Immobilizer

[dinosplace]

Has anyone experienced not being able to unlock and start your 2019 or newer Ranger? I was unable unlock the vehicle, it was completely dead. I even tried unlocking the door with the key and was unable to. I got my spare fob and had the same issue. None of the exterior lights flashed when trying to unlock my truck. The door somehow opened on my return back to the truck when I pulled on handle without inserting the key. I also didn’t see any exterior lights flash when trying to unlock with the fob as I approached the truck. Anyhow, I put the key into the ignition and it was dead. The dash lights were dead, nothing turned on. I had my second set of keys resting in the back cup holder closest to the centre console arm rest. Not sure if this de-activated the immobilizer system as I read online afterwards that the back cup holder is the resting place for
the fob, should your fob battery go dead and need to start your vehicle. By luck I placed my second set of keys there. Im not sure why or how this happened and would
like to understand more about the immobilizer system to prevent a re-occurrence. Any help is appreciated. Just to be clear both fobs work fine. The dash will indicate if the fob battery is low. I’m sure this has something to do with the immobilizer system and I don’t know if I accidentally activated it and how. Thanks

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[twhite68]

Has anyone experienced not being able to unlock and start your 2019 or newer Ranger? I was unable unlock the vehicle, it was completely dead. I even tried unlocking the door with the key and was unable to. I got my spare fob and had the same issue. None of the exterior lights flashed when trying to unlock my truck. The door somehow opened on my return back to the truck when I pulled on handle without inserting the key. I also didn’t see any exterior lights flash when trying to unlock with the fob as I approached the truck. Anyhow, I put the key into the ignition and it was dead. The dash lights were dead, nothing turned on. I had my second set of keys resting in the back cup holder closest to the centre console arm rest. Not sure if this de-activated the immobilizer system as I read online afterwards that the back cup holder is the resting place for
the fob, should your fob battery go dead and need to start your vehicle. By luck I placed my second set of keys there. Im not sure why or how this happened and would
like to understand more about the immobilizer system to prevent a re-occurrence. Any help is appreciated. Just to be clear both fobs work fine. The dash will indicate if the fob battery is low. I’m sure this has something to do with the immobilizer system and I don’t know if I accidentally activated it and how. Thanks

Happened to me 1 time. Started working again after 20 minutes or so. Took it to a Ford dealer that week. They couldn't find anything except that the battery connection was loose. Never has done it again.

 

[dinosplace]

Thanks for your feedback. Dealer said they have not heard of this issues before. Will have to wait and see if it happens again. Maybe they can run a code check ?? Taking it in this week for a software update to improve my phone audio issues. People say they can’t hear me well although I can hear them fine. Ford Engineers just came out with a bulletin fix.

 

[Langwilliams]

This happened to me once. I don't remember what I did to wake it up but it was like the battery control module put everything in sleep mode to save power.

 

[dinosplace]

This happened to me once. I don't remember what I did to wake it up but it was like the battery control module put everything in sleep mode to save power.

What year is your truck? Mine is 2020 XLT model with 1.5 doors and 6ft bed.
Strange and worrisome problem. Would hate to have this happen again.

 

[dinosplace]

Do you have a dealer add-on immobilizer ?

Not dealer. Must be factory.

 

[twhite68]

What year is your truck? Mine is 2020 XLT model with 1.5 doors and 6ft bed.
Strange and worrisome problem. Would hate to have this happen again.

2020 XLT 4 door 5 foot

 

[Langwilliams]

2019 xlt supercab. I was going to start carrying a mini jump box but haven't thrown it in the truck yet. I'm thinking adding a 12v charge to the battery might wake it up. I have an aftermarket light bar connected directly to the battery. I knew the battery was good when it happened because the light was bright like normal.

 

[Blue Streak]

Happened to me once not long after I bought it. Had it parked in drive with windows partly open because it was hot out. Looked like it was going to rain, went out hit my unlock button key fob & nothing happened, did it again same results. Used key to unlock door noticed no lights on, key in ignition nothing acted like dead battery. Popped the hood checked battery cables all snug. Went back inside figuring out who to call for tow back to dealer. Came back out hit the key fob to unlock the door & bingo lights blinked door unlocked put the key in started right up. Never happened again 26 months later. Also asked dealer about it he said he never heard of that happening.

 

[dinosplace]

yes, very similar experience with me on Saturday, Strange. Called Dealer to ask but they never see this before. ??‍

 

[dinosplace]

2019 xlt supercab. I was going to start carrying a mini jump box but haven't thrown it in the truck yet. I'm thinking adding a 12v charge to the battery might wake it up. I have an aftermarket light bar connected directly to the battery. I knew the battery was good when it happened because the light was bright like normal.

I had a small battery pack in the truck and I hooked it up to the battery thinking it was dead but it still wouldn’t start. Disconnect it and got back in the truck and the dash lights came on and so I put the key in and it started. I read somewhere that if the fob is dead to place it in the cup holder and then try to start the truck. May need the spare set as my key doesn’t detach from the fob.

 

[Trigganometry]

2019 xlt supercab. I was going to start carrying a mini jump box but haven't thrown it in the truck yet. I'm thinking adding a 12v charge to the battery might wake it up. I have an aftermarket light bar connected directly to the battery. I knew the battery was good when it happened because the light was bright like normal.

With the intelligent charging of our trucks the alternator only charges to 75% of battery capacity. It’s a setting in Forscan you can change.

 

[User79]

There have been several threads in the past about this problem, a couple of them were dead batteries but several were weird glitches like the ones mentioned above.

It happened to me about 1.5 years ago. Everything completely dead, no lights of any kind, no response from fob. Battery had voltage so I disconnected the negative, reconnected & was good to go....hasn't happened again.

Another solution that worked for at least one other person was using Ford pass app to start the truck.

 

[dinosplace]

There have been several threads in the past about this problem, a couple of them were dead batteries but several were weird glitches like the ones mentioned above.

It happened to me about 1.5 years ago. Everything completely dead, no lights of any kind, no response from fob. Battery had voltage so I disconnected the negative, reconnected & was good to go....hasn't happened again.

Another solution that worked for at least one other person was using Ford pass app to start the truck.

Thanks for advising. I will try the App next time. I can’t believe the dealer hasn’t heard of this issue before. Wish we knew the cause and solution. I wonder if it could be some kind of software update via satellite??

 

[dinosplace]

Happened to me once not long after I bought it. Had it parked in drive with windows partly open because it was hot out. Looked like it was going to rain, went out hit my unlock button key fob & nothing happened, did it again same results. Used key to unlock door noticed no lights on, key in ignition nothing acted like dead battery. Popped the hood checked battery cables all snug. Went back inside figuring out who to call for tow back to dealer. Came back out hit the key fob to unlock the door & bingo lights blinked door unlocked put the key in started right up. Never happened again 26 months later. Also asked dealer about it he said he never heard of that happening.

Similar scenario happened to me. Strange. I even put a battery charger on the truck thinking the battery was dead but no luck. Went inside and when I came back out, bingo ! The fob key in the ignition worked. Never happened again.

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