Can you change Autolock behavior?

[MTLFusion2010]

When auto-lock is turned on, the doors lock only after the vehicle speed reaches 20 KPH. And they only unlock after you shift into (P)ark and the driver door is opened within 10 seconds. I owned several GM cars before my Fusion and, it pains me to say this, GM's auto-lock is better designed in my opinion :cry: . Their doors lock as soon as you shift out of (P)ark, and unlock as soon as you shift into (P)ark. Simple and effective!

I live in a big city (Montreal) and I find that often I drive quite a bit in heavy traffic before I am able to hit speeds in excess of 20 KPH. Also, while it is great that auto unlock needs the shifter in (P), I find it pointless to further require the driver to open their door too. When I drop people off, I do not want to open my own door. I get around this by manually unlocking the doors, but occasionally I catch myself with my foot on the brake and the shifter still in (D)rive, which would be hazardous if my foot slipped. With GM's design, I put the car in (P) and thats it: doors unlock and people can get out safe and sound.

Can this be re-programmed to work like GM's design?

[bbf2530]

When auto-lock is turned on, the doors lock only after the vehicle speed reaches 20 KPH. And they only unlock after you shift into (P)ark and the driver door is opened within 10 seconds. I owned several GM cars before my Fusion and, it pains me to say this, GM's auto-lock is better designed in my opinion :cry: . Their doors lock as soon as you shift out of (P)ark, and unlock as soon as you shift into (P)ark. Simple and effective!

I live in a big city (Montreal) and I find that often I drive quite a bit in heavy traffic before I am able to hit speeds in excess of 20 KPH. Also, while it is great that auto unlock needs the shifter in (P), I find it pointless to further require the driver to open their door too. When I drop people off, I do not want to open my own door. I get around this by manually unlocking the doors, but occasionally I catch myself with my foot on the brake and the shifter still in (D)rive, which would be hazardous if my foot slipped. With GM's design, I put the car in (P) and thats it: doors unlock and people can get out safe and sound.

Can this be re-programmed to work like GM's design?

 

Hi MTL. :D No. It can only be left as is or completely deactivated. The instructions are in the Owners Manual.

 

And just as an FYI: The time period you alluded to is 10 minutes (the time of the accessory power shut-off), not ten seconds. No big deal, just thought I would put the correct information out there to avoid confusion for others.

 

Also, just to look at things from a different perspective. While I agree that it would be better if the system locked the doors as soon as we shift into Drive, I think the Ford system is better thought out concerning unlocking. First, the front doors of Ford's always automatically unlocked when the door handle was pulled anyway (with or without AutoLock, as opposed to the front doors of GM vehicles which always had to to be physically unlocked first). Also, when my wife is driving alone, I do not want the car automatically unlocking when she puts the transmission into Park. That makes it easy for intruders to gain access to the car when she parks the vehicle. In this way, our car only unlocks when she is ready to exit the car and pulls the door handle. Much better for security purposes.

 

. Also, for those with children riding in the back seat, the fact that a front seat passenger must open a door first before the rear doors unlock keeps the kids from jumping out into traffic as easily when the car has stopped and been placed into Park. Also, adult rear seat passengers can always simply unlock the door themselves using the lock button on the rear doors.

 

I know you will disagree, but I just thought I would share my perspective. And again, I do agree that it makes sense to have the AutoLock feature lock the doors as soon as the car is placed into Drive, as opposed to at 12 mph.

 

But the unfortunate bottom line is you can not change that feature, other than to disable AutoLock completely.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[MTLFusion2010]

Hi MTL. :D No. It can only be left as is or completely deactivated. The instructions are in the Owners Manual.

 

And just as an FYI: The time period you alluded to is 10 minutes (the time of the accessory power shut-off), not ten seconds. No big deal, just thought I would put the correct information out there to avoid confusion for others.

 

Also, just to look at things from a different perspective. While I agree that it would be better if the system locked the doors as soon as we shift into Drive, I think the Ford system is better thought out concerning unlocking. First, the front doors of Ford's always automatically unlocked when the door handle was pulled anyway (with or without AutoLock, as opposed to the front doors of GM vehicles which always had to to be physically unlocked first). Also, when my wife is driving alone, I do not want the car automatically unlocking when she puts the transmission into Park. That makes it easy for intruders to gain access to the car when she parks the vehicle. In this way, our car only unlocks when she is ready to exit the car and pulls the door handle. Much better for security purposes.

 

. Also, for those with children riding in the back seat, the fact that a front seat passenger must open a door first before the rear doors unlock keeps the kids from jumping out into traffic as easily when the car has stopped and been placed into Park. Also, adult rear seat passengers can always simply unlock the door themselves using the lock button on the rear doors.

