Ford Key Fob - low battery

[Frank Cox]

The keys for my Ford Escape look like this:
FLMPEPS5-F-MAIN12.jpg
I had it at the local Ford dealer a few days ago for an oil change and when I got it back I went to start it and the display said "key battery low replace soon".

So I hustled down to the hardware store, bought two new batteries and replaced the battery in both of the keys.

Went to drive it today and, "key battery low replace soon".

Weird. I tried it with the other key, same warning.

So what could be going on here? It's a bit suspicious that this is affecting both keys and it started right after I got it back from servicing at the dealer -- maybe they knocked some connection loose?

It still works, it starts and runs fine. I've just got that warning....

I'll call them on Monday and ask about it but I figured maybe one of you fine folks might have an idea for what I should look at in the meantime.

[Leo Enticknap]

Maybe some flash memory in the car's computer got scrambled during the service? Disconnecting the battery, leaving it for a few minutes, and then reconnecting, might be worth trying. Make sure you have any codes needed (e.g. to reactivate the radio if it goes into security lock if the car loses power completely) before doing that, though.

I agree that if two keys, both with new batteries, are causing this error message to appear, the fault is not in the keys.

[Steve Guttag]

I'm going with some sort of software update that "helped." I too have a Ford Escape. I've changed the batteries a couple of times (about once a year). I've never seen the low battery warning but if it ever claims no key found...that is enough for me to change the battery.

[Mike Blakesley]

My F-150 occasionally says 'No Key Detected' even though the key is sitting right there in the console. I actually have a fairly new key, because my old one wore out... and I have gotten that Low Battery warning on occasion, whereupon I always change the batteries. But once in a while, it'll just pop up and say "No key detected" for no reason whatsoever. No Low Battery warning either. And then a few minutes later it decides there's a key after all and works fine.

I'm sure someday it'll decide to not start at all, probably when I'm at a busy gas station.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Most vehicles have an emergency entry and starting procedure. Entry often includes pulling a backup key from your key fob and using it with an hidden keyhole on your driver's door. In order to start your car, there is often spot where the key can be read by the car, even if it's completely dead.

So I hustled down to the hardware store, bought two new batteries and replaced the battery in both of the keys.

Have you also considered the possibility the hardware store gave you a bunch of near-dead batteries?

[Frank Angel]

How about just driving back to the dealership and remind them they just worked on your car and there is something wrong with the keyfob. Make THEM figure it out. They probably just need to Make them reset the computer. And then Marcel may have hit it on the nose -- just a set of bad batteries. Those flat batteries do not have a rapid turnover at local hardware stores -- they may indeed be at their endlife.

Then there's those easily mistaken part numbers. Unlike the simple and ubiquitous AAs and AAAs that need no part numbers at to read, but have different shapes and easily read letters wrapped around those distinct bodies, these flat cells have very difficult to read etched part numbers and that fact actually did bite me the last time I bought replacements for my fob. Flat batteries that have the exact same shape and the same voltage can be one of a dozen or more different battery types with different part numbers, each with slightly different electrical characteristics but all with the same voltage; long story short, I selected a flat battery that was one number off from the one that was supposed to be used. It's a easily made mistake. It had a much shorter life than it should have had.

[Leo Enticknap]

The vast majority of button cell batteries used in car keyfob remotes, and garage door openers, are CR2032s. Because they're (a) so widely used and therefore sell in significant numbers, and (b) lithium-based, I'd be surprised if Frank bought a set that had faded through many years in storage on the store shelf. In fact, the CR2032 is often the only button cell battery you'll find on sale in a typical supermarket.

If Frank's fob uses a different battery and my assumption is wrong, then obviously, disregard the above.

[Frank Cox]

CR2032. That's what it is.

In fact, the package was front-and-center on the rack when I went to buy it, hanging on a hook with about a dozen other packages. So I'd assume it's a pretty good selling item for them.

I plan to phone the dealership tomorrow morning and ask them about this. I went on a short drive again today and got the same Low Battery warning so it's not something that was just transient.

Just about exactly a year ago the grocery store moved to a new building. The old grocery store was two block away from me. This new one is about a 40 minute walk, one way. It's not really practical to walk that far and carry a bunch of groceries, so I suddenly drive far more than before. My vehicle used to sit in my garage for sometimes two or three months between uses, now I take it out a couple of time a week.

The new store is nice, but I sure liked the old location a lot better. It was pretty much central so it was within a reasonable distance for most people here. This new location is on the edge of town beside the highway; it's within walking distance for almost nobody now.

[Mike Blakesley]

CR2032s. Because they're (a) so widely used and therefore sell in significant numbers, and (b) lithium-based, I'd be surprised if Frank bought a set that had faded through many years in storage on the store shelf.

There is a fairly slim possibility that Frank was the victim of a lack of "FIFO" being practiced in the store. FIFO stands for First In, First Out, meaning that when you restock a package on a hook, you take the existing packages off and put the new ones behind the old, meaning the ones that have been there the longest sell first. It's possible the store has just been adding new stock on top of the old stuff, and then maybe somebody came in and bought the first few units, and the ones Frank got had been sitting there behind the others for a long time. A long list of hoops to jump through but it's a possibility.

Having said that, I'm with the group that thinks his problem is more likely software related and a call to the dealership is in order.

My F150 does indeed have the emergency start feature - it is in the dumbest location you could ever imagine. You have to empty out the storage cubby in the center console, remove a rubber pad, and viola there is an indentation into which you slip your key fob, and presto the engine will start (I guess, I've never tried it -- the truck has come to its senses on its own every time, so far). In later years I understand they have moved the indentation to the bottom of the cupholder - again, under a rubber pad.

[Frank Cox]

I looked this up in case this key battery thing leaves me sitting somewhere. There's a slot on the right side of the steering column that you're supposed to slide the key into and it will work that way, supposedly.

I suspect that part of it works like the older style electronic keys that were a real key with an electronic doodad on the head. I've never seen or had one but I am under the impression that they use some sort of rfid thing that doesn't require a battery in the key itself. Though I could be wrong...

[Frank Cox]

You guys were absolutely right: it's not the battery.

I took it to the dealer this morning and the first thing they did was to take one of the keys apart and test the battery. "Tests good, but we'll put in a new one to see what happens."

Changed the battery again, same problem.

"This requires further investigation" so I left it there and someone will call me when it's fixed and ready to be picked up.

So I still don't know what's wrong with it, but there's definitely something wrong with it.

[Frank Cox]

"We reinstalled the software and it's fine now."



I guess cars are like cinema projectors -- they work in mysterious ways.

[Martin Brooks]

"We reinstalled the software and it's fine now."



I guess cars are like cinema projectors -- they work in mysterious ways.

Maybe someday the car manufacturers will develop more advanced technology that is more reliable. Imagine this: instead of an electronic key fob that requires a charged battery and is dependent upon software and a transmitter/receiver working properly, they develop a system that uses a physical key that you insert into a slot that simplifies everything. I wonder why that hasn't been implemented yet.

[Kenneth Wuepper]

Golly! My Escape fob has a built in key that can be removed so you can open the door if the wireless stuff fails.

[Mike Blakesley]

That only gets you inside the car, though. You still need to place your fob into the special magic slot to make the car run if the electronic key doesn't work.