Stranded by PAAK and Backup Passcode failure

[spicy_taco]

Today the car left me in a very bad situation.

I have relied on PAAK for the last few months as it's been pretty solid. Even when I forgot my key, I always had the backup password to get me through.

Today my phone refused to connect, so I used my keypad code to enter. The "Enter your backup passcode" screen popped up, but the keyboard did not. I could not enter my backup start passcode. Nothing worked.

I tried resetting SYNC but it didn't work.

The car ended up tripping its alarm somehow and left me having to call my wife to bring the set of keys. She had to drive a good 50 miles to get me out of this mess.

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[Mach-Lee]

If the keyboard won't come up, press and hold the brake pedal. Or press it repeatedly. That usually does the trick for me when it doesn't come up.

I've personally never had PAAK refuse with my phone. It might take a minute or two but it always works. Worst case you quit FordPass and reboot your phone.

 

[Robob]

There is a new bug it seems in the last few versions of fordpass, I originally thought it was because of my updating. But it has happened 2 more times since where the app just shows disconnected and won’t connect the Bluetooth key. CarPlay and media side connect fine and play but no key is detected. I Tried restarting phone, resetting sync, walking away and back up to car. Luckily my password worked but you also have to tap in the specific part of the box to have the keyboard come up it’s picky.

They need to add a way to manually force the BT key to connect in the app as they don’t really have verbose error status as to what it is doing If there is an issue. I tried using the older version of the app and refreshing but it didn’t force a connecting… to appear for BT status. I submitted this in the retail and TestFlight versions feedback so I hope they add it.

Im on iPhone 14 Pro with latest iOS 17.5.1, car is fully updated as far as FDRS says.

 

[generaltso]

Remove the battery from a fob and hide it in the car.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Today the car left me in a very bad situation.

I have relied on PAAK for the last few months as it's been pretty solid. Even when I forgot my key, I always had the backup password to get me through.

Today my phone refused to connect, so I used my keypad code to enter. The "Enter your backup passcode" screen popped up, but the keyboard did not. I could not enter my backup start passcode. Nothing worked.

I tried resetting SYNC but it didn't work.

The car ended up tripping its alarm somehow and left me having to call my wife to bring the set of keys. She had to drive a good 50 miles to get me out of this mess.

Hi there! Would you send us a private message with your VIN and dealership name and location? I’d like to look into this concern on my end.  

 

[Snakebitten]

The FordPass PAAK bug I believe is a unique Bluetooth connection that is separate from AA/Carplay, or even the normal smartphone Bluetooth connection to the car.
I say that because when you are setting up PAAK, you will see a notification that some kind of certification/key is being generated between the car and the phone.

Whatever that actually is, I think the "bug" is related.

As for getting the backup password keyboard to pop up, when it hasn't done so immediately, I do exactly what was suggested above and hit the brake pedal a couple of times and wallah!

 

[Mach E PaaK]

Today the car left me in a very bad situation.

I have relied on PAAK for the last few months as it's been pretty solid. Even when I forgot my key, I always had the backup password to get me through.

Today my phone refused to connect, so I used my keypad code to enter. The "Enter your backup passcode" screen popped up, but the keyboard did not. I could not enter my backup start passcode. Nothing worked.

I tried resetting SYNC but it didn't work.

The car ended up tripping its alarm somehow and left me having to call my wife to bring the set of keys. She had to drive a good 50 miles to get me out of this mess.

Are you in the Early Access Program? An OTA was recently rolled out to the 23/23.5 Mach E enrolled in EAP. The software update had a bug that results in PAAK disconnecting sporadically. A fix should be rolled out to impacted vehicles within a few weeks.

EDIT: I should note the issue was caught relatively early and the OTA was halted. The entire EAP community was not impacted.

 

[Chuck]

Are you in the Early Access Program? An OTA was recently rolled out to the 23/23.5 Mach E enrolled in EAP. The software update had a bug that results in PAAK disconnecting sporadically. A fix should be rolled out to impacted vehicles within a few weeks.

EDIT: I should note the issue was caught relatively early and the OTA was halted. The entire EAP community was not impacted.

I'm in the EAP and notice another annoying but not fatal anomaly. I use PAAK 100% of the time but about half of the time once I get in the car and start driving it starts beeping me saying that there is no key. It lasts only a few seconds and doesn't impact my drive in any way so I've just ignored it. I'm on 7.0.2 (I think, maybe 7.0.3).

 

[Max Power]

Remove the battery from a fob and hide it in the car.

How does that fix the situation? Does the car recognize the FOB without the battery? If I leave the FOB in the car the walk away lock doesn't work for me.

 

[generaltso]

How does that fix the situation? Does the car recognize the FOB without the battery? If I leave the FOB in the car the walk away lock doesn't work for me.

You just use it as a backup in case the start code doesn't work. The car will recognize the fob without a battery if you put it in the special key spot in the center console. You really shouldn't need a backup for the backup, yet here we are.

Use PaaK or your other fob for walk-away lock.

 

[Max Power]

You just use it as a backup in case the start code doesn't work. The car will recognize the fob without a battery if you put it in the special key spot in the center console. You really shouldn't need a backup for the backup, yet here we are.

Use PaaK or your other fob for walk-away lock.

Great tip good to know! Thank you.

 

[spicy_taco]

If the keyboard won't come up, press and hold the brake pedal. Or press it repeatedly. That usually does the trick for me when it doesn't come up.

Thank you @Mach-Lee for the tip. It will be useful to know that this can trigger the keyboard to pop up.

There is a new bug it seems in the last few versions of fordpass, I originally thought it was because of my updating. But it has happened 2 more times since where the app just shows disconnected and won’t connect the Bluetooth key.

Yes, it seems like a very recent behavior. When it gets in that condition where it stays in Disconnected state then rebooting the phone, restarting the app, logging in/out doesn't seem to help. In the past few times that it happened to get in that weird state, I've had it eventually come up as Connected after some time, but not yesterday.

AA worked during that time. Also my phone's bluetooth was able to connect to the OBD-II dongle in the car, just not PaaK.

When I got home I scanned the RFA for DTCs and ran self-tests. All passed, no DTCs.

Are you in the Early Access Program? An OTA was recently rolled out to the 23/23.5 Mach E enrolled in EAP. The software update had a bug that results in PAAK disconnecting sporadically. A fix should be rolled out to impacted vehicles within a few weeks.

No, I am not in EAP. @Mach E PaaK dDo you know which modules were updated by the OTA? I'm hoping that I didn't pick it up through FDRS.

 

[BMT1071]

I have had the same issue a couple of times. Restarting my phone has taken care of it. I'm not sure if this correlation equals causation, but this has always been following a remote start event. ?‍
Definitely a PITA, especially if you are in a hurry, but it has not left me stranded.

 

[Mach-Lee]

AA worked during that time. Also my phone's bluetooth was able to connect to the OBD-II dongle in the car, just not PaaK.

FYI if your phone is trying to connect to the OBD dongle that can mess with PAAK. You should unplug/disconnect any non-necessary Bluetooth devices if you are having PAAK issues. You don't want anything else occupying the Bluetooth radio's airtime or PAAK performance will suffer. Another common example is listening to music on Bluetooth ear buds while trying to unlock or start the car.

 

[Chuck]

I've been using PAAK exclusively on my Mach E for over 3 years. Has it been perfect? No. Have I ALWAYS been able to solve the problem? Yes. In EVERY single time when a challenge was presented to me that seemed unsolvable there was one thing I could do to solve it. Reboot the phone and then open the FordPass app once rebooted. It has never failed.

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