How to Disable the "Auto-Lock" function on a 2018 Ford Edge Titanium?

[akirby]

But that doesnt cover the highly improbable scenario of the driver passing out in the garage with the engine running and the doors locked.

Edited September 20, 2018 by akirby

[TheWizard]

Or ending up in a retention pond... something that seems to happen almost weekly around here. I could be wrong but I think that the airbags must deploy for the Alert System to activate.

 

Still - it's good to know. Assuming nothing could ever go wrong with it, it seems to be a good safety feature. Still doesn't make up for the annoyance of some company deciding for me whether my doors should be locked. In almost 50 years of driving, I have only locked my doors once while driving - that was while going through an extremely seedy area of Detroit where even the police don't stop for traffic lights.

Edited September 20, 2018 by TheWizard

[akirby]

I get it, I just think it’s a bit of an overreaction. If you drive into a retention pond you can still open the doors from the inside with the handle even if they’re locked.

[cabin393]

Ok, let's get back to the original, technical question...how can I disable Autolock on a 2018 Ford Edge. We can argue the pros and cons and situations where it may or may not be a good thing and how one "feels" about it doing either. But bottom line, I am not looking for sermons and opinions. I don't want my doors locked by anyone but me. Is there a TECHNICAL response to how I (and other owners) can accomplish this.

[cabin393]

I never did solve the auto-lock feature, but for me, this is now a non-issue.  My wife was involved in a head-on collision, just two blocks from our home.  The car is totaled.  Probably will not buy another Edge, as a replacement.

[akirby]

Hope she’s okay!

[cabin393]

akirby,

she is slowly recovering.  Still unable to walk, 6 weeks out.
I have replaced the Edge with a Ford F150 and guess what, it has the autolock issue.  So I moved my discussion to the F150 site.

 

I have since learned that IDS as well as ForScan can be used to place the Autolock selection back on the instrument panel (where it belongs).  It's a little more complicated with IDS because each line of the IPC code has to be re-entered.  Using ForScan, only a few characters need replaced.

 

I also learned that not all F150s have the problem.  There does not seem to be a tie to build-date or model, just random.  Some of them have Autolock programmed in, some don't.

[akirby]

Interesting.  Thanks for the update.  Which model/options/color F150?

[Guest Frustrated Edge owner]

I HATE my new 2019 Ford Edge for this exact reason.  I want my doors to be locked ONLY if I press the lock button. Why the hell does Ford do this shit. Left my car at the dealer for two days---their only response was we might be able to cut the wires that lock your doors but then they NEVER will lock. WTF. Screw this car....going up for sale soon. 

 

 

 

[akirby]

40 minutes ago, Guest Frustrated Edge owner said:

I HATE my new 2019 Ford Edge for this exact reason.  I want my doors to be locked ONLY if I press the lock button. Why the hell does Ford do this shit. Left my car at the dealer for two days---their only response was we might be able to cut the wires that lock your doors but then they NEVER will lock. WTF. Screw this car....going up for sale soon.

 

 

Why is such a big deal?   You can still open the doors from the inside without unlocking them.  Although I agree there should be an option in the menu to turn it off.

[omar302]

7 hours ago, Guest Frustrated Edge owner said:

I HATE my new 2019 Ford Edge for this exact reason.  I want my doors to be locked ONLY if I press the lock button. Why the hell does Ford do this shit. Left my car at the dealer for two days---their only response was we might be able to cut the wires that lock your doors but then they NEVER will lock. WTF. Screw this car....going up for sale soon. 

 

There was a General Service Bulletin for Dealers to disable Autolocks for 2015-2016 Edge, though I am not sure it is applicable for the 2019.

 

45578 - 2015-2016 Edge and 2016 MKX - Procedure To Disable Autolocks

Some 2015-2016 Edge and 2016 MKX customers may request to have the autolocks disabled. The autolocks are not a customer configurable feature. If a customer request to have the autolocks disabled, use IDS version 98.04 or higher to disable t he autolocks. Enter Module Programming - Programmable Parameters - Power Door Locks - Auto Lock 1-5 - Enable/Disable. To disable the autolocks, Auto Lock 1 through Auto Lock 5 all need to be disabled prior to pressing the tick mark. Disabling the autolocks at the request of the customer cannot be claimed as a warrantable repair. Section 501-14 of the online Workshop Manual is being updated to prov ide direction on disabling the autolock feature.

