Intelligent Access: driver's door behavior

[openair]

When touching the driver's door handle: the intelligent access only unlocks the driver's door.  When touching any passenger door handle: the intelligent access unlocks all doors.  Intended? Customizable? I don't believe it worked this way when I first bought the vehicle.

 

Also, lately, the driver's door sometimes doesn't recognize when I press the lock marks on the handle.  I know the switch inhibit option prevents a lock within a given time period of an unlock or vice versa.  Are there any other time related reasons the driver's door handle may refuse to lock but the passenger's door handle would lock?

[Hybridbear]

You can change the unlock behavior through the settings on the left dash screen.

 

I thought switch inhibit prevented someone from reaching inside the car when the windows are open and unlocking a door to disable the alarm...What exactly does it do relating to locking & unlocking in succession?

[murphy]

You can change the unlock behavior through the settings on the left dash screen.

 

I thought switch inhibit prevented someone from reaching inside the car when the windows are open and unlocking a door to disable the alarm...What exactly does it do relating to locking & unlocking in succession?

From my Owner's Manual

 

Switch Inhibitor

When you electronically lock your vehicle,

the power door lock switch will no longer

operate after 20 seconds. You must unlock

your vehicle with the remote control or

keyless keypad, or switch the ignition on,

to restore function to these switches. You

can switch this feature on or off in the

information display. See General

Information (page 84).

 

 

If it's enabled and the car is locked using the button on the fob, the car will not unlock by grabbing the door handle.  It must be unlocked with the button on the fob or by entering the code on the keypad on the driver's B pillar.

 

I don't recall ever trying it.

[openair]

You can change the unlock behavior through the settings on the left dash screen.

Thanks! The setting remote unlocking does indeed apply to intelligent access from the door handles.

[FordServiceCA]

When touching the driver's door handle: the intelligent access only unlocks the driver's door.  When touching any passenger door handle: the intelligent access unlocks all doors.  Intended? Customizable? I don't believe it worked this way when I first bought the vehicle.

 

Also, lately, the driver's door sometimes doesn't recognize when I press the lock marks on the handle.  I know the switch inhibit option prevents a lock within a given time period of an unlock or vice versa.  Are there any other time related reasons the driver's door handle may refuse to lock but the passenger's door handle would lock?

 

Hey there, openair.

 

I responded to your multiple concerns on one thread: http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/2956-climate-control-from-home-screen/?do=findComment&comment=18969

 

Please let me know if you've spoken to your CSM about these concerns; I'll see how to move forward.

 

Nikki

Ford Service CA

[shaggy314]

If you check the Ford Owner channel on Youtube, they have a bunch of nice video stepping you through a bunch of things and explaining features.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/fordowner

 

or

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/fordowner/search?query=Energi

Edited February 19, 2015 at 05:13 AM by shaggy314

[openair]

After changing the batteries in the key fobs less than four months ago, they have started to act up again.  With the key fob in the same hand that touched the drivers door handle it repeatedly refused to open and the passenger door open first try again.  I also had, for the first time, the unauthorized access alarm message (vehicle alarm - to stop alarm start vehicle) appear as I was exiting the vehicle yesterday.

[openair]

Entering the vehicle to go for lunch today, as I nearly simultaneously closed the driver's door and started the vehicle, it gave a double honk as though I had left the vehicle running and exited.  Seems to be another occurrence of it intermittently not detecting the key fob.  It detected it to unlock the door and start the vehicle but then did not detect it and thought the fob no longer in the vehicle and gave the double honk.

 

I have been unable to reproduce this suggesting it did not double honk for some other intended reason.

[Hybridbear]

Entering the vehicle to go for lunch today, as I nearly simultaneously closed the driver's door and started the vehicle, it gave a double honk as though I had left the vehicle running and exited.  Seems to be another occurrence of it intermittently not detecting the key fob.  It detected it to unlock the door and start the vehicle but then did not detect it and thought the fob no longer in the vehicle and gave the double honk.

 

I have been unable to reproduce this suggesting it did not double honk for some other intended reason.

Was your key fob in your left pants pocket? Sometimes when I get in the car will start but the dash shows "key not detected". I usually find this happens when the key is very close to the driver's door and thus is close to being outside the car. Other times I'll put the key in the door pocket when I'm going to play sports & am in athletic shorts because I don't have useful pockets. Often times with the key in the door pocket the car will start but it says "key not detected". Both the Focus Electric & Fusion Energi act this way with the key in the door pocket.

