Okay, I got one key with the 2014 Expedition when we bought it. That was all they (dealer) had.
I ordered two off e-bay (not Ford keys but the difference was $40 for two or $141 plus $85 to program/cut it from Ford). I took the two new keys to a local lock shop and they cut them and programmed them. The keys worked great for 3 or 4 weeks.
Meanwhile, since the window sticker said it had remote start I ordered a single key with the remote start button in the center of the other four (horn, unlock, lock, rear hatch unlock/open). Also not a Ford key. Took it the same locksmith and got it cut/programmed. It worked great (except for no remote start - still don't know if the Expedition really has remote start or not).
Now, to the problem. A few days ago the key I was carrying stopped working. It (using the key) unlocks the door and starts the engine but you have to do it quick or the alarm goes off. None of the buttons worked. I replaced the battery, still no good. Thought maybe I had a bad battery so I opened up a different pack and replaced it again. Still didn't work. Got to checking the other keys and found the newest key with the remote start button didn't work either. Replaced batteries in it, no luck, didn't work.
One of the first pair I ordered still worked as did the one that came with the Expedition.
Yesterday I took the two non-working keys to the locksmith shop. She checked and said one of the keys was transmitting and one was not. She checked the batteries and the one not transmitting had a dead (new from the pack) battery in it.
She told me that starting the engine and unlocking the doors were separate functions/programming and any time you removed a dead battery to install a new one you had to reprogram the key to operate the locks/hatch. I don't have to do that on the other vehicles we have.
Then she told me the key was easy to program for the buttons.
1. Put it in the ignitions switch, turn the key to the on position and back to the off position 8 times and the door locks would cycle once.
2. Press any button on the remote and it would be programmed to work with the locks/horn/rear hatch.
I did that right in the parking lot and it "fixed" the non working key which was one of the pair I bought first. Nothing in the owner's manual about this. Trying to program the key by the procedure in the owner's manual had failed to work multiple times the day before I went back to the lock shop.
So, at that point we had the original (Ford) key and the pair I'd bought first. Or so I thought. I pulled the key that had just been working that morning out of my pocket, started the Expedition up and we went to Home Depot. Got out at Home Depot and the buttons on that key no longer worked. Tried the ignition switch on/off 8 times and hit a button procedure and it would not program that key that had been working prior to me programming the other key.
So we're back to only two working keys from the four we had at one point.
Anyone run into similar issues with non-Ford keys that work, don't work, work, don't work, etc.?
I ordered two off e-bay (not Ford keys but the difference was $40 for two or $141 plus $85 to program/cut it from Ford). I took the two new keys to a local lock shop and they cut them and programmed them. The keys worked great for 3 or 4 weeks.
Meanwhile, since the window sticker said it had remote start I ordered a single key with the remote start button in the center of the other four (horn, unlock, lock, rear hatch unlock/open). Also not a Ford key. Took it the same locksmith and got it cut/programmed. It worked great (except for no remote start - still don't know if the Expedition really has remote start or not).
Now, to the problem. A few days ago the key I was carrying stopped working. It (using the key) unlocks the door and starts the engine but you have to do it quick or the alarm goes off. None of the buttons worked. I replaced the battery, still no good. Thought maybe I had a bad battery so I opened up a different pack and replaced it again. Still didn't work. Got to checking the other keys and found the newest key with the remote start button didn't work either. Replaced batteries in it, no luck, didn't work.
One of the first pair I ordered still worked as did the one that came with the Expedition.
Yesterday I took the two non-working keys to the locksmith shop. She checked and said one of the keys was transmitting and one was not. She checked the batteries and the one not transmitting had a dead (new from the pack) battery in it.
She told me that starting the engine and unlocking the doors were separate functions/programming and any time you removed a dead battery to install a new one you had to reprogram the key to operate the locks/hatch. I don't have to do that on the other vehicles we have.
Then she told me the key was easy to program for the buttons.
1. Put it in the ignitions switch, turn the key to the on position and back to the off position 8 times and the door locks would cycle once.
2. Press any button on the remote and it would be programmed to work with the locks/horn/rear hatch.
I did that right in the parking lot and it "fixed" the non working key which was one of the pair I bought first. Nothing in the owner's manual about this. Trying to program the key by the procedure in the owner's manual had failed to work multiple times the day before I went back to the lock shop.
So, at that point we had the original (Ford) key and the pair I'd bought first. Or so I thought. I pulled the key that had just been working that morning out of my pocket, started the Expedition up and we went to Home Depot. Got out at Home Depot and the buttons on that key no longer worked. Tried the ignition switch on/off 8 times and hit a button procedure and it would not program that key that had been working prior to me programming the other key.
So we're back to only two working keys from the four we had at one point.
Anyone run into similar issues with non-Ford keys that work, don't work, work, don't work, etc.?