Justice5150_99

Hello All,

First time poster here, thanks in advance for your help. This issue is completely new to me and people I have been talking too have never eve heard of it.

I have a Viper 5901 remote start system installed on my 2007. It has been working great for the last year until this morning. I live in Wisconsin and it is cold in the mornings this time of year, this morning it was 27. I hit the remote start and heard the truck fire up just like every other morning. It was running for 3-5 minutes and when I jumped in to leave for work. I accidentally hit the brake with my foot as I have done a hundred times and the truck shut off. The remote start systems has a kill switch wired to the break pedal, and if you hit the break pedal with out the key installed the engine will shut off. This I am told is for possible theft and it makes sense. I had it professionally installed at AMS in Madison and they are a very reputable place. Like I have done before after accidentally hitting the break and killing the engine, I simply put the key in the key back into the ignition-turned it and the engine cranked but did not turn over. This was strange.. my truck is maintained well and has never given the indication of a battery or starter issue. Not counting the fact that the engine was just running. Again I engaged the ignition and the engine cranked but did not turn over, to me it seemed like it was not getting fuel do to some anti-theft protocol.

I tried this several more times before finally giving up and taking another car to work. Over lunch I went back after talking to the remote start install techs and they tell me there have been conflicts between the f150 anti theft systems and remote starts, although the symptoms I described didn’t make sense to him because the engine started via the remote start but did not start again after hitting the brake/kill switch. He said there is a 15 minute reset for the anti-theft? He also said to leave the key in the on position and let the anti-theft recognize the key? I performed both and still no dice. After trying to crank again, the battery decided to drain and not turn the starter, battery is 4 years old and original. So…. My questions are

Does anyone think there may be a link between the anti-theft (little red flashing light on the dash) and the remote start not allowing the engine to turn over?

Is there a way to reset the anti-theft?

Could this be another issue, a battery perhaps seeing as how it’s cold and the battery is fairly old?

Does anyone have a clue what I am talking about?!?!

Thanks for any ideas you may have. I would hate to drop big money on a new battery if it is something simple.

Thanks,

Chris

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Disconnect your Batt and re-charge it...while its re-charging your truck should re-set itself. let us know ...

Justice5150_99

I will give that a shot, thanks!

RFinelli81

Dont know if this is the case but I have a 2006 with a Ford remote start and it works the same way with the kill switch. I do it all the time by accident.

I figured this out the hard way but I HAVE to use the remote to unlock the truck and open the door. If I use the keypad on the driver door and I hit the brake I cant start it again until I lock the door and unlock it again with the remote.

I guess the keypad doesnt communicate with the remote start system

hope this helps.

RFinelli81

and I forgot... sometimes the truck will only start with the remote once this happens. Climb in and use the remote start again, out the key in and drive away.

GeneralHerzog

The bypass used by the Viper system is the key to this mess.
You have to use the viper remote. I've not had this issue in my 04, but everything you've described tells me that it's related to the bypass.

If there is in fact a known issue between some F150's and the remote systems, it doesn't surprise me that the bypass is at the heart.
Why it's started up after all this time???? Who knows.........(since our trucks are like women, I don't ask ask questions when they start getting finicky......17 years of marriage taught me that!)

Justice5150_99

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the responses. I thought I would update you on the progress. Since last night I still do NOT have a working truck. I tried every combination of locking and unlocking the doors I could think of to reset the remote start/ anti-theft. The plot has gotten deeper. I had my buddy come over with his Snap-On diagnostic machine that his buddy uses at a local mechanic shop to run tests and make sure there wasn’t some weird O2/ fuel sensor issue going on. We ran the diagnostics and everything looked good until we looked at the fuel pressure… it was at 0. I am beginning to doubt this may be a remote start/anti-theft issue. After reading up on the anti-theft, all of the lights flashing lights indicate normal operation. So the truck doesn’t seem to think it’s stolen, thus cutting off the fuel. Thinking the cold weather and the kill switch may have blown a fuse, I checked every single in-line fuse for both the Viper system and the fuel and ECM systems; everything looks good from that standpoint. We called another friend who works at a local shop and he says we should check a fuel module located at the rear of the truck on the gas tank side, bolted to the cross member. The proper name of this module (fuel sender assembly?) escapes me but it has several wires leading in an out of it and regulated fuel pressure. He says that when they have trucks that come in with the problem I am having (fuel that is) this module is the second most replaced item after the fuel pump. Looking at this module it was corroded but all wires seemed intact and plugged in correctly. (I will have a closer look at this module tonight on a lift with better light). By this time it was cold and we had no lights, so we called it a night.

SO at this point I am thinking maybe it was just a freaky coincidence this “remote start” issue occurred at the same time, and maybe it is fuel related and just happened to stop working at the same time I killed via the kill switch.


One interesting thing we tried to narrow down a fuel vs. ignition problem is we removed the air filter and sprayed choke fuel into the air intake to see if it would fire. Nothing…. We tried this several times, not a single thing. I want to try and narrow this down as much as possible before I call the remote install techs come all the way out and charge me an arm and a leg to look at something that isn’t their issue. One thing I did determine is that this is definitely not a battery issue, so that’s good.

Any advice would be welcomed, until next time gents……………

Chris

'08f150stx

Call the install techs and explain your problem. Not all the mechanical tests you have done. Maybe it is something simple. Free and easy to do. Good luck. Not getting any warmer in Wi so get a permanent fix. Winter and vehicles not running = a cold you know what......change the fuel pump driver module. Rock auto had a dorman brand for around $70. $100 or more and they are backordered at most ford dealers

Justice5150_99

I have actually taked to the install techs several times. He seems to think that the problem lies outside of the remote start system. The remote start works in conjunction with the anti-theft and it is the anti-theft that disables the ECM. So, long story short I don't want to call those guys out at $100 and hour to look at it and tell me its not thier issue.

Chris

Justice5150_99

Hello All,

Found the issue, it was the fuel sender module that took a crap. It just happened at the exact time I killed the truck. Very strange coincidence, but at least I am back up and running and not a moment too soon. I am leaving for deer camp tonight and I would have looked stupid pulling up in my wifes new Taurus loaded down with beer and ammo. Until the next great disaster men, I ll see you on the road.

Chris