Auto lock & unlock

[omar302]

The second row doors do not have a power lock/unlock button. I assume this is Ford's idea of child safety. However I don't get the process for auto unlock. If I drop someone off and I don;t want to shut off the engine, they have to manually reach over their shoulder and unlock. Is this right?

Or you can use the power door unlock switch on the front doors (Driver or Passenger).

I tried everything but the doors will only auto unlock with the engine off. And why would they not put electric lock/unlock buttons in the second row and have a switch to lock them out for child safety?

Auto unlock is meant for when the driver is finished driving & is exiting the car, then the doors automatically unlock. As for the rear doors, Ford and many other vehicles makes (GM, Toyota, Nissan, Honda I tried), have always been like that! Only recently some (like the Ford Fusion), started having LED indicators to show if a door is lock/unlocked & a switch to lock/unlock it. Seems you had previously owned European brands that had the LED indicator.

 

[August88]

Or you can use the power door unlock switch on the front doors (Driver or Passenger).



Auto unlock is meant for when the driver is finished driving & is exiting the car, then the doors automatically unlock. As for the rear doors, Ford and many other vehicles makes (GM, Toyota, Nissan, Honda I tried), have always been like that! Only recently some (like the Ford Fusion), started having LED indicators to show if a door is lock/unlocked & a switch to lock/unlock it. Seems you had previously owned European brands that had the LED indicator.

Never owned a European brand. I owned a Chevy Cobalt, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. My friend owns a Buick Enclave, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. Another, Buick Regal, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. Chevy Tahoe, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. Chevy Impala, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. And so on. My Ford F250 it didn't matter since you couldn't open the rear door until the front doors were open.

I just think Ford has an interesting take on child safety and auto unlock. I can live with it.

 

[omar302]

Never owned a European brand. I owned a Chevy Cobalt, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. My friend owns a Buick Enclave, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. Another, Buick Regal, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. Chevy Tahoe, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. Chevy Impala, locked/unlock switch for rear doors and auto unlock when put into Park. And so on. My Ford F250 it didn't matter since you couldn't open the rear door until the front doors were open.

I just think Ford has an interesting take on child safety and auto unlock. I can live with it.

Ok, seems like I am not understanding you correctly. The Chevy Cobalt, Buick Enclave/Regal & Chevy Impala all have the "Rod/Tab" for locking/unlocking the rear doors manually without any additional "Electric" switch at the read doors. Looking at the images of the rear doors below, they are all similar to Ford's setup. I am starting think that what you meant is that the rear door locks do not unlock when pressing the power lock switch on the front doors or with the auto unlock, if that the case, then there is something wrong as they are supposed to work.

Chevy Cobalt:

Buick Enclave:

Buick Regal:

Chevy Impala (late model):

Impala (old model):

 

[August88]

Omar, You are absolutely right about the power switch. I rechecked with my friends and even though they insisted they had a power lock switch, when I had them actually look there wasn't one. LOL I was sure my Cobalt had one too but then I normally don't sit in the back seats.

The difference is between unlocking when put in Park verses unlocking when opening driver door or using unlock switch on door/fob. Since one normally (I hope) puts the car in Park when dropping some one off there isn't any action needed to unlock the doors so the process gets overlook. Back seat folks don't complain about not being able to open their doors. I am use to the open all doors in Park and I just need to get use to hitting the unlock switch, as well as my passengers, when I am just dropping folks off.

Re-reading the book for a third time . (Will be reading several more times I am sure) I realized my SUV was set up to have to hit the unlock switch on door or key fob twice to open all doors even though the auto unlock/lock was enabled. Had to press both lock/unlock on key fob at same time to set to single press opens all.

It's funny that I found this harder to figure out then understanding the whole MySync stuff which was reviewed to be too complicated. MySync is easy

 

[rfs2005]

The doors not unlocking when in Park with the car still on is definitely a safety feature. If that feature wasn't there, anytime you pull into a parking spot and parked, someone could jump into your car. IMHO, the risks associated with defeating this feature aren't worth the couple seconds of convenience.

The rear doors not automatically unlocking with the front or driver doors is nothing new, at least not for Fords. Older models even had longer lock pins in the rear to make it easier to grab onto to unlock. This isn't the same as child locks, though. With child locks on, the doors would never open from the inside for any reason, locked or unlocked. However, there is still the safety feature of not being able to open the rear doors from the inside unless they are unlocked. This is to prevent kids from opening the doors while the car is in motion, or at any other undesired time. This isn't so on the front doors. They can be opened from the inside at any time, locked or unlocked, in Drive, Park or any other gear.

I've found that when I have passengers in the back seats, they aren't used to riding in the back, and arent used to either having someone else unlock their door (driver with the push button) or having to unlock it manually (pulling on the lock pin).