Curious Keyfree Question

[Brigante]

My mk4 mondeo has keyless entry/start so therefor my key doesnt need to leave my pocket to start and drive the car.

I can also start the car, get out of the car and walk a distance away with the key still in my pocket and the engine still running.

My question is, if I was to get out the car, engine running, and some toe ragg jumped in my car and drove off, how far would they get?

Would they be able to freely drive off and I wouldn't see my car again?

Or would what I would hope would happen and the car would detect the key was not actually inside of it and some how shut itself down after a certain distance so I could run after the toe ragg and drag him out?

[alexp999]

Car will keep running without the key.

Mine just keeps bonging if the key is not present.

[Stoney871]

It should cut out after a distance.

If I jump out of mine to open a barrier at work the dash goes nuts and stop/start engages until I get back in and push the clutch.

[alexp999]

Stop start is different though.

That is just turning the engine off to save fuel, then it throws a wobbly when it can't find the key to prepare for a restart.

If you don't have stop start, the engine will just keep running afaik.

[iantt]

Will keep running, its a safety thing, what if it was you driving it and had put your keys down before getting back in car, then drove off and cut out as you were either overtaking a car on normal road, or turning across traffic. Potential life threatening situation. Ford would be sued to be sure.

so allways switch off when outside vehicle.

[alexp999]

Or if the battery went flat in the key while driving, it would no longer be detected.

[iantt]

battery going flat in key wont make any difference to start and run, or should a say wont disable it as you can use remote fob without battery, inserting in hole where ign barrel would be

[alexp999]

All I mean is that in theory, if the battery in the fob went flat while driving, then the car would no longer detect it and start bonging to say no key.

Another instance where it would be dangerous for the car to just cut out.

[Stoney871]

I'm pretty sure there will be a cut out built in to the system.

Anyhow even without a battery in it a key-free fob will still start the car as the transponder is passive.

[alexp999]

I know it can work passively if put in the right location, I'm just thinking about reasons why there would be no cut out.

Afaik, the engine will keep running.

[MattDRX]

There isn't a cut out in the Fiesta ST, I tried it, walked down the road to see and went about 400M way beyond the signal as they key had to be within like 1M to start it in the first place.

[StevenST13]

Unfortunately your car will just keep running until the fuel runs out or the engine is stopped. If you wanted it to shut down you would have to fit either a remote shut down device or have a tracker on the car that someone like navtrack can do a remote shutdown.

[WES180]

Has anyone actually tried starting the car then pass the keys to someone else with a car and phone so you can drive away and see how far you get? If it cuts out you can phone them to come and get you. If it doesnt cut out then i had better stop leaving mine running too as i assumed it would cut out if someone jumped in and sped off!

If anyone tries it then dont forget to take your phone too!:D

[StevenST13]

Believe me they don't cut out unless you turn the engine off no matter how far you go. A guy at work picked up a customers car and drove it 100 miles without they key in the car. The customer had to drop the keys in to work the next day which he wasn't happy about.

[WES180]

What a stupid design then. I thought the fact it beeps when the keys are outside the car then it would cut out if it was driven away! Better stop leaving it running when opening the gates at work then!

[iantt]

Def dont cut out, my boss started his car for his wife to drive off, she went off shopping or home, then couldnt find key to lock it, or come back.

there is a display infront of you saying key not in vehicle, but she didnt notice or ignored it

[Brigante]

I've just woke up after getting some sleep in ready for a night shift and seen the big discussion my question has caused.

The reason for my question is I'd just seen on tv about a woman who had her car stolen on her drive and she was dragged about 30ft from her drive into the road before the jacker managed to get away in her car.

By sounds of it she was cleaning her car, had the engine running and walked away a few feet to the front door of her house and some scum bag has jumped in the car and tried to drive off. She tried to stop him but ended up being dragged a long.

Now I never leave my car running without me in it, but it made me wonder if the same happened to me how far they'd get. It now sounds like they'd get as far as they wanted as long as they dont turn the ignition off.

The way the car beeps and displays key not inside car if I do step out of the door with the car running made me think that if the key isn't detected within a distance of the car it may shut itself down. I guess that is not the case.

I can confirm though that if the battery does die in the key it will not start the car passively by having it anywhere inside the car. It will say key not detected.

To start the car you need to remove the blanking plate and insert the key into where the ignition would have been

[Stoney871]

I don't have an ignition blank on my car.

There is a plastic tray with a key outline on it under the armrest where I would have to place the key (I'd assume it has a transponder tx/rx sensor just like would be around an ignition barrel on non key-free cars).

[Celticfan]

Definately doesn't cut out.

I spent over half a day at a suppliers the other week. Came out to find engine running and car unlocked. All I can assume is that I stopped, auto stop kicked in, and as I thought I had turned the engine off, I pressed the lock button and left it. Of course, it hadn't locked and the auto sto/start had turned the engine back on.

I make sure that I double check engine off and car locked now.

[Figgis41]

hi,,, as mentioned the engine will continue to run until its turned off, then without the key you cannot turn it back on,, as i understand it turning off also means with stop start so your incident has confused me even more Bill. :(

[auldreekie]

No-one has mentioned insurance, surely if you get out the car walk away and leave the engine running and some nutter jumps in and drives of or worse still wrecks it after a few meters insurance company will not pay out because of drivers carelessness in leaving the engine on. Also I wonder if police could charge you with leaving the car unattended with engine running .

[747777]

I'm reading this in amusement.

It's all to do with safety - I call it life - and life doesn't discern between victim or perpetrator.

Ford doesn't care if you lose your pride and joy due to your own folly.

Leaving the car with your key, engine running, even for a moment, without duly shutting the engine down, is such a common practice nowadays that owners, not surprisingly, actually believe it's their right to do so - when it's only a convenience... and it's a convenience one consciously practices in total disregard for security and safety. What is sadly lacking nowadays is the sense of accountability.

And yes, my S-Max runs till dry too.

My 2p.

[Stoney871]

Leaving a car running whilst unoccupied is an offence which is rarely used.

It's called quitting.

[Celticfan]

Figgis, if the car auto stops it's 'temporary' as it can re-start if any of the requirements aren't met. For example, the temperature or battery charge drops. All anyone has to do if it auto stops is what we do. Depress the clutch. Mine must have re-started as I hadn't actually turned it off.