Lighting Issues and Door Lock Issues?

[unplugged]

Now that's a new one: the key fob is "thermal." ...

I meant that the sales guy said the door handle was thermally activated, not the FOB.

That make a little more sense. I would say that "capacitive" is the word the salesman was searching for. Except that the door locking (and opening) has nothing to do with temperature. But yes, the pad uses capacitive touch. The way it works is similar to a smartphone touchscreen. But the need for direct skin contact is much less on the door locks and will go through several layers of material, so long as it is able to detect the slightest capacitive electricity from your body.

You can try this by using a pencil to poke the lock pad. It won't work. Try increasing the material between your finger and the lock pad. It will eventually stop working, but can go through gloves and your jeans. (As v_Traveller so entertainingly noted in using the "hip check" method of locking the door.)

 

[davideos]

The sales guy did mean thermal. He specifically told me to hold onto the handle longer to warm it up and then it would open. At that point, I stopped asking questions and figured it out on my own. If that's how he got it to work, then it was purely conincidence.

I think the reason I have issue with it from time to time is because I reach out for the handle before the rest of my body arrives. Once I realize the door isn't opening, I just move a little closer.

I do believe you are right about the capacitive method for detecting a presence, but I don't know for sure. Even some touch screens are capacitive and others resistive. Regardless, I don't have trouble getting the door open anymore.

 

[jmueller065]

The door lock/unlock does respond to water...sort of.

In both the FFE and our old Edge (which had the same system for lock/unlock) when I was washing the car simply squirting the handle with the hose would cause the car to lock then unlock the doors (with the keyfob in my pocket). LOL!

 

[dmen]

I've noticed over the past week that my handle unlock feature is not working very well, while my touch lock is working just fine. It has always worked well and been very sensitive until now. I was wondering if cold temp does indeed affect its sensitivity. My key fob is in a coat pocket where it always worked before. The only other thought was that maybe road salt dust is affecting its sensitivity. Been a few weeks without a wash or rain and the roads are pretty grimy around here right now.
I'll wash this weekend and see how it goes.

 

[unplugged]

The door lock/unlock does respond to water...sort of.

In both the FFE and our old Edge (which had the same system for lock/unlock) when I was washing the car simply squirting the handle with the hose would cause the car to lock then unlock the doors (with the keyfob in my pocket). LOL!

Yeah, I noticed that too. I keep the fob in the car so it doesn't keep locking and unlocking.

 

[bancroftineth]

Hi!

So I've had my Ford Focus EV for about two and a half months now. I've had no issues at all so far until tonight, and I haven't been able to find any info dealing with the same issue, so figured I'd post here.

Basically what happened was, when I turned off my car and got out, when I tried to lock the door with touch, nothing happened. Also, the charge ring light, and mirror lights, and a few of the interior lights were still on. They weren't turning off. I checked to make sure I turned off the car, I turned it back on, then off again, but no luck. The exterior and interior lights weren't turning off completely and I couldn't lock the door using touch, I had to use the key. So I went back in the house to put my stuff away and came back out to plug in the car so it wouldn't die overnight. But after I got my cord out of the trunk, the problem magically fixed it's self. The lights tuned off, and I could lock the doors using touch now. Very strange, and yes I'm positive I had the trunk closed properly before opening.

So has anyone else experienced this problem before? Or does anyone know what could possibly have caused this? Should I be worried at all? I'm giving my dealership a call tomorrow to take it in for a basic diagnostic to be sure. But figured I'd look for information online as well.

The same thing happened with me as well, and in fact its about few months since I always used to notice the same thing but honestly speaking I'd never given it so importance as if when ever I used to switch off the ignition after a minute or two all the lights like exterior or interior got automatically switched off.
Info,,

 

[jmueller065]

Have you checked the "home" setting in the left dash window?

It doesn't affect the lock but it does determine how long the lights stay on after you've turned the car off.