To rule PATS out anyway, when you put the key in and turn to RUN (not start), what does the red light on the dash do?
I had previously thought you could get a few cranks out before PATS was certain an unprogrammed key was being used if you were to quickly turn from Off to Start. However, I just did some tests and, as previously stated, it won't crank at all. I guess the delay was just from slow fuel delivery, not anything from PATS. Note: this is on a Gen 1
Some interesting stuff when ripping from Off to Start:
With a good key, it cranks immediately
With a chipless (no transponder) key: no crank, turns headlights on immediately, turns on fogs and tails for 1 second
With a chipless key and an appropriate but unprogrammed transponder held near it: no crank, took 2 seconds to turn on the headlights (it gave the chip a chance?), same fog/tail blink
It's an interesting combination of lights. Head lights and tail lights, but not the front parking lights.
My 97 Taurus does actually let me run the engine for a few seconds before cutting it off when using a non-programmed key. I guess they weren't too confident in rapid transponder identification
