Help me see the pony (puddle lights)

[joebruin77]

If you see tail lights on when you are approaching the car. The ponies are there but you may not see them under bright sun light. They can be seen at night. I always see them all the time. However, I only see ponies twice in my garage with garage door closed.

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually just saw the pony during the day. Even though it is bright outside, I can still see them by holding my hand directly underneath the puddle light. I can see a little pony being projected onto my hand. I drove the car about an hour ago, so maybe the car was in sleep mode the other times I tried.

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[Maquis]

But I still don't find this explanation very convincing because wouldn't it also imply that my car is accessible to everyone when this happens?

No - the fob is detected and triggers welcome lights 20-30 feet away, but the fob must be within 3’ of a door in order to open it.

 

[joebruin77]

Very interested in this topic as well. My car is less than a week old. The puddle lights worked well for the first couple of days, and now I can't get them to come on. I feel like it has something to do with the two key fobs and two PAAK iPhones that we have configured. The car is parked about 30 feet from the house, and I'm guessing that some of these "keys" are connecting to the car and interfering with the puddle lamp logic. But I still don't find this explanation very convincing because wouldn't it also imply that my car is accessible to everyone when this happens?

I purchased this Faraday box to store the key fobs in when they are not in use. This will definitely prevent the car from detecting the key fobs when you don't want it to:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GNZMLVS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[awp0]

No - the fob is detected and triggers welcome lights 20-30 feet away, but the fob must be within 3’ of a door in order to open it.

Thanks. Yeah, that's makes more sense. I'm still trying to figure out why it's not working that way for me using PaaK. I get puddle lights and car unlock only after standing next to the car door for about 5 seconds.

Still testing, but it seems to have this behavior even away from home (with no other keys around). Maybe the iPhone just doesn't connect Bluetooth fast enough. It's an iPhone 13 Pro, so that would surprise me.

 

[lonndog]

BTW, it's bright outside, if you hold something right under the outer corner of one of the mirrors (I use my hand), you can see the pony light, but tiny, on the object (or your hand). We can see it in our garage even when the garage lights are on.

We were at a friend's house with a few other folks. Went outside to show the curious the Mach-E. It was dark, and the pony lights came on, but...we couldn't reproduce it, no matter what we tried, so I do feel everyone's pain over how elusive they can be.

 

[unlimited]

I always answer “yes” and my puddle lights work 100% of the time.

I rarely pay attention to that question about the sensors. I have only gotten the pony when I exit and return with the fob. I haven't removed the fob in a month and haven't seen the pony either so I guess I just won't ever see them since I never take fobs out of a Ford.

 

[Maquis]

I have only gotten the pony when I exit and return with the fob. I haven't removed the fob in a month and haven't seen the pony either so I guess I just won't ever see them since I never take fobs out of a Ford.

Correct!

 

[joebruin77]

Update: I have made some progress in seeing the pony puddle light. This is what I discovered. Even though I took all the appropriate steps (turning on welcome lights, folding mirrors, etc) I still wasn't seeing the pony light. But then I noticed a helpful pattern.

My wife works from home, so she isn't driving our new MME that much. In fact, the MME had been parked for 2-3 days without being driven. I knew that the MME had to be out of sleep mode in order for the lights to turn on. I thought that unlocking and relocking the car, or even a remote start, would be enough to wake it up. But over the last 2 days, I have driven the car at least once or twice a day and I am seeing the puddle lights a lot more frequently. I especially see them if I am parked away from home and I approach the car.

So if you are having trouble seeing the pony lights, ask yourself if the car hasn't been driven for a day or two. If you take it for a drive, park, walk away from the car, and then come back to it, there is a good chance you will see the lights.

 

[lonndog]

So if you are having trouble seeing the pony lights, ask yourself if the car hasn't been driven for a day or two. If you take it for a drive, park, walk away from the car, and then come back to it, there is a good chance you will see the lights.

This describes exactly how we discovered that the pony puddle lights even existed.

Went to see a play. When it was over, the parking lot was mostly very dark. When we got close to our Mach-E, the tail lights lit up...but on the driver's side (the side visible to us) the pony wasn't visible, as that side was well-lit. My wife went to the passenger side (very dark) and yelled "COME SEE THIS!"

We were ridiculously giddy.

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