Vehicle drives with no key at all?????

[Medic531]

So my 2019 ford explorer brand new has two issues I just discovered.

1). i often park the car and go inside to a restaurant or a store of some sort and ill leave it running while I take the key fob with me thinking the vehicle is safe. The car honks twice and i hear the vehicle lock. Well i did this the other day at my uncles house to run inside for a min and he needed to leave and i was parked behind him. He walked out seeing the vehicle was still running and was able to get in it and drive it without my keyfob anywhere near the vehicle. The dash did say “no key detected” but it drove anyway.

HOW is this possible???

any ideas before I go *****ing at the dealer ?


thank you guys

 

[peterk9]

Despite what you hear from the locks, are you sure the vehicle actually locks? Next time you do this, try leaving the key somewhere a distance away, 20 feet or more and see if you can open the doors. Yes, it is possible to drive the vehicle without a keyfob in range, As long as it isn't turned OFF, it can be driven until it runs out of gas.

Peter

 

[ProjectSHO89]

The presence of the keyfob is likely checked ONLY when the engine is started.

 

[peterk9]

The presence of the keyfob is likely checked ONLY when the engine is started.

Even if the engine is running and you jump out for a minute, the "No Key Detected" warning will show up. I see it all the time when I stop at our roadside community mailbox.

Peter

 

[Medic531]

Despite what you hear from the locks, are you sure the vehicle actually locks? Next time you do this, try leaving the key somewhere a distance away, 20 feet or more and see if you can open the doors. Yes, it is possible to drive the vehicle without a keyfob in range, As long as it isn't turned OFF, it can be driven until it runs out of gas.

Peter

The vehicle makes the locking sound and the horn beeps twice so i assume it locks. Both times the key fob was inside the house likely 70ft+ away and when i walked outside the door opened and i was able to drive off and gives me the no key detected message as im driving. Its never done this before. I guess i could take the battery out of the fob just to make sure its not doing something weird

 

[peterk9]

Here are 2 threads that are somewhat similar but they didn't mention being able to unlock the doors.

Explorer Started without Fob detected in vehicle!

OK - this is really weird. Anyone else have it happen to them? The post is a bit long, but I wanted to provide all the details as only one answer makes sense, at this point. 2016 Explorer XLT with Key Fob system. 10k or so miles. I came home and pulled the car in the garage. Walked in the...

www.explorerforum.com

2018 Platinum starts without key

I bought a 2018 Platinum used and was only given 1 key fob from the dealer. So, I am sure there is another key around and discovered last night that it may be hidden/lost in the vehicle from the previous owner. The reason I am posting is to ask, is anyone else able to start their explorer...

www.explorerforum.com

Unfortunately, no solutions were posted. I don't know if removing the fob battery would help since the vehicle has this issue without the fob being in range.

Peter

 

[Medic531]

Here are 2 threads that are somewhat similar but they didn't mention being able to unlock the doors.

Explorer Started without Fob detected in vehicle!

OK - this is really weird. Anyone else have it happen to them? The post is a bit long, but I wanted to provide all the details as only one answer makes sense, at this point. 2016 Explorer XLT with Key Fob system. 10k or so miles. I came home and pulled the car in the garage. Walked in the...

www.explorerforum.com

2018 Platinum starts without key

I bought a 2018 Platinum used and was only given 1 key fob from the dealer. So, I am sure there is another key around and discovered last night that it may be hidden/lost in the vehicle from the previous owner. The reason I am posting is to ask, is anyone else able to start their explorer...

www.explorerforum.com

Unfortunately, no solutions were posted. I don't know if removing the fob battery would help since the vehicle has this issue without the fob being in range.

Peter

Thankfully both of those issues isnt what my issue is. It looks like their vehicles start up and drive with no key at all. Mine works as designed and doesnt start without a key but once i leave the car running and walk away with the key it locks while running as it should and when i come back without the key it unlocks when i pull the handle and your able to put it in drive and drive away with the No Key Detected message. I will have to ask the dealer but if I cant figure it out im going to trade it in on one of those car buying websites and get more money out of it than the dealer would give and use that as a downpayment on a new vehicle unlikely to be a ford this time. No issues with ford until now just thought i would try something different esp when the same model explorer just newer year has went up in price soooo much.

