I gotta do something I don't want to do - crosspost. Not getting any responses in Electrical, hope some of you in here may have some ideas.

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My son in law had something strange happen to his 98 Lariat yesterday morning. It was single digits cold here, and he went out to warm up his truck to go to work. He started it, put his key fob in his pocket, locked the truck, and went back inside. He went back out 15 minutes later, and the doors would not unlock with the fob. He thought maybe the fob battery died, so he went inside and grabbed his wife's keys, and her fob wouldn't unlock it either. He opened the door with her key and tested both fobs again - no good, wouldn't do anything. He turned the engine off and both fobs started working again. I asked him if he tried the electrical lock buttons on the doors once he was in, and he did not.

Any ideas? Is this normal? He asked all his co-workers who own Ford trucks and none of them have heard of anything like this.

 

Wow... that is strange. I have never had that issue on my 04

 

I want to say this makes sense to me. I bet it's some kinda safety feature, where once the truck has been running, the key fobs are disabled. For example, if you're driving down the road in your truck (with the key in obviously) I bet you can't hit the fob to unlock it while you're under way. I actually drove my truck to work today (which isn't often) so I'll give this a shot on my way home.

 

My remote wont open the doors either when the engines running. Safety feature I guessed. Sucks because it makes warming the engine in super cold problematic.

 

Hmmm - it does make sense. Anyone know any way to disable or override it?

 

one simple thing you can do is to get another key. i know, it sounds like im just being a jacks$$ but here's what im saying. if you need a new key just to unlock the doors, dont go spend all that money on one of the chipped keys. you can get a standard(unchipped) key from walmart for 2 bucks. now granted, it wont start the truck, but it will unlock it. i read about this a while back and thought it was a cool idea. its also useful for if you accidently lock your keys in the truck. i keep a spare in my wallet. but i have a 98 without the chipped key so i can start my truck with my 2 dollar key. woot.

 

Thanks - you aren't being a jackass at all. It's a 98 so there's no PATS, and he is planning on getting another key. He does want to know if there's a way around this behavior simply for more convenience.

 

I'd be interested to know as well. I confirmed my 02' XLT does the same thing. Key fob doesn't work when the truck is running. I've always wanted to look into installing the key pad on the door handle to unlock\lock the doors. I love this feature on our 08' Escape. Not sure if it was available or not in the 97-03 F-150's, but I thought I saw an expy around my year with it one time. So I'd assume it could be done.

 

I almost bought an 01 that had that keyless entry for my kid..

 

my o2 screw lariet has the keypad on the driver door! yeah

 

OOPS "lariat" i should re-read my post before submitting them

 

yeah, i dont think there's a way of getting around it. i was just saying that the $2 key is the cheapest solution. but if you got the money, the keypad sounds like the way to go.

 

Yep, I did mine on a 99 Lariat & it was Cheap...40 dollars Shipped from a boneyard.. they said it was RED(from a expy) but it was maroon so I had to paint it then wire it in... not too bad but I think the wire harness is already in the door for yours(above the speaker). It should just be a plug & play.

My Key fob doesn't work when the truck is running either.Never checked it till now... But it works while the truck is running under the remote start so I've got it covered both ways.

 

Cool, thanks for the heads up. How does the key pad fasten to the door? Any drilling and\or body work required?

 

The keypad is already attached. No drilling or bodywork was required.All I did was just swap out the lock, switch the handles & connected the wires.I was suprised that it worked first time!!! I'll try to find the write up on it again & post a link.

Note: This was a OEM handle (I think from a 98 Expedition) NOT a aftermarket keypad.