 

I know you will disagree, but I just thought I would share my perspective. And again, I do agree that it makes sense to have the AutoLock feature lock the doors as soon as the car is placed into Drive, as opposed to at 12 mph.

 

But the unfortunate bottom line is you can not change that feature, other than to disable AutoLock completely.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

Hi bbf2530 :D

 

Thank you for your explanation. As with all your replies, it is thoughtful, factual, and informative.

 

I stand corrected with respect to the time allowed to open the driver's door.

 

Having read your point about children jumping into the street, I do agree that in this particular case, Ford's design is safer. On the other hand, if you do not manually lock the doors before you drive off, unless you can hit 20 KPH rapidly, your children can still jump out of a moving car. Of more concern to me (my children having grown up enough to know not to jump out into oncoming traffic) is denying street thieves an opportunity to open the door and grab my wive's purse, for example.

 

Further, the convenience of unlocking the doors after a stop is not limited to the occupants, but also extends to those you want to enter your car. For example when I want to pick my children from school.

 

I guess each design has its merits, and in my particular case, the GM design fits my needs better. And that was the essence of my question.

 

I did read the owners manual and I know that it can only be turned on or off, but as this is controlled by a piece of software somewhere in a controller, I was asking if Ford provides a way to reprogram that controller. I guess the answer is NO. Well, I can still enjoy all the other great features of my Fusion.

 

Thanks.

[akirby]

As you can tell, there is no one way that is perfect or the best - it depends on personal preferences and situations.

 

Of course 25 years ago we thought being able to push one button to lock or unlock all the doors was all we'd ever need.............. :shift:

[Rodeo]

There's nothing worse on the market today then the locks on my 2007 Ford Escape. It locks all the doors automatically but when you stop and exit your vehicle (in park obviously) it leaves all the other doors locked. You have to manually hit the unlock (which I ALWAYS forget to do!) and when I reach my tailgate or a door on the other side to take something out, I always wind up cursing!!!!!

[akirby]

There's nothing worse on the market today then the locks on my 2007 Ford Escape. It locks all the doors automatically but when you stop and exit your vehicle (in park obviously) it leaves all the other doors locked. You have to manually hit the unlock (which I ALWAYS forget to do!) and when I reach my tailgate or a door on the other side to take something out, I always wind up cursing!!!!!

 

So why not turn it off?

[acdii]

On my Sport, the auto unlock only works if the ignition is turned off.

[akirby]

On my Sport, the auto unlock only works if the ignition is turned off.

 

Apparently the 2007 escape only has auto-lock. No autounlock. The only way to solve it for everyone is to make both optional with different settings as to when the lock and unlock occurs. Could be done but hardly seems worth the effort.

[acdii]

I found this button on the door next to the handle, amazingly enough it locks and unlocks the doors. WHoda Thunk it.

[noreast]

I found this button on the door next to the handle, amazingly enough it locks and unlocks the doors. WHoda Thunk it.

Wow, you must have ordered the super-dee-duper trim level :hysterical2:

[Snowball 2010]

Hi MTL. :D No. It can only be left as is or completely deactivated. The instructions are in the Owners Manual.

 

And just as an FYI: The time period you alluded to is 10 minutes (the time of the accessory power shut-off), not ten seconds. No big deal, just thought I would put the correct information out there to avoid confusion for others.

 

Also, just to look at things from a different perspective. While I agree that it would be better if the system locked the doors as soon as we shift into Drive, I think the Ford system is better thought out concerning unlocking. First, the front doors of Ford's always automatically unlocked when the door handle was pulled anyway (with or without AutoLock, as opposed to the front doors of GM vehicles which always had to to be physically unlocked first). Also, when my wife is driving alone, I do not want the car automatically unlocking when she puts the transmission into Park. That makes it easy for intruders to gain access to the car when she parks the vehicle. In this way, our car only unlocks when she is ready to exit the car and pulls the door handle. Much better for security purposes.

 

. Also, for those with children riding in the back seat, the fact that a front seat passenger must open a door first before the rear doors unlock keeps the kids from jumping out into traffic as easily when the car has stopped and been placed into Park. Also, adult rear seat passengers can always simply unlock the door themselves using the lock button on the rear doors.

 

I know you will disagree, but I just thought I would share my perspective. And again, I do agree that it makes sense to have the AutoLock feature lock the doors as soon as the car is placed into Drive, as opposed to at 12 mph.

 

But the unfortunate bottom line is you can not change that feature, other than to disable AutoLock completely.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

 

Well said, I was just about to reply the same thing Mtl, but you beat me to it. The most important thing is ....as you said, "SECURITY FIRST". Good and safe motoring to you both.

P.S. I also live in Montreal and I don't trust anyone I don't know on the road.