 

[jmr061]

I am not sure on the lock and unlock issue but I can tell you that driving away with no fob is how it is programmed. There is nothing wrong as far as that goes. There is a programmable setting (via programming tools, not cluster settings) that will keep the shifter from being shifted if the vehicle is left running and therefore it can't be driven away. Ford has switched to this in most of the new new vehicles.

 

[MrPlat]

All Ford IA vehicles can be driven without the key in them. They can also be turned off and restarted within a short period of time without the key. The feature you want is called Secure Idle. It is available to be enabled using ForScan. It locks the shifter in park unless the FOB is detected.

 

[NunavutExplorer]

I don’t think it is just ford specific also. Other brands vehicles use the same keyless push button start. And think they operate same way?

 

[NIP]

All Ford IA vehicles can be driven without the key in them. They can also be turned off and restarted within a short period of time without the key. The feature you want is called Secure Idle. It is available to be enabled using ForScan. It locks the shifter in park unless the FOB is detected.

Great suggestion, thanks!

 

[NIP]

So my 2019 ford explorer brand new has two issues I just discovered.

1). i often park the car and go inside to a restaurant or a store of some sort and ill leave it running while I take the key fob with me thinking the vehicle is safe. The car honks twice and i hear the vehicle lock. Well i did this the other day at my uncles house to run inside for a min and he needed to leave and i was parked behind him. He walked out seeing the vehicle was still running and was able to get in it and drive it without my keyfob anywhere near the vehicle. The dash did say “no key detected” but it drove anyway.

HOW is this possible???

any ideas before I go *****ing at the dealer ?


thank you guys

I once had a fob with no working buttons lying around in my center console thinking the thing was out of order. Turned out that the smart chip was working and being detected by the car. Found out because the 2 honks when simply locking the car. Removed the faulty fob and problem was solved.

 

[Explorer75]

I don’t think it is just ford specific also. Other brands vehicles use the same keyless push button start. And think they operate same way?

Recently I was driving a 2013 Lexus IS350 and the key FOB was left at the auto detailing, I drove more than 15 miles back and forth and besides the "No Key detected" the vehicle stayed running. More recent vehicles could be different.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I think it’s standard so a key fault won’t cause your vehicle to die in traffic. I’d be surprised if any would shut down after running.

 

[Whey Cooler]

All Ford IA vehicles can be driven without the key in them. They can also be turned off and restarted within a short period of time without the key. The feature you want is called Secure Idle. It is available to be enabled using ForScan. It locks the shifter in park unless the FOB is detected.

This is what you want to do/enable. It is the only safe, factory way, to make the car not be driveable when left on. It's very easy and gives a little peace of mind that the car won't be driven off.

 

[jshultz6254]

So my 2019 ford explorer brand new has two issues I just discovered.

1). i often park the car and go inside to a restaurant or a store of some sort and ill leave it running while I take the key fob with me thinking the vehicle is safe. The car honks twice and i hear the vehicle lock. Well i did this the other day at my uncles house to run inside for a min and he needed to leave and i was parked behind him. He walked out seeing the vehicle was still running and was able to get in it and drive it without my keyfob anywhere near the vehicle. The dash did say “no key detected” but it drove anyway.

HOW is this possible???

any ideas before I go *****ing at the dealer ?


thank you guys

Check your owner's manual for door lock/unlock (pages 66 and 67 in mine). When you are leaving the car running with the transmitter with you it locks and then unlocks the doors and sounds the horn to warn you that the car isn't locked. You need to use the door lock pad in the car or the keyless entry keypad to lock the door. Did this many times before I looked it up. Bottomline, your doors are not locked.

 

[blwnsmoke]

All Ford IA vehicles can be driven without the key in them. They can also be turned off and restarted within a short period of time without the key. The feature you want is called Secure Idle. It is available to be enabled using ForScan. It locks the shifter in park unless the FOB is detected.

6th gen won't let you go out of park without keyfob. Programmed that way from the factory.

 

[peterk9]

Actually, the bottom line is, don't leave your vehicle running while it's unattended.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

6th gen won't let you go out of park without keyfob. Programmed that way from the factory.

Thanks for this. I wasn't aware of the change but then I never tried it either until today. Aviator works the same.

Peter

 

[Whey Cooler]

6th gen won't let you go out of park without keyfob. Programmed that way from the factory.

As they all should be!