Many Ford cars come with remote start features that you can use via your key fob. Remote start allows your car to turn on without having to physically enter your car.
If your Ford remote start stops working, you may be wondering how you can fix it. We looked up the facts, and here is what we discovered about the matter!
Ford Remote Start Not Working (Try These 9 Fixes)
1. Restart Your Car
One of the simplest ways to make your Ford remote start work again is by restarting your car.
However, you may need to use the physical key or enter your car to manually press the button if you have a push-start car since the remote start doesn’t work.
Afterward, turn off your car, step outside your car, and close the door. Ideally, you should wait a few minutes to let your car shut off completely, making sure it is not in accessory mode.
Once your car is turned off, you can try to use your remote start again to see if it works.
If your car does not turn on as it normally would, you may need to check your ignition switch or ignition cylinder to see if there is a problem.
2. Park Your Car
Occasionally, your remote start will not work because you left your emergency brake on without parking your car.
Generally, the remote start won’t function while your car is not in park because it will be a safety feature.
As such, you can go into your car and put it in park, then try your remote start again to see if it works.
3. Turn Your Hazard Lights Off
Another safety feature that will keep your Ford remote start from working is your hazard lights are on.
Firstly, you need to check if your hazard lights were left on and if so, try to turn them off and use your remote start.
If your hazard lights are not on, you can try flicking the hazard lights on and off to see if the hazard lights work.
4. Close The Hood
A common reason your remote start may not work on your Ford car is that you have left the hood open.
That said, remote start does not function whenever you have your car serviced, meaning the hood of your car will be open to check the engine.
To fix this issue, you can open your hood again and shut it, letting go of the hood right before it falls completely down to let the weight of the hood apply force to shut the latch.
However, if your hood is shut, but the remote start still does not work, there could be something wrong with your hood pin.
With that, a hood pin is a type of switch in your car that indicates whether or not your car’s hood is open or shut.
Occasionally, the hood pin can get damaged or corroded from moisture or the air, which will not give a signal of whether the car hood is closed or open.
Therefore, you need to have your hood pin fixed to make your Ford remote start working again.
5. Check The Remote Instructions
If there is no issue with your remote start, you may need to refer to the remote’s instructions to ensure that you are following the proper button sequence.
For instance, the remote start button may need to be held down to work, but you may have been clicking it once, which is why the remote start would not work.
Alternately, you may be accidentally pressing another button to change the sequence of buttons, so your remote start would not be triggered.
Additionally, some remotes offer multiple car modes to be used for several cars, and if a different car mode is on, it may not work on your car.
As such, you need to check the instructions that came with your remote to be sure you are pressing the right buttons.
6. Reprogram The Remote
Occasionally, a dead car battery or a changed car battery can deprogram a remote because some cars reset their paired devices settings after something happens with the car battery.
Thankfully, you just need to find the instructions given for your specific remote start to repair the remote to your Ford car.
However, some remotes may only be programmed one time, so you may need to buy a new remote if your original remote does not want to pair with your car.
7. Replace The Battery
An extremely common reason remote starts do not work is that the battery is dying or out of energy.
Luckily, you simply need to replace the old batteries with new ones to use the remote start again.
8. Check The Gauges
As stated earlier, safety features may keep remote start from working to protect your engine, so a gauge issue could be the problem.
For instance, excessively low oil pressure can make the remote start stop functioning, which means you need to fix the oil pressure.
9. Have Your Car Serviced
If you notice that your check engine light is on, it may be why you cannot use your remote start.
Generally, remote starts will not work because it can be dangerous to start your car when it needs to be serviced.
Therefore, you need to have your car serviced to fix minor issues that will make the service engine light go away, and your remote start should work.
To know more, you can also read our posts on wet ignition coil symptoms, why your progressive insurance went up, and why transmissions fail.
Conclusion
Sometimes, remote starts do not work due to a battery issue, which could be your car battery or your remote’s batteries.
However, your remote start may be restricted due to safety features, meaning your remote start will not work if your car’s hood is open, the check engine light is one, and more.