Intelligent Access Door Handle Not Working

[Dora2.0]

Just noticed today that when I tried to open the passenger door, it wouldn't unlock. Walked over to the driver side and it unlocked and locked completely fine. Remote works fine, as do the interior lock functions. Everything looks fine in the dash settings, and tried both FOB's. Very strange as it worked a couple of days ago. Anyone have any ideas on what the issue could be? Searched the forum but couldn't find anything. Does this call for a trip to the dealer? Frustrating as my '18 only has about 500 km on it...

Thanks.

 

[peterk9]

I had the same issue with the driver's side (2017 Platinum) a week ago after driving to an arena in the freezing rain for a half hour. First time I had to use my fob to lock/unlock the vehicle. About 2 hours later I came out it still would not work. Passenger side okay. This went on for a few days and slowly it started working again as long as I pushed hard on the handle button. Now it is back to normal.

Peter

 

[Dora2.0]

I had the same issue with the driver's side a week ago after driving to an arena in the freezing rain for a half hour. First time I had to use my fob to lock/unlock the vehicle. About 2 hours later I came out it still would not work. Passenger side okay. This went on for a few days and slowly it started working again as long as I pushed hard on the handle button. Now it is back to normal.

Peter

Thanks Peter. We did have horizontal rain overnight Saturday, so maybe that could be related. Decided to drop it off at the dealer this morning as it was still unresponsive this morning, and had a slight door alignment issue that I needed to get done too (need to slam it pretty hard to close properly). Same door as the problematic handle.

 

[Lewisra]

I've had intermittent issues with the IA unlock on both my Explorer and my Focus when it rains. I just figured that was one of the quirks to it. Let us know if your dealer tells you different.

 

[Dora2.0]

I've had intermittent issues with the IA unlock on both my Explorer and my Focus when it rains. I just figured that was one of the quirks to it. Let us know if your dealer tells you different.

So just heard back from the service folks. Apparently the BCM needed to get reprogrammed with the as built file, followed by an updated file, as instructed to do by the Ford engineers, and it works again. They're not sure why it failed. We'll see if this fixes the issue over the long run, or at least after the next rainfall.

 

[Dora2.0]

So...went to pickup the Ex last night after it was apparently fixed, slid my hand behind the handle and it was just as dead as when I dropped it off on Monday. They claimed to have tested it, but clearly something went wrong at some point. Spoke to the service advisor this morning and he said that they would need to go back to Ford Engineering to determine next steps...looks to me like this may take a while to nail down. Not sure if the handle sensor would need to get replaced at this point or if it's the module itself that would need to be. Time will tell I guess. Frustrating though I must say...

 

[Dora2.0]

I had the same issue with the driver's side a week ago after driving to an arena in the freezing rain for a half hour. First time I had to use my fob to lock/unlock the vehicle. About 2 hours later I came out it still would not work. Passenger side okay. This went on for a few days and slowly it started working again as long as I pushed hard on the handle button. Now it is back to normal.

Peter

Wouldn't you know, it came back to life over the weekend and works fine now. The dealership ordered a new BCM last week, so I'm wondering if it still needs to be done or not. I'm a little concerned about them taking anything else in my Explorer apart to get to it, if they don't need to, as they hacked up the interior door panel (pleather was cut through and scratched in several places from the use of a pry tool I'm guessing) pretty bad getting to the inners trying to figure out what the problem is (which they will be replacing). Not convinced it's the BCM...

 

[peterk9]

Wouldn't you know, it came back to life over the weekend and works fine now. The dealership ordered a new BCM last week, so I'm wondering if it still needs to be done or not. I'm a little concerned about them taking anything else in my Explorer apart to get to it, if they don't need to, as they hacked up the interior door panel (pleather was cut through and scratched in several places from the use of a pry tool I'm guessing) pretty bad getting to the inners trying to figure out what the problem is (which they will be replacing). Not convinced it's the BCM...

Since mine cleared by itself it has been working as well as it did before the issue.

Peter

 

[Dora2.0]

Since mine cleared by itself it has been working as well as it did before the issue.

