2018 Platinum starts without key

[narcanony18Platinum]

It would take you five minutes to leave your fob in your house and go drive the explorer and see how far you go. This would 100% confirm if you have a hidden fob in your car or not.

That I’ve done and I was able to leave town, turn the car off, and restart the car and drive home. This was done on accident and the reason I started the thread. I’m not ready to drive it off and turn it off for an extended time yet because if it doesn’t start back up I’ll have to have my wife come bring me the key.

 

[ExPlat]

That I’ve done and I was able to leave town, turn the car off, and restart the car and drive home. This was done on accident and the reason I started the thread. I’m not ready to drive it off and turn it off for an extended time yet because if it doesn’t start back up I’ll have to have my wife come bring me the key.

Buy a cheap Faraday FOB bag and take the other key with you, the ignition won't see it and if your experiment fails just whip it out and start the car.
https://www.amazon.com/FOB-Protect-...=Faraday+Bag&qid=1553141110&s=gateway&sr=8-12
I have one of these and it works, the car can't detect a FOB when it's in the bag.

 

[jmr061]

The OP did give me his vin and the current version of IDS does not have a direct Smart Unlock setting though that doesn't mean that wasn't available in the past. There are ways to figure out if it is enabled or disabled.

Anyway the comments about driving far away without any fob and see what happens. You don't have to get far from the existing fob you have. Just drive it down the block, shut it off for a a few minutes. The restart timer (the true one if you forget your fob and there isn't one in the vehicle) gives you a warning you need to restart and if you don't do so in no more than a minute (from memory) you are screwed. It won't restart.

If there is a fob in the vehicle, it is giving off a signal. I wonder if there is an RF sensor that could sniff it.

 

[RhinoQuartz]

The OP did give me his vin and the current version of IDS does not have a direct Smart Unlock setting though that doesn't mean that wasn't available in the past. There are ways to figure out if it is enabled or disabled.

Anyway the comments about driving far away without any fob and see what happens. You don't have to get far from the existing fob you have. Just drive it down the block, shut it off for a a few minutes. The restart timer (the true one if you forget your fob and there isn't one in the vehicle) gives you a warning you need to restart and if you don't do so in no more than a minute (from memory) you are screwed. It won't restart.

If there is a fob in the vehicle, it is giving off a signal. I wonder if there is an RF sensor that could sniff it.

I think someone suggested earlier in the thread to go to the dealership for them to get.a "sniffer", ie RF sensor.

 

[peterk9]

The 'Fast Restart' after shutting the engine off is10 seconds. I believe the "count down" timer has to do with remote start.

Peter

 

[narcanony18Platinum]

Couple more test results below. I’ll be bringing it in to the dealer this weekend as I’m pretty sure it’s a defect now. I’ll update with what they tell me.

1. My wife was able to drive to work without the keys, turn it off, lock the door, leave it for 8 hours, unlock using the keypad on the door, start and drive home.

2. With my known fob on the drivers seat and the window down, I locked the door and shut it. The horn honked and the door unlocked immediately.

So I believe there is no extra fob in the vehicle now. Also, I think it must be a defect that the explorer can start and drive without a key present and give no indication that there is no key present.

 

[Diveshard]

Thats impossible and if so it will be all over the news tonight

 

[peterk9]

Thats impossible and if so it will be all over the news tonight

If it's one thing I've learned about the EXplorers Fred, it is that nothing seems to be "impossible".

Peter

 

[RhinoQuartz]

Couple more test results below. I’ll be bringing it in to the dealer this weekend as I’m pretty sure it’s a defect now. I’ll update with what they tell me.

1. My wife was able to drive to work without the keys, turn it off, lock the door, leave it for 8 hours, unlock using the keypad on the door, start and drive home.

2. With my known fob on the drivers seat and the window down, I locked the door and shut it. The horn honked and the door unlocked immediately.

So I believe there is no extra fob in the vehicle now. Also, I think it must be a defect that the explorer can start and drive without a key present and give no indication that there is no key present.

I assume both you and your wife used the keypad lock the doors?

 

[Diveshard]

If it's one thing I've learned about the EXplorers Fred, it is that nothing seems to be "impossible".

Peter

I absolutely can't wait to see what happens/finds at the dealership.

 

[narcanony18Platinum]

I assume both you and your wife used the keypad lock the doors?

Both times we used the interior lock button.

To be clear, when the known fob is not in the vehicle, this method locks the doors appropriately.

 

[KayGee]

I absolutely can't wait to see what happens/finds at the dealership.

Me too.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are some that would pay good money for a "feature" such as this so they don't have to worry about carrying their fob with them.

 

[RhinoQuartz]

Me too.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are some that would pay good money for a "feature" such as this so they don't have to worry about carrying their fob with them.

Isn't the Lincoln Aviator going to have this feature, but you use your smartphone as a key?

 

[KayGee]

Isn't the Lincoln Aviator going to have this feature, but you use your smartphone as a key?

Don't know, but the OPs feature uses literally nothing as a key, so I think it is moar better than one that just substitutes a phone for a key...

 

[narcanony18Platinum]

Me too.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are some that would pay good money for a "feature" such as this so they don't have to worry about carrying their fob with them.

At this point I’m more curious what is going on. I have thought about this as a feature with the only downside being if I left it unlocked at some point anyone could drive away with it.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Thats impossible and if so it will be all over the news tonight

Of course it’s not impossible. Also, the failure of a single vehicle component would hardly be newsworthy.

 

[RhinoQuartz]

Don't know, but the OPs feature uses literally nothing as a key, so I think it is moar better than one that just substitutes a phone for a key...

The All New 2020 Lincoln Aviator - Luxury Midsize SUV - Lincoln.com

If you scroll down to 'Phone as a key' - "[A]nd should your phone run out of power, you can simply enter backup codes to gain access and to start the vehicle."

Its not a glitch, its an early release feature .

 

[Adrian Gitch]

I'm kind of wondering if the previous owner had something done to the wiring somewhere. Can't wait to find out how much head scratching went on at the dealer.

 

[peterk9]

At this point I’m more curious what is going on. I have thought about this as a feature with the only downside being if I left it unlocked at some point anyone could drive away with it.

Did you ever get this oddity fixed?

Peter