No prompt to enter backup start passcode - Update: FIXED

[phil]

I used the 'backup start passcode' to start my Mustang this morning. It worked exactly as described in the Owner's Manual.

I've tried it a few dozen times this afternoon, and now it does not work. I push the brake and ignition button as directed, and get a message saying "No key detected" - no prompt to enter a passcode. Continuing to follow directions, I press the ignition button a second time - still no prompt, just the "No key detected" message.

PAAK is set up, and works about as well as it does for most of us, which is to say intermittently/grudgingly/partially. The passcode entry worked properly exactly one time, and then never again.

Does the start passcode work reliably for you? Could I be doing something wrong?
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UPDATE 10/22/22:
I recently got several software updates, including the 21P22 Field Service Action software calibration. One of these updates fixed the problem with the backup start passcode prompt failing to appear. The passcode now works for me every time.

I understand 21P22 is available for eligible vehicles only through next month. For me, it has been very helpful.

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[DevSecOps]

I had this happen before. Re-setting up PaaK fixes it.

 

[zhackwyatt]

I've had it be finicky to get it to appear but it always does. It seems more reliable after the 1.7 OTA update.

 

[phil]

I had this happen before. Re-setting up PaaK fixes it.

Thanks. This means that the passcode is completely unreliable as a backup start method, right? My understanding is that if you don't have your key with you, it is impossible to re-set PAAK.

 

[phil]

I've had it be finicky to get it to appear but it always does. It seems more reliable after the 1.7 OTA update.

Thanks. I pressed those brakes and the ignition button for a very long time...

My car is pretty new, and so would not need 1.7.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Thanks. I pressed those brakes and the ignition button for a very long time...

My car is pretty new, and so would not need 1.7.

I would try it again after the sync went to sleep.

 

[DevSecOps]

Thanks. This means that the passcode is completely unreliable as a backup start method, right? My understanding is that if you don't have your key with you, it is impossible to re-set PAAK.

The backup passcode is on the car level, not in PaaK or FP. But for some unknown reason the car has the potential to fail to trigger this at times. I was stranded one day because of this and because of the fact that yes, you do need the key to re-setup PaaK.

My guess, purely guessing, is that it has to do with updates and somewhere in the process something gets discombobulated. Even though PaaK doesn't actually have anything to do with the passcode, it's the process of setting up PaaK that stores the passcode in the car.

I wash my car every week and when I'm cleaning the inside of the car I routinely check the passcode now just to make sure it works. Since it just takes 5 seconds and I'm in there with a vacuum it's become a routine.

And for those who say, just keep doing it... I tried one day for 3 hours while waiting for my Uber to deliver the key so I could move on. It doesn't matter how much you try.

 

[phil]

I would try it again after the sync went to sleep.

Thanks. Did that several times, including waiting over 30 minutes between attempts. No dice.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Thanks. Did that several times, including waiting over 30 minutes between attempts. No dice.

Sorry. I have not experienced that. I suppose you could try a sync reboot (Track Forward and Volume Down on steering wheel at the same time, for about 3 seconds), not sure if the car has to be on to do that.

 

[phil]

I wash my car every week and when I'm cleaning the inside of the car I routinely check the passcode now just to make sure it works. Since it just takes 5 seconds and I'm in there with a vacuum it's become a routine.

That would only provide limited reassurance - since it appears the system can fail at any old random moment, as it failed for me today, sometime between 10 am and 1 pm.

I may have to join the crowd that says "hardware key > software key".

 

[DevSecOps]

I may have to join the crowd that says "hardware key > software key".

FWIW, I use PaaK exclusively and yes I've been stranded before. Some call me "stoopid", I guess I just have a lot of patience. I'm waiting for it to happen again so I can find that common denominator.

That would only provide limited reassurance

Possibly, but since we don't know why yet, I'm hoping there's something that triggers it. Normally things don't magically happen, there's almost always an underlying reason. We just need to figure it out.

 

[phil]

FWIW, I use PaaK only and yes I've been stranded before. Some call me "stoopid", I guess I just have a lot of patience. I'm waiting for it to happen again so I can find that common denominator.

I understand the motivation. I would really like the software to work. But I'd hate to get stranded at the wrong time or place.

Something as simple as consistently enabling a passcode prompt seems like a very easy thing to program. Frankly, I have difficulty understanding how Ford managed to screw this up so that it works sometimes but not other times. PAAK and Bluetooth, sure that's complicated. But the backup code should be very simple and rock-solid. But apparently it isn't.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

This is EXACTLY why I can’t trust PAAK and carry my fob. Went to Walmart one day. Car didn’t unlock. No problem. Been using Ford door touchpads forever. Open the car. Get in. No option to enter the backup passcode to start the car. Tried everything. Finally after relocking, unlocking, getting in, getting out, pushing start, turning myself around, and tapping my heels 3 times while saying “There’s no place like home,” my phone was finally detected.
Spent about 45 minutes at Walmart thinking I was going to have to play the part of Natalie Portman in “Where the Heart Is.” Never left home without a fob again.

 

[DevSecOps]

Something as simple as consistently enabling a passcode prompt seems like a very easy thing to program. Frankly, I have difficulty understanding how Ford managed to screw this up so that it works sometimes but not other times. PAAK and Bluetooth, sure that's complicated. But the backup code should be very simple and rock-solid. But apparently it isn't.

Ok so I normally don't like to post assumptions or theories because somehow they become gospel to the next person, but here goes.

I tend to think that somehow the car gets locked into thinking that a key is present, which wouldn't trigger the passcode screen. Because however a key isn't present the car won't start. I'm not entirely sure that this wouldn't happen with a physical key either. I say this because I've seen where the car will report that it's connected to BT when it's not and I'm far, far away from it. It's something I'm working on diagnosing, but replicating it is not easy.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Thanks. Did that several times, including waiting over 30 minutes between attempts. No dice.

I normally wouldn’t recommend such a radical solution since PAAK and the backup code have always worked for me (early February 2021 build) but … I’d suggest carrying a fob or put one in a faraday bag and hide it somewhere stunningly out of the way in the car. PAAK should work but it’s not worth getting stranded over.

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