Intelligent access door handles not working

[Going_Going_Gone]

When i couldn't shut off the engine and listen to the radio for the full ten-minutes; I decided it was time for action: I put a trickle charger on it for twelve hours and low and behold, things like Auto Stop Start, intelligent access, extended radio play after shutdown worked again, and (drum roll) immediate retraction of the driver's side power step.

 

[Duncan MacDonald]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. The 3 non-driver doors on my 2019 Expedition stopped functioning about a month ago and then a week later started working again. Then they stopped working again. Scouring the owners manual did not turn up any software setting that would lock them out (pun intended). I was recently at the dealer for an oil change and my service rep seemed to have never heard of this phenomenon. I purchased the vehicle with 17 miles on the odometer on December 3rd, 2019. That is coming up now on just 14 months ago. It seems weird that the battery is weak but it would at least be nice to have an answer to the problem. I just upgraded to the latest build of the Sync3 software and the problem was not cleared. I also have no other issues with any of the Intelligent Access features. Remote start with the key fob, remote start with the iPhone app, lock/unlock with the key fob, open/close liftgate with key fob and the driver's door Intelligent Access lock/unlock. Everything works flawlessly except the 3 non-driver doors. I will point my dealer service people to this thread and see where that goes.

 

[RH512AAA]

When i couldn't shut off the engine and listen to the radio for the full ten-minutes; I decided it was time for action: I put a trickle charger on it for twelve hours and low and behold, things like Auto Stop Start, intelligent access, extended radio play after shutdown worked again, and (drum roll) immediate retraction of the driver's side power step.

I want to second this, the only thing I would add is after trickle charging 24+ hours, I saw no immediate change. I then drove a few miles and everything was good. Mine is an early build with delivery in Dec 2017 and only 23,000 miles. Too little driving and mostly short trips especially this year. For now holding off on a new battery.

 

[trainman]

Without a doubt, the reason my Auto Stop-Start stopped working and the intelligent access would only work on the driver's door was because of the vehicle's battery. Reading articles on the web and then joining this forum, all indicators pointed to the car battery, but I didn't find anything that was emphatic about the battery. I took my 2018 Expedition to the Ford dealership as I wanted a diagnostic test. The service advisor informed me the battery was just below cranking amperage. A new battery was put in. The Auto Stop-Start started working and the intelligent access worked on all doors. The cost of the battery at Ford was the same as if I went to NAPA. I was charged a very reasonable installation charge. Also, remember if you are going to change the battery yourself, be sure to add booster voltage to the car so as not to lose your programming.

 

[trainman]

Without a doubt, the reason my Auto Stop-Start stopped working and the intelligent access would only work on the driver's door was because of the vehicle's battery. Reading articles on the web and then joining this forum, all indicators pointed to the car battery, but I didn't find anything that was emphatic about the battery. I took my 2018 Expedition to the Ford dealership as I wanted a diagnostic test. The service advisor informed me the battery was just below cranking amperage. A new battery was put in. The Auto Stop-Start started working and the intelligent access worked on all doors. The cost of the battery at Ford was the same as if I went to NAPA. I was charged a very reasonable installation charge. Also, remember if you are going to change the battery yourself, be sure to add booster voltage to the car so as not to lose your programming.

 

[bjtor]

It is a sad commentary on the quality of the Ford service departments that they generally don't know about this problem or how to fix it?
Then again, you don't generate much revenue from a battery change!

I told my service advisor he should be reading these forums to keep up on the owner's issues but he was not even aware of this site.

 

[5280tunage]

I too had the door handles (all but drivers) stop working. I kind of suspected battery months ago as my auto-stop/start hasn't worked in forever, but here's my gripe... First, I get shutting off the other three door handles when the vehicle is only on battery, but when it's running? WTH? It's running on the alternator. But even more annoying is that clearly these darn things have enough intelligence in the body power management system to shut systems off, but why the hell can't the stupid thing just put an alert on the driver information screen, and equally in the Fordpass app. If they were even remotely smart, they would notify me via the app and send me a coupon for a new battery. I'm starting to realize there are a lot of things on these that are about 75% of the way there.

 

[Bill Schell]

I'm having the same exact problem with my 2018; intelli-key entry system only works on the driver door handle for about the last 2-3 weeks. It's the original battery and the rig has 70,000 miles, so its probably due for a new battery anyway... which sounds like the fix to the issue.

Great point @5280tunage; one would think the system could provide a fault code for a weak battery. Having unassociated system malfunctions start happening because of a low battery condition is, well, BULL$^^T and a real disservice to customers. Come on Ford... up your damn game.

 

[armoredsaint]

The Intelligent Access door handle on the front passenger and both rear doors don't work anymore on my 2018 Limited. I used to be able to lock and unlock the doors from any one of the four handles until 3 days ago. I now can only do that on the driver's side door. I tried both key fobs with new batteries and without anything else such as a cell phone in me. Suggestions before I take it to a dealer?
Thanks in advance!


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Had the same issue. I read it is because the battery is about to fail

 

[keny01998]

I bought a replacement Motorcraft battery on rockauto and all my doors, auto start/stop worked again. $200 shipped instead of $300 plus installation from local dealer.