New to FE - Alarm Issue

[Zack Zitko]

Morning, all.
I have an '04 XLT. I am having two issues with it at the moment, both electrical in nature.

1) My fuse for the radio, overhead lighting and windows is out, and each time I replace it, it blows as soon as I put the fuse in. My windows are unfortunately down at the moment, so I am stuck keeping it in our garage...which does not make my wife happy. I am figuring a wire is loose, or frayed, or touching the frame somewhere, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

2) The second one, which is a bit more important at the moment, is that my alarm is not recognizing my key fab. It locks and unlocks the doors, and it even honks to sound that I am arming my alarm, but when I unlock the vehicle, the alarm does not disengage, so it goes off and goes into lock down every time I try to start my truck. This one has me at a loss. Any ideas on how I can disengage the alarm or find another way around it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[domct203]

I would try removing the radio, or at least unplugging it to see if that is what is blowing the fuse. Is it the original radio?

With the PATS system, it is not the fob that needs to be recognized, it is the key. The key has a special chip in it that must be programmed into the vehicle. How many keys do you have?

 

[Zack Zitko]

I would try removing the radio, or at least unplugging it to see if that is what is blowing the fuse. Is it the original radio?

With the PATS system, it is not the fob that needs to be recognized, it is the key. The key has a special chip in it that must be programmed into the vehicle. How many keys do you have?

Thank you for the response.
Okay, I can try the radio. My thought was that the window motors are the only moving parts, so they were more likely to have a frayed wire than the radio or light.

It is the original radio. The problem is, I only have one key. I bought it used back in 2012 and there was only one with it. I spoke to a dealer yesterday and they said the only real option they know is to have them create another key and use the two keys together to shut it off. That is my only option at the moment, outside.