[Guest Same 2019 Ford Edge ST]

Having the same problem here. I absolutely hate it. Other issues: It’s also set to auto stop (the gas saving feature that kills your starter) on by default every time you start the car. And for some reason the “trailer sway” setting is turned on automatically by default. So when I start the car I have to turn both of those items off, every time. I want the ability to choose my own default settings on these features and not have Ford choose them for me. 

[akirby]

Auto stop start won't kill the starter - it's already upgraded along with the battery and other components.  It actually works well 95% of the time if you just let it do what it wants to do.  There is NO reason to turn off trailer sway or stability control 95%+ of the time.

[Arleigh]

No, see, I want to make my own choices. Didn’t buy an ST to have it turn off every time I stop the car. 

14 minutes ago, akirby said:

Auto stop start won't kill the starter - it's already upgraded along with the battery and other components.  It actually works well 95% of the time if you just let it do what it wants to do.  There is NO reason to turn off trailer sway or stability control 95%+ of the time.

 

[bobyellow]

You need to use FORScan or know someone who has it (or a friendly garage). Never seen anything to disable Trailer Sway (do you have a light plugged in for a hitch light?).

 

Disable Start/Stop (has a side effect of not monitoring your battery).

Auto Start/Stop Disable - by disabling BMS (Battery Management System)	BCM	726-48-02	x0xx	xxxx	xxxx
	FCIM	7A7-01-01	xxxx	x0xx	xxxx	(optional - disables switch)
	IPC	720-01-01	xxxx	1xxx	xxxx	(optional - disables stop/start message center in the trip/fuel IPC menu)

[TheWizard]

1 hour ago, Arleigh said:

No, see, I want to make my own choices. Didn’t buy an ST to have it turn off every time I stop the car. 

 

 

Unfortunately, that's the way all of the manufacturers configure their Automatic Start Stop ("ASS" ) systems.  The reason is that the government won't allow them to include it in their CAFE results unless it is on by default.  Some have programming workarounds like FORScan for Ford or DiagFCA for Fiat Chrysler but others just leave you stuck with it.

 

[akirby]

Like I said, if you actually try it with an open mind rather than making your mind up that you hate it ahead of time most people will find that it's not that bad and it does save fuel.  I got used to it after a couple of weeks.

[TheWizard]

You must be fairly tolerant.  I haven't experienced it in an Edge but in my Jeep GC it is quite intrusive.  I had a Cadillac XT5 for a couple of weeks rental and although it was much smother, there was still an annoying delay when pulling away from a stop light.  The best one I've experienced was in a Mercedes GLE - it was quiet and unobtrusive yet it still had that annoying delay.  In fact, it was so quiet that it took several times to answer the question "why doesn't this thing just go when I step on the gas?"

 

The gas savings are zero except in traffic and even then they amount to maybe half a mile per gallon (perhaps one mpg if I was being really generous).  That .5 mpg is nothing to the consumer but it adds up over an entire line of vehicles.  I don't mind that it's there as long as I can turn it off but I certainly would prefer that I could turn it off just once instead of every time I start the car.  That's why I bought the software to do it in the Jeep.

 

 

[akirby]

On my F150 there doesn't seem to be a delay unless I move my foot from brake to gas really really quickly.  I do release the brake a split second sooner than I normally would and if I need to make a quick immediate turn from a stop I'll turn it off.  Otherwise it works fine.

 

I guess my main point is to actually try it and see if you can live with it first (which you seem to have done) and don't just assume you'll hate it without giving it at least a couple of weeks.

[mvan231]

On 5/3/2019 at 4:44 PM, akirby said:

On my F150 there doesn't seem to be a delay unless I move my foot from brake to gas really really quickly.  I do release the brake a split second sooner than I normally would and if I need to make a quick immediate turn from a stop I'll turn it off.  Otherwise it works fine.

 

I guess my main point is to actually try it and see if you can live with it first (which you seem to have done) and don't just assume you'll hate it without giving it at least a couple of weeks.

 

That is true. It certainly takes some time to train yourself on how you should drive with the stop start feature turned on. It really can help save you some gas, but turning it off is certainly an option using the tools mentioned. Personally, I agree that Stop Start systems in most cars is a pain and should allow for the user to configure their own default settings.