[openair]

Right pant pocket.

Edited June 24, 2015 at 12:58 PM by openair

[Hybridbear]

Right pant pocket.

Was your cell phone in the same pocket or otherwise close by? Cell phones cause interference with the key. If I walk up to the car with my key fob sitting on my iPhone the car will not detect the key fob.

[openair]

My phone is always in my left front or back pocket. The key fob in my right front pocket.

 

And I mean always. The four months with no issues after changing the batteries and the one week recently with issues everyday. Each and every time my phone is on my left and the key fob on my right. Or in one case the key fob was in my right hand grabbing the door handle.

 

This also does not change in the 5 seconds between the drivers door failing and the rear passenger door working first try.

Edited June 24, 2015 at 09:20 PM by openair

[openair]

Well this is interesting though. And please hybridbear let me know if this is the same for you or not. (Yours doesn't detect the key at all? Have you tried other doors? Or only drivers?)

 

I went out up the vehicle with my cell phone and key fob touching each other in my right hand as I touched the intelligent access sensors. The drivers door and only the drivers door would not unlock but would lock. Doing exactly the same with all other doors behaves flawlessly.

 

Only the drivers door experiences any interference with my cell phone touching the fob in the same hand that touches the door handle.

 

It seems likely this is a senor sensitivity issue. Not all sensors are identical. They usually need some calibration. Mine are likely not sensitive enough or calibrated off the vehicles centre.

 

I have also never experienced water from rain or washing trigger the intelligent access as many other have reported. Which also points to a difference in sensitivity.

 

The vehicle starts with the key fob and cell phone in my left pants pocket or in the drivers door pocket. I do not get a no key. Only the drivers door refuses to unlock.

 

Edit: in fact the key fob only experiences interference with my cell phone when they are touching each other in the same hand that touches the drivers door handle. If I use the other hand or put them together in my left or right pocket there is no issue. So doesn't seem to explain my intermittent issue at all.

 

Being able to reproduce this issue with only the drivers door handle with them touching each other might give me something to show the dealer but I doubt they'll get any useful advice from the hotline besides use the other hand.

Edited June 24, 2015 at 11:18 PM by openair

[openair]

It has nothing to do with my cell phone.  With my cell 100 yards away inside the house:  If the key fob is close enough to the drivers door handle, say in that hand the grabs the door handle or if I lean a certain way with it in my right pocket, the drivers door does not unlock.  Approximately within 1.5 inches of the drivers door handle.  My hand would usually move the fob outside this 1.5 inches to press the lock button, explaining why it would lock but not unlock.

 

It appears to be a deadzone within ~1.5 inches of or interference caused by the drivers door handle itself.  All other doors work with the keyfob in a similar position to themselves.

Edited June 26, 2015 at 12:32 AM by openair

[openair]

Intelligent access not detecting the key fob this close to the driver's door handle is non actionable by ford.  It is intended or at least intended to work with the fob further away.  Reproducing this similar issue to my intermittent issue in this way doesn't have ford any more interested in fixing my intelligent access headaches.  Basically my earlier guess that the hotline would respond "use the other hand" was correct. lol

 

Since discovering this deadzone around the driver's door handle I have still experienced intermittent issues with the key fob and the driver's door handle not unlocking or locking many times.  Even when careful to keep the key fob further away from the door handle.   This past Sunday none of the doors would respond until I pressed the unlock button on the fob.

Edited September 1, 2015 at 11:00 PM by openair

[Russael]

Intelligent access not detecting the key fob this close to the driver's door handle is non actionable by ford.  It is intended or at least intended to work with the fob further away.  Reproducing this similar issue to my intermittent issue in this way doesn't have ford any more interested in fixing my intelligent access headaches.  Basically my earlier guess that the hotline would respond "use the other hand" was correct. lol

 

Since discovering this deadzone around the driver's door handle I have still experienced intermittent issues with the key fob and the driver's door handle not unlocking or locking many times.  Even when careful to keep the key fob further away from the door handle.   This past Sunday none of the doors would respond until I pressed the unlock button on the fob.

 

Is this always at the same place or does the location not matter?

