Key FOB no longer locks/unlocks doors

[ahealey]

I have a friend who has recently fallen on a difficult situation. She has a 2010 ford explorer and I am trying to help her out with an issue.

I will be getting the explorer this weekend to do some other maintenance and am asking for some help in advance to trouble shoot on a non-critical issue with the vehicle; The key fob no longer locks/unlocks the doors. I will apologize in advance for my lack of preparation in this post, and admit I do not have a service manual for this vehicle so any info is appreciated


Here is what I know so far:

The battery has been replaced in the fob and was not the issue

It looks like from searching posts there is a sequence of turning the key on/off that somehow can possibly re-sync some sort of signal, I could not confirm if this is the case with the 2010

I realize that some parts and services can only be addressed by dealers or certified sources, but I would at least make an attempt to fix it.

Any info on helping me troubleshoot this issue will be great, thanks in advance for any help

 

[Ornery]

Pics of the girl?

Well anyway, this might work...

 

[ahealey]

thanks for the link,
can anybody tell me what components are in the system that can fail to cause this problem in the case it cannot be reprogrammed? there must be a receiver of some sort in the car.

 

[Ornery]

I'll take a stab at it. I think if the battery is disconnected too long, you could see this issue. I'd be surprised if that's the only issue that pops up, though.

 

[polizi212]

I would add that the remote its self could have failed, Did you try the second remote? If not try that and see how that goes first!

 

[ahealey]

I would add that the remote its self could have failed, Did you try the second remote? If not try that and see how that goes first!

thanks for the reply
I was thinking the same thing, however there is only one remote. I assume that would have to be purchased from a dealer?

 

[polizi212]

Unfortunately without having a second working remote your limited in what you can accomplish. Try the procedure that Ornery gave you a link to first see if that gives any response! I just thought of a another Idea check your local autozone, they will have a remote tester mounted to the counter where you can make sure the remote is actually transmitting! the one at my autozone looks like this.

 

[ahealey]

polizi212,
that is a great idea, thanks for the reply i will give it a try!

 

[Explorer_PL]

My key fob failed, I bought 2 on ebay, but I am not sure you need both to program it.

I did 1 by 1 independently.

You need 2 keys to program a 3rd one, but the remotes - do not think so.

 

[ahealey]

thanks for the info explorerPL, did you buy a factory type replacement or??

OK, i went through the sequence.

The car locked/unlocked after turning the key on/off 8 times indicating it was in program mode

when i pushed the key fob button it locked/unlocked indicating it had reprogrammed

after exiting the 'program mode' it still does not work

I have yet to check it on one of the testers as suggested but will do that when i stop by the parts store, i assume since it communicated when i pushed the button it does transmit

any other thoughts?

 

[Ornery]

 

[ahealey]

Ornery,
that is the sequence that i followed initially, (and now a second time - see below) thanks.

I have an update, I disconnected the battery to clean the terminals. After reconnecting the battery i repeated the process again. It worked and the key fob functioned as it should..... for a while...

after about an hour it stopped functioning and went back to nothing again. disconnected battery again.... repeated process and it worked again... for a while

So something somewhere is falling out of solution, but everything is capable of functioning for a period of time. these are the tricky problems

 

[wharriso]

Have you tried replacing the key fob case yet? Constant use of the key fob sometimes causes the carbon, or whatever that is making contact with metal strips inside of the key fob, to wear out.

Go to an auto parts store, like Autozone. They have the "empty" key fobs on display. Just open your key fob and put the insides in the new case. I ran into that problem twice and it worked for me each time (with a different model car though).