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Mk3 Keyless Entry - Frustrating ??


tomo2001
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just wondering if i can resurrect this thread after doing a bit of googling...

i've put my focus titanium(12 plate) into my local dealership twice regarding "faults" with the keyless entry. i say fault...they say it doesn't fail any health check so there are no faults.

unfortunately i'm not convinced. i'd really like to have some kind of fact sheet about what is supposed to happen with keyless entry/exit. i'm ok with the power button for ignition so i'm just interested in what should happen with entering/exiting my car.

on exit am i supposed to be able to just walk away from the car and it locks itself? if so how long does it take to do this and how far should my key fob be away from it? currently it doesn't lock itself ever.

on exit if i press the driver black pad on the door handle it doesn't lock sometimes. i can perhaps get it to lock occasionally by mucking about with the keypad. it's not easy and not predictable either. this is on the driver's side. things seem to be better on the passenger side but i don't always do this. in the end i end up pressing the lock button on the fob which defeats the whole object.

on approaching the car is my car supposed to recognise my fob every time? it doesn't do this. but then sometimes it does. i try to repeat the same tests every day but it's really hard to write each part of the test so i end up not remembering what's happened. does it matter if the locks are "double-locked" or single-locked. i don't know the technical terms so bear with me.

now that my car has been into the dealers twice i'm having to play detective on forums like this as i'm convinced there's something up. it'd be really good to have some kind of technical specification on keyless entry/exit so i can read it and see if my car follows it.

soz for the essay but hopefully you can see that i'm getting a bit lost with the keyless side of things. i don't have any other faults that i know about apart from brakes but i'm dealing with motorpoint on that one so shouldn't be related...

cheers in advance,

me

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Hi, the car will never lock itself and hasn't been designed to do it this way, I am sure you can think of why this is so. Double locked is more secure because not only does it prevent the interior handles from opening the doors it also puts the alarm into a higher level of protection..

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I have keyless entry and very occasionally I have to try twice - usually when it is wet.

When I exit I press my thumb twice on the door handle contact to double lock it.

On return I just grab the handle (front or rear) and it unlocks.

John

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Thanks both for chipping in. so i'm guessing that my car will never lock itself. as for if i'd like this feature then yep i would - or at least the option to choose it on exit. it's generally just me using the car so why not just walk away if i forget to lock it. irrelevant now anyway.

as for the touch pad, this is why it's there then isn't it? to lock the car without needing the key fob. knowing this now i'll use it more often and see if it seems to be working right or not.

so what do we thinking on approaching the car then. is my car supposed to recognise my fob EVERY time i get up close to it? if i open my boot when it's locked, shut it and walk around to the driver door in the morning then it recognises it and opens up the door mirrors and unlocks.

however the other day i parked it up on friday night and came back to my driver door on a monday morning and nothing. no mirrors out or unlocking so what's up there? is it the time since last activity? once i grabbed the door handles everything opened up.

thanks again all,

ian

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The boot is operated separately to the doors, so if you open the boot first, you still have to grab the door handle to unlock the car.

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cheers alexp but i'm afraid that's not what happens on my car. perhaps i should mention that i have automatic mirrors(convenience pack?) i bought my car 2nd hand from motorpoint and although i got the manuals it just brushes over the keyless system.

i'm able to unlock my car and open up my mirrors just by walking close to it. this is especially after opening the boot from cold. you're right, though, that my boot opens and closes separately to the other doors.

1 of my frustrations with this is that my dealer didn't really know the answers to my questions and there are differing opinions out there. i've just found out that ford tech info is £1 a minute so that's a no-goer. i'd just like to know what i've paid £1000s for.

thanks all - keep 'em coming!!!

me

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I have a Titanium X, with the Appearance pack, so it includes Keyless, Folding mirrors, etc.

The sensor for unlocking the door is on the back of the handle. The car should never unlock just by walking up to it. When you put your hand between the handle and the car (i.e. grab the handle) the car should unfold the mirrors and unlock.

The only issue I have had is sometimes the alarm does not disengage after unlocking the car, I know when it is going to happen as the double locking mechanism is slow to respond. As soon as the key enters the car the alarm stops though.

