need to fix NOW, the other method is to get a full 1996 Mustang Shop Manual and go through the diagnostics to figure it out. You'll need multimeters at the very least. You can scan for codes with a reader, which you've done, but you're going to need a scan tool, not a reader, and that's not a cheap bit of kit.

Which brings us back around to a pro, probably...

I don't know what else to really say. If it's not the PATS ring, it's the module itself, and that's going to require a scan tool/mechanic as well.

You can maybe look into the Forscan solution for the scan tool (free software except for a few higher need things, and a specific ODB-II they like which you can get on Amazon) that you can stick in your laptop and see if you can use that to help you further. No guarantees and I haven't messed with mine, so I don't really know. I hear good things... I have the dongle, but I've not got it on the computer and played with it on Awesome just yet.

Re: the speedo: Wanna say that's a stepper motor and it just burnt up. You can get them replaced or replace them yourself. And while the attached video is about the odometer gear, you can see how the cluster is made, and how the speedo and the tach are using electronics to move the needles. You might go get a cluster out of a junkyard Mustang or search for the board or even just the motor involved and get to work on that. Fairly simple...ish...

All that from waaaay over here. Keep that in mind. I'm not there. I don't know if I helped or not. Tough situation, sounds like.

I hope you get it figured out and soon! Welcome to the forums!

 

Thank you for the response,it was better advice than no advice. oddly strange me and a coworker was talking about investing in a laptop to obd2 plug with a way to pirate the Ford software as he recently invested in a 01 Ford Ranger with the 4banger auto as this issue rose. I have transportation to HOPEFULLY (not tryna jinx a 2006 town n country that's survived being hydroplaned into a tree) survive till next pay period. Then potentially troubleshoot the Green Nag enough of I DO end up needing the professionals work, it'd be less of a chore on him/her. Thank you for the embrace aswell. -Eddy