Peter

Was that the only occurrence you experienced with this (only after that freezing rain)? How long have you had your Platinum for?

 

[peterk9]

Was that the only occurrence you experienced with this (only after that freezing rain)? How long have you had your Platinum for?

Yes, that was the only time it happened. I've had the Platinum for 16 months but only just hit 6000 kms yesterday. I did have a similar occurrence with my previous 2014 MKT although it was while it was parked in the garage. Found that the driver's door button would not work at all although the one on the passenger side did work. I tried several different things but could not get it to work. Went inside and made an appointment to have it looked at. A short time later I went back out and tried it again and it worked. Tied it several times and then called to cancel the appointment. It continued to function properly right up until I turned the vehicle in for the Platinum. Electronic gremlins.

Peter

 

[Dora2.0]

Yes, that was the only time it happened. I've had the Platinum for 16 months but only just hit 6000 kms yesterday. I did have a similar occurrence with my previous 2014 MKT although it was while it was parked in the garage. Found that the driver's door button would not work at all although the one on the passenger side did work. I tried several different things but could not get it to work. Went inside and made an appointment to have it looked at. A short time later I went back out and tried it again and it worked. Tied it several times and then called to cancel the appointment. It continued to function properly right up until I turned the vehicle in for the Platinum. Electronic gremlins.

Peter

Died again after yesterday's rain/slush and freeze. They're supposed to be replacing the BCM tomorrow, but somehow I think it's probably more related to the inners on the handle sensor itself than the BCM. But they are taking direction from Ford Engineering which is telling them the order of repair. We'll see what happens...

 

[Fordman60]

Just found this thread. My 2018 platinum passenger door didn't respond to IA access at 3 different occasions, days apart and one recently, on a clear dry day. Made an appointment for service and tried it again on the way out of the garage for service and it worked. Went to dealer to talk but nothing useful as it was working. One failure occasion, there was another explorer next to me in the parking lot. Wondering if there is local car interference. Will try to make note of what is near by when it doesn't work again.

 

[peterk9]

Is your new Platinum also Ruby Red or did you opt for another colour?

Peter

 

[Fordman60]

I went back to White. I thought I would like red but didn't so much. ??

 

[lnferno]

Heh, our 2018 Explorer Sport had the same issue with only 850 miles. My wife told me today that the passenger side IA hasn't worked for the past two days. I tried it and low and behold it worked fine for me. I then had her try it and it worked. Go figure.

 

[larock7505]

Hi Everyone. My Explorer Sport is having the same symptoms. Sometimes it works other times it doesn’t. We have already had a new BCM and passenger handle installed but its still doesn’t work all of the time.

We have been keeping track of the outside temperatures... Maybe there's something there.

Just wondering if anyone has come up with a solution.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Make sure your keyfob is not in the same pocket as your cell phone. When they are together or touching, it screws up the signal.

 

[Explorer XLT 17]

Make sure your keyfob is not in the same pocket as your cell phone. When they are together or touching, it screws up the signal.

One other consideration to keep in mind. I use a credit card wallet that prevents my chip cards from being read while they are inside the wallet. This I keep in my side pocket where I also keep my key fob. If the fob gets behind the wallet, the signal doesn't make it to the IA. After moving the fob to the front, it works fine.

 

[Reckless Riley]

I have a 2018 F-150 Lariat with the passenger side IA lock not working. It start out intermittentmy and now all the time. The 1st time the Ford engineers said to take the actuator from the other driver's side door and use it to replace in the passenger door.. It did not work but now my Let's on the driver's side door do not work as the tech failed to plug them back in I assume. The BCM has been replaced and it woked for about a day. Now Ford has my truck again taking to the engineers but a whole day went by with not respinse on the hot line.. Ford just does not know what the problem is. I'll keep you updated.

 

[peterk9]

Have tried posting the issue on an F-150 truck forum? Perhaps someone there may be familiar with the problem. I don't believe anyone with the issue has reported a fix. Most seem to have cleared themselves.

Peter