Clear a key-fob?

[TheVirtualTim]

A couple of weeks ago, my '21 FE lost it's brain and refused to recognize PaaK. Fortunately I was at home so I just needed to grab a key-fob. In this scenario, FordPass showed my PaaK was configured, but the car wouldn't recognize it.

Since the car refused to recognize PaaK ... it ALSO refused to recognize my personal door-code as well as my backup start-code (it wouldn't even offer to let me start the car using a backup code since it didn't think PaaK had ever been configured). Nothing worked.

The factory door-code worked ... but that wont let me start the car.

So here's the ask:

I own two Mach-E's. My '21 only came with 1 key-fob. I bought 2 more (on my own dime) and had them programmed. Later, Ford offered the program to give owners give me a spare key-fob to buyers who only ever got one ... this means I now have FOUR key fobs programmed to one car.

My '23 came with 2 fobs.

I want to clear one of the fobs from the '21 so I can use it to add to the '23 as a spare. This would give me 3 fobs per car and it would let me hide a fob in a car as a "just in case" PaaK fails and I'm not home.

I've tried the programming process to try to assign one of the fobs to the '23 ... but it doesn't work. I'm guessing I need to somehow clear the fob.

Is it possible to re-program a fob that has already been programmed To a different car?

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[RickMachE]

I programmed 1 of my 2021 fobs after I sold it to my 2022. Worked fine. No clearing needed.

 

[mach-ebert]

I programmed a used F-150 Lightning key fob without issue as well. Be sure to wait for the car to respond when programming the key. I was impatient and pressed the start button again then received a programming error. Tried again and waited patiently, worked like a charm.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Ok ... I _finally_ have a working fob and you are correct ... no need to do anything to clear the fact that the fob was previously programmed to a different car.

I found three different programming procedures, but this is the one that worked:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/purchasing-and-programming-another-fob.3285/post-103750

Some helpful notes...

1. When it says to "Press the push button ignition switch" -- no need to start the car (don't press the brake) -- just the switch (As if turning on accessory mode).

2. Most important ... this didn't "just work" my first time through. I tried it multiple times. @AEtherScythe tried it multiple times. We gave up thinking either it wasn't the right process or that we needed to start with an unprogrammed key. But after enough repeated attempts ... it FINALLY worked. I can't figure out what I did different on the last attempt that finally worked ... but at least it's working now.

You do need two physical working (already programmed) key fobs in addition to the third additional fob you want to program.

 

[SWO]

Ok ... I _finally_ have a working fob and you are correct ... no need to do anything to clear the fact that the fob was previously programmed to a different car.

I found three different programming procedures, but this is the one that worked:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/purchasing-and-programming-another-fob.3285/post-103750

Some helpful notes...

1. When it says to "Press the push button ignition switch" -- no need to start the car (don't press the brake) -- just the switch (As if turning on accessory mode).

2. Most important ... this didn't "just work" my first time through. I tried it multiple times. @AEtherScythe tried it multiple times. We gave up thinking either it wasn't the right process or that we needed to start with an unprogrammed key. But after enough repeated attempts ... it FINALLY worked. I can't figure out what I did different on the last attempt that finally worked ... but at least it's working now.

You do need two physical working (already programmed) key fobs in addition to the third additional fob you want to program.

In my experience, you need to just go through the sequence as quickly as possible instead of trying to count mississippis. I've never had any issues doing it that way.

 

[Robert_D]

I finally got around to programming some extra keys. I had one key fob, and my phone. Then my phone died while I was 200 miles from home (and unfortunately I needed the Tesla app on my phone to recharge when on the road). So I bought 3 key fobs - a $90 Ford fob, and two $31 knockoffs from eBay. My local Ford dealer offered $127 to program #2 instead of the $170 they previously mentioned (different service advisor) - and when I mentioned I had 2 others - he offered to do all 3 for $127. Cool. Well - one won't program because it says the car already has 4. I don't know if it is the phone that died - or if the previous owner had 2 keys and lost one - but I wonder if I can remove the bad one and use my 4th fob? Also - if it was my phone it's not a big deal - but I don't like the idea of a previous owner having access that I can't remove without another trip to the dealer... FWIW: The $31 knockoffs work fine.

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