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ah rightio. i've got a plain(!) titanium, 12 plate with appearance pack not convenience pack then. cheers.

a sensor on the back of the handle? i'll check this out when i go out later but my car opens up without my touching it although i do have to be right next to it. it opens up a split-second before i grab the handle. i'll try this later on though.

no issues with my alarm in the 3 months i've had it other than forgetting to deactivate the interior sensor when getting out and my baby in the back moving. so that works alright i assume.

cheers again,

me

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ah rightio. i've got a plain(!) titanium, 12 plate with appearance pack not convenience pack then. cheers.

a sensor on the back of the handle? i'll check this out when i go out later but my car opens up without my touching it although i do have to be right next to it. it opens up a split-second before i grab the handle. i'll try this later on though.

no issues with my alarm in the 3 months i've had it other than forgetting to deactivate the interior sensor when getting out and my baby in the back moving. so that works alright i assume.

cheers again,

me

You shouldn't have to touch the car, but as soon as you put your hand between the car and handle, it will unlock.

I have to leave my key inside the house when washing my car as it constantly locks and unlocks itself otherwise :lol:

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Hi, correct as I have to do that as well...

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Because of my low miles , my battery is not in peak condition , and i sometimes have trouble locking mine , i can press the button several times before it activates.

Ford tested and found no problem apart from low battery.

As for Alarms aRRrrhhhhh , if i get out the car to quick after having heater on , the damn alarm triggers . open the door and let the air circulate , then get out and lock and it does not go off.

Yes i also have to place my hand between handle before it opens, some times i do the Ninja , and can start to pull the handle before it opens :)

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Also have 2010 Ti with Keyless system and it works well. Just keep the key in my pocket and has worked 100% (only had car for 4 weeks). Get a little annoyed when I reach my front door and have to get key ring out of pocket.

+1 works fine ,i also keep remote in pocket & also had car for around 4-5 weeks. LOL!

but i dont have to reach for house keys as have remote garage door so open it & enter.

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Had troubles with mine not wanting to unlock while it was raining which for obvious reason is really annoying, went into ford for my 4k mile oil change and got them to check it, what ever was done has cured it and I'm on 10500k now

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Ignoring most of the bitching!!!!

Had my Mk3 just over a year now. I too think my keyless is hit and miss. Cold weather this winter seemed to make it a lot worst. I did take it to the dealer, got the expected reply - "cannot find anything wrong. let us know if it does it again" So just putting up with it.

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cheers dsrogan. i probbly don't have enough time to keep worrying about this so i'll put up with it like you. wish i could get the tech spec from ford though. not phoning them at £1 a minute though.

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  • 1 month later...

Replying to the original question.............

I too am very frustrated with my Keyless entry. It too is hit & miss. Took it to my dealer who could not find a fault so the frustration continues. Seems to be worse in cold weather. I think the system needs a little more work by the designers.

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Sort of glad i don't have keyless entry it sounds like a nightmare lol. It's always a wise idea to do as much research as possible before going to the dealer, dealers can be !Removed! and it's good to have several points to throw at them incase they want to pretend there is no problem.

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I've got keyfree,keyless system ,had car for almost 3 months now but mine seems fine ,on a mk2.5 titanium 2010 plate, so is mates ST225 on 09 plate,he's had no issues,

How old are your cars ? Guys with problems??

Yunii

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Hi, I wouldn't

Sort of glad i don't have keyless entry it sounds like a nightmare lol. It's always a wise idea to do as much research as possible before going to the dealer, dealers can be !Removed! and it's good to have several points to throw at them incase they want to pretend there is no problem.

I wouldn't base my decision on keyless by this thread. It is a known fact that the few that have issues, against the majority that don't, only post in forums...

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My Focus is a Mk3 TiX bought new last year, and I initially had all sorts of problems with the keyless entry.

That is until on a visit to my dealer, it was pointed out that I shouldn't try and lock it by putting my hand round the handle and pressing the little black window, I was trying to lock and unlock it at the same time! Doh!

The other thing I didn't realise at first is that only the door near the sensor will unlock, i.e. if I stand next to the drivers door the passenger cannot unlock it on the other side.

My excuse is my old age...

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  • 7 months later...

Well looks like my drivers door sensor has packed up after 17 months and 21300 miles so just gotta work out when to get ford to sort it as I'm still waiting for parts to do the headlamp TSB.

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Well looks like my drivers door sensor has packed up after 17 months and 21300 miles so just gotta work out when to get ford to sort it as I'm still waiting for parts to do the headlamp TSB.

What TSB is that?

Funny thing, my keyless entry/locking is now playing up, going in for a second time on Thursday. Double lock stopped working via keyless, apparently if any error is logged in regards to the keyless/locking system then it disables the double lock functionality. I also still get the occasional incident, where the car doesn't unlock properly. It physically unlocks the doors, but the mirrors remain in and as I open the door the alarm goes off.

Here is hoping some further investigation will determine what is going wrong...

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