 

My cousin who works with EMI at GM told me of someone who's IA key wouldn't work at all at a particular restaurant...

 

As it turns out after they investigated the location, they found that a set of remote control extenders, one of which had an improper wall wart power supply connected (devices required 6 volt... dude had a 9 volt supply) generated so much interference that his key wouldn't work until he drove away from the location.

[openair]

Various locations. Work. Home. Gfs apartment. Random parking lots

[openair]

Intelligent access not detecting the key fob this close to the driver's door handle is non actionable by ford. It is intended or at least intended to work with the fob further away. Reproducing this similar issue to my intermittent issue in this way doesn't have ford any more interested in fixing my intelligent access headaches. Basically my earlier guess that the hotline would respond "use the other hand" was correct. lol

While this is what I was told over the phone by a local dealer Rep it is not what they were told by the Ford hotline. It seems the girl who told me this made it up but she was not there today for me to ask.

 

They called me last week after our last conversation was that I would wait to bring it in again when the intelligent access issue became more reproducible. They offered me a rental so they could keep the vehicle over night and look into this and my phone issue further. I asked her on the phone, twice, if they had a like model and a known good phone to complete the hotlines diagnostics.

 

I dropped my vehicle off, confirmed they would be ready and able to fulfill why I was there after returning from the rental place (as they closed at 6). I returned from the rental place and the dealer had no phone and no like model. They talked like they were just going to throw an apim at it and I should leave it there.

 

I then got to read the response from the hotline while they again went to confirm they didn't have a like model with either MFT or IA. The response from the hotline regarding the phone was as expected from a previous dealer. Try my phone and a known good phone with both my car and a like model.

 

The response regarding the IA issue said nothing of it being intended as the girl had previously told me. It infact stated that they should compare with a like model. The Edge the rental company gave me unlocks and locks all the doors with the key fob in the same position that my fusion does not. The dealer Rep who was there didn't know if an edge was acceptable for comparison. They are supposedly getting a like model tomorrow and offered to send it and a tech out to me.

 

It is very concerning that, after calling me 30 minutes prior to confirm I was still coming, not only was this dealer not ready to service my vehicle but that they were also unable to correctly interpret the response from the hotline or just made up nonsense instead.

 

Also while I can understand the necessity of needing comparative diagnostic for issues involving third party hardware, such as my phone, to require comparative diagnostics for an issue involving only ford hardware is beyond ridiculous. Especially if a one year newer edge with the same IA option doesn't qualify as a like model. What happens in 3 to 5 years when there are no like model at any dealership to compare with? How does the Ford hotline not even know how things are supposed to work?

Edited September 17, 2015 at 11:57 PM by openair

[FordServiceCA]

While this is what I was told over the phone by a local dealer Rep it is not what they were told by the Ford hotline. It seems the girl who told me this made it up but she was not there today for me to ask.

 

They called me last week after our last conversation was that I would wait to bring it in again when the intelligent access issue became more reproducible. They offered me a rental so they could keep the vehicle over night and look into this and my phone issue further. I asked her on the phone, twice, if they had a like model and a known good phone to complete the hotlines diagnostics.

 

I dropped my vehicle off, confirmed they would be ready and able to fulfill why I was there after returning from the rental place (as they closed at 6). I returned from the rental place and the dealer had no phone and no like model. They talked like they were just going to throw an apim at it and I should leave it there.

 

I then got to read the response from the hotline while they again went to confirm they didn't have a like model with either MFT or IA. The response from the hotline regarding the phone was as expected from a previous dealer. Try my phone and a known good phone with both my car and a like model.

 

The response regarding the IA issue said nothing of it being intended as the girl had previously told me. It infact stated that they should compare with a like model. The Edge the rental company gave me unlocks and locks all the doors with the key fob in the same position that my fusion does not. The dealer Rep who was there didn't know if an edge was acceptable for comparison. They are supposedly getting a like model tomorrow and offered to send it and a tech out to me.

 

It is very concerning that, after calling me 30 minutes prior to confirm I was still coming, not only was this dealer not ready to service my vehicle but that they were also unable to correctly interpret the response from the hotline or just made up nonsense instead.

 

Also while I can understand the necessity of needing comparative diagnostic for issues involving third party hardware, such as my phone, to require comparative diagnostics for an issue involving only ford hardware is beyond ridiculous. Especially if a one year newer edge with the same IA option doesn't qualify as a like model. What happens in 3 to 5 years when there are no like model at any dealership to compare with? How does the Ford hotline not even know how things are supposed to work?

