Number 4,
I originally bought one of those elm327 from ebay. The buyer advertised that he or she was from New Jersey and shipped it out to me within 2 days. I plugged it into Forscan and it was recognized, but would not communicate with my explorer. I contacted the Forscan team and sent them a copy of my log file. The log was diagnosed and it was determined that my elm327 was a knock off from China. The seller lied and was not from the United States but from China. This was confirmed when I checked the tracking delivery schedule.I guess this is a scheme that is being used now, so others beware of these tactics. Some knock off elm327 will work on Fords, but it must have the right chip. I opened my elm327 and it did not have the correct chip.
The Forscan team emailed me back and suggested that I use the OBD2 devices that were tested and posted on their website. There are many different ones that are bluetooth, and they are less then 10 dollars, but I choose the OBDlink-Sx because it was a direct connect to the USB and PCM. I just did not trust using a bluetooth when messing with the security system. I felt that the PCM could possibly corrupt if the bluetooth lost connection during the programming phase. This could lead to more serious issues causing a trip to the dealership, and being charged tons of money.
I purchased the OBDlink device from Amazon and used my discover card. Discover gave me a coupon, and I joined the free 30 day trial Amazon Prime membership to get the 2 day shipping. The total cost with tax was $18.07 and it was delivered right on schedule.
I lost 2 keys in 2005 and I had to have my explorer reprogrammed by the dealer costing me around 400.00. Recently, I gave my daughter one of the newer programmed keys so she could use the explorer. She ended up losing it and now I was stuck with one key. As I was searching inside of my explorer looking for the lost key, I ended up finding the original keys that were lost many years ago, buried way down inside of the front passenger seat. The keys would not work in the ignition because of being deprogrammed, and I did not have 2 working master keys to program the found original keys. The dealer and a local locksmith wanted 300.00 to reprogram which lead me to research the internet locating the forscan software.
I used the Forscan software and it was simple to program all of the keys. It took less then 15 minutes to complete the process. I now have 3 working keys, and I just ordered 2 new remote key fobs from ebay for less then 10 dollars. The entire cost borne was 28.00. Forscan saved me about 300.00 and I now I have a secure truck again. Just remember that the you must contact forscan and request the updated PAT software because the basic program will not work.
Good luck,
bizzs