FordPass fails

[nukeflyboy]

So I am at a state park, using PAAK, and when I parked I tried to lock the doors with my phone. FordPass out of the blue demands my login and password. I enter both. The park is in a remote location but there is a weak wifi signal so maybe this will work. On my phone a blue screen appears with “Ford“ in the center. That’s it, nothing more, no controls, nothing. So now I wonder - what is/is not working? It appeared, however, that PAAK was still working in the background. I locked the door from the keypad. Fortunately it worked getting me home.

My phone never went past that blue screen. FordPass on my iPad at home did the same thing: demanded login credentials then turned blue. I ended up deleting both apps, reinstalling them, re-logging in, and presto - it worked. Go figure? Some software update snafu/surprise attack?

By doing this, though, my PAAK was disabled. No worries, wanted to do that anyway. Really tired of the multiple attempts to get it to work on doors and occasional failures of the car to detect it. Did not create confidence. The car theft issues were the coup de grace.

But doing so lost my ability to have a backup passcode. Apparently you must have PAAK installed. WTF? Am I missing something here? What do they have to do with each other?

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[Maquis]

Yep…the backup passcode is part of PAAK.

 

[bdeweese]

That is interesting. I use PAAK and haven’t had any issues. However, it would seem that the key code to unlock the car and the backup code to start would be invaluable, even for a key fob only user. I.e. You lose your key fob somehow and don’t realize it until you get back to your car!

What’s up with that?!?!

 

[Maquis]

That is interesting. I use PAAK and haven’t had any issues. However, it would seem that the key code to unlock the car and the backup code to start would be invaluable, even for a key fob only user. I.e. You lose your key fob somehow and don’t realize it until you get back to your car!

What’s up with that?!?!

The door keypad is functional without PAAK.

 

[bdeweese]

So good news is if a non PAAK person loses their key, they can get in to the car to wait for help. I guess Ford is saying you’ve got to at least have one or the other (key or PAAK) before you can drive off in the car. Maybe not a bad thing from a security standpoint.

 

[nukeflyboy]

I don’t think that is it, ie. must have fob or PAAK. If you program your PAAK then drop it in the lake, you can still use the keypad and backup passcode, then drive away. If you don’t program your PAAK, use only the fob, drop it in the lake, then all you can do is sit in the car.

 

[bdeweese]

Yep…the backup passcode is part of PAAK.

I don’t think that is it, ie. must have fob or PAAK. If you program your PAAK then drop it in the lake, you can still use the keypad and backup passcode, then drive away. If you don’t program your PAAK, use only the fob, drop it in the lake, then all you can do is sit in the car.

Yea. Thought about that after I posted and realized it’s only if you don’t set up PAAK in the first place. ?

 

[Jeffvisor]

set it up when you buy the car. as a 2021 owner there was lots of issues in the beginning, so I also put a fob in a Faraday bag and hid it in the car. Since I owned the car, I had to use it twice both times early in ownership. In the rare case the phone doesn't connect they key entry always worked, and the backup code worked and I drove off.

 

[SolarAB]

I've never used PAAK after my initial attempts were extremely flakey. Who wants an entry system that doesn't work some of the time? It's like buying condoms that are only work 85% of the time from the Baby Maybe company.

 

[nukeflyboy]

Putting the extra fob in a Faraday bag may be the solution, particularly when on a trip.

 

[bdeweese]

Ironically, up until yesterday I’ve strictly used PAAK with zero issues. However, yesterday I had a brain fart - left my phone on the wireless charger in the car and locked the car using the door keypad. Realized that a few minutes later. No biggie - I’ll just use the door code to get back in and retrieve the phone. NOPE!!

To my surprise, it wouldn’t accept my code. I’ve used it several times previously with no issues, and I know it was the correct code. Fortunately, my wife was there (different car) and her phone is also a PAAK for the Mach-E. Got in, retrieved my phone and went on my merry way.

Once home I set out to reset the door code. Gathered up the original tag with the factory code - but the car menu to reset wouldn’t accept that code either. Not sure what the problem was!

Ultimately, I ended up resetting PAAK. During this process you can reset the door codes and backup start codes, etc. Did that and all is well again.

Only in hindsight did it occur to me that I may have been able to unlock the car with Ford Pass on my Apple Watch Ultra. Even though the phone was locked inside the car, the watch should have still been in range (I don’t have 5g turned on on the watch). I will test this out later. Could be a good backup plan for the next time I screw up - and yea, there will be a next time. ?

 

[Magnamover]

I have had my car for 3.5 years and never left home without my fob. I've gone hiking, to the gym, to the lake in my suit, etc,etc and never had an issue carrying that heavy fob. I don't understand these posts. Might be better off leaving your phone in the car and carrying your fob.....Get off my lawn!

 

[kdonnel]

Sorry you had issues.

Whenever I have to carry a key fob I feel like a time traveler from the early 90s.

On those rare occasions where I have the fob(traveling overnight away from home) I also carry my checkbook so I can pay for my DCFC sessions.

 

[SolarAB]

I have had my car for 3.5 years and never left home without my fob. I've gone hiking, to the gym, to the lake in my suit, etc,etc and never had an issue carrying that heavy fob. I don't understand these posts. Might be better off leaving your phone in the car and carrying your fob.....Get off my lawn!

Fobs all the way for me. I bought a second one, then Ford sent me a free one when PAAK proved unreliable, so now I have three.

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