 

While this is what I was told over the phone by a local dealer Rep it is not what they were told by the Ford hotline. It seems the girl who told me this made it up but she was not there today for me to ask.

 

They called me last week after our last conversation was that I would wait to bring it in again when the intelligent access issue became more reproducible. They offered me a rental so they could keep the vehicle over night and look into this and my phone issue further. I asked her on the phone, twice, if they had a like model and a known good phone to complete the hotlines diagnostics.

 

I dropped my vehicle off, confirmed they would be ready and able to fulfill why I was there after returning from the rental place (as they closed at 6). I returned from the rental place and the dealer had no phone and no like model. They talked like they were just going to throw an apim at it and I should leave it there.

 

I then got to read the response from the hotline while they again went to confirm they didn't have a like model with either MFT or IA. The response from the hotline regarding the phone was as expected from a previous dealer. Try my phone and a known good phone with both my car and a like model.

 

The response regarding the IA issue said nothing of it being intended as the girl had previously told me. It infact stated that they should compare with a like model. The Edge the rental company gave me unlocks and locks all the doors with the key fob in the same position that my fusion does not. The dealer Rep who was there didn't know if an edge was acceptable for comparison. They are supposedly getting a like model tomorrow and offered to send it and a tech out to me.

 

It is very concerning that, after calling me 30 minutes prior to confirm I was still coming, not only was this dealer not ready to service my vehicle but that they were also unable to correctly interpret the response from the hotline or just made up nonsense instead.

 

Also while I can understand the necessity of needing comparative diagnostic for issues involving third party hardware, such as my phone, to require comparative diagnostics for an issue involving only ford hardware is beyond ridiculous. Especially if a one year newer edge with the same IA option doesn't qualify as a like model. What happens in 3 to 5 years when there are no like model at any dealership to compare with? How does the Ford hotline not even know how things are supposed to work?

Hi openair,

 

Let me see what can be done for your IA issues; send me a private message with your VIN, odometer reading, full name, phone number, and servicing dealer.

 

Thanks,

 

Mathieu

[openair]

Hi Mathieu.  My last case number regarding help related to this and other issues from "FordServiceCA" and the regional mangers you would put me in contact was closed, by them, after about two weeks of waiting for them to call me back as the said they would but never did.  They were also no help what so ever and, in at least once instance, only made things worse by threatening to pre-bias a second opinion at a different dealership against me.  Basically telling me at every conversation "it's all on the dealer.  We only help with out of warranty coverage, warranty extensions, and stuff like that."  They're also feel that calling me during my work hours when I cannot answer the phone is me refusing contact.  I do not believe that giving you the information you ask for will accomplish anything and do not want you guys making matters worse as your fellow employees once did.

Edited September 18, 2015 at 04:53 PM by openair

[openair]

The 'like' model they got today does not have intelligent access.

 

They do have a 2015 Fusion with intelligent access and the doors do unlock with the key fob in the same position mine does not but the tech 'thinks that maybe it's a different antenna' so even one year newer may disqualify it as a like model.

Edited September 18, 2015 at 08:44 PM by openair

[flyingcheesehead]

The 'like' model they got today does not have intelligent access.

 

You know, Ford designs and builds some really good cars, but their dealers need a LOT of work. :(

[openair]

It's a great ride.  Better than advertised fuel economy.  Just wish someone would fix these convenience features or at least knew how certain things were supposed to work. 

 

If a 2015 Fusion really doesn't qualify as a like model... than 3 to 5 years until no dealer in southern Ontario will have any like models just became 6 months tops.

Edited September 18, 2015 at 08:53 PM by openair

[openair]

A 2013 Lincoln (they didn't say what model) behaves the same as mine.  Refuses to lock or unlock the doors if the keyfob is too close.  They say this is as close as we're going to get to confirming the 2015 does have a new antenna.  Meaning nothing will be done about mine.

[thomasirwin]

I have a 2019 Ford Fushion and I don't see the Intellegent access in the menu.  I have a keypad access tab and 2 others but nothing to turn on or off the keyfob touch the door to unlock feature.  Did they really manufacture models with a keyfob that doesn't open the door by touch?