1st time poster with keyless entry questions

[98esploder]

Hey there, names Nick. Recently bought a 98 explorer sport after regretfully selling my old one 5 years ago. My question is about keyless entry. I know this subject has even covered a lot and I have searched but being on my phone I haven't been able to locate anything helpful.

I have talked to the local ford dealer an after them using my vin to assure me keyless entry came on my sport I ordered 2 remotes off amazon. Problem is I can not for the life of me get the vehicle to eter into program mode. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the lock button on the driver side not working. The unlock portion works fine and the passenger side works fine, but I can not not the vehicle from the driver side lock button.

If anyone has any insight or needs any more info I will be glad to post up after I get home from work. If anyone has any links regarding similar situations it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DjDom]

First off, check that the truck does in fact have keyless entry.
Open the rear the trunk and open the little cubby on the left that stores the jack and crow bar. There you should see a silver module with a ton of wires.
That's the RAP module. If you don't have that, you don't have keyless.

Also, I have moved your thread to the stock second gen section, you will get more attention here.

 

[koda2000]

do the sports have the RAP in the same location as the 4dr's? maybe i'm thinking of the Sport Trac?

the ignition switch has ACCESSORY, LOCK, OFF, ON, and START positions. are you toggling between OFF and ON? on the 2000/2001 models you have to toggle 8 times w/in 5 seconds to enter PROGRAMMING MODE. i'm not sure if the '98 requires fewer cycles, but i believe the procedure is essentially the same. i have one vehicle which required me to do this very quickly. my other 3 vehicles were not so fussy. i don't know if a non-functional lock would matter.

 

[98esploder]

First off, check that the truck does in fact have keyless entry.
Open the rear the trunk and open the little cubby on the left that stores the jack and crow bar. There you should see a silver module with a ton of wires.
That's the RAP module. If you don't have that, you don't have keyless.

Also, I have moved your thread to the stock second gen section, you will get more attention here.

Thank you for putting it in a more proper area!

I have read many different things with no 100% definitive answer on where the module is on the sport. Is there any confirmation on this? One of te other places I read it may be is behind the passenger airbag. I am told by the local ford dealer that according to my vin my sport came with keyless entry.

 

[98esploder]

do the sports have the RAP in the same location as the 4dr's? maybe i'm thinking of the Sport Trac?

the ignition switch has ACCESSORY, LOCK, OFF, ON, and START positions. are you toggling between OFF and ON? on the 2000/2001 models you have to toggle 8 times w/in 5 seconds to enter PROGRAMMING MODE. i'm not sure if the '98 requires fewer cycles, but i believe the procedure is essentially the same. i have one vehicle which required me to do this very quickly. my other 3 vehicles were not so fussy. i don't know if a non-functional lock would matter.

Unfortunately I have tried many different combinations including the known 5 and 8 cycles in 10 seconds. Not sure what else I can try.

 

[koda2000]

well, i don't know if you've read this, or whether it will help, but here's a link.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195398

 

[bobflood]

I thought that the RAP module on the Sport was in the passenger dash area. If you go on one of the VIN lookup sites, you can probably double check the info the dealer gave you, or maybe call another dealer to check.

Odds are your door lock switch issue is a broken wire in the bellows between the driver's door and body. Very common failure point. I doubt that this would prevent the entry into program mode, but you can never tell about these things. Fix the switch issue and try the programming mode again.

If you go on ford.com under support, you can look up and download a PDF of the correct owners manual - there are programming instructions there. Good luck.

 

[rb142]

I would assume it is the Sport Trak that has the module in the passenger's area, because it is essentially a Ranger. The Sport, I would guess, should be located like the regular Explorer. But if the VIN says it's there, it probably is.

Pressing the driver's lock switch is a required step in the process. You MIGHT be able to substitute the passenger's lock switch (still a physical swith in the car), but not necessarily. I would agree that there is a good chance of a broken wire in the bellows of the door joint. That or a broken switch, which aren't very expensive, especially from a parts yard. You should consider just fixing that. Or appropriate use of a jumper wire might get the "lock" working long enough to program your fobs.

Otherwise, you don't have a lot of options. Your dealer could program them for you, but there will be a charge for doing it that may make it less attractive.

 

[98esploder]

Ok talked to a different dealer. He said it came with a power equipment package which 9/10 times meant that it came with keyless entry. I also fixed the token pink wire and my driver side door lock button works. Still won't enter program mode and he also said the module would be under the driver side dash. Gues ill do some more poking around and see what I find.

 

[Vic_Ferrari2002]

Unless I missed it I didn't see any mention of the keypad on the outside of the door. If it's not there then you do not have keyless entry. Side note...My 97 sport has the rap module in the cubby with the jack just as DjDom mentioned. Hope this helps.

Keith

 

[98esploder]

Unless I missed it I didn't see any mention of the keypad on the outside of the door. If it's not there then you do not have keyless entry. Side note...My 97 sport has the rap module in the cubby with the jack just as DjDom mentioned. Hope this helps.

Keith

Ummmm I think you may be wrong. My old 98 did not have a key pad on the door and it came with factory keyless entry. I guess that could be true for the other models, but maybe not the sport?

 

[koda2000]

Ummmm I think you may be wrong. My old 98 did not have a key pad on the door and it came with factory keyless entry. I guess that could be true for the other models, but maybe not the sport?

my old XLT didn't have the door key-pad and it had key-less entry. it was an '01, but by then i think they all came with it.

 

[98esploder]

my old XLT didn't have the door key-pad and it had key-less entry. it was an '01, but by then i think they all came with it.

Ya. Who knows for sure. Only thing I'm going off is my old sport and many of the multiple dealers I talked to said most 98 sport came with keyless.