Poor range on key fob?

[Corneilius]

My 1998 Ford key fob has terrible range. It has really only ever worked standing within reach of the drivers door. It stopped working all together so I replaced the batteries. But now it still only works up close. I cleaned the contacts and checked the solder joints on the little board inside there. Is there anything on the van side to check? I know many Ford vans that work from dozens of feet away...unless its just a 1998 thing. Any thoughts?

 

[FROADER]

I've had this happen with a couple of different Fords. The only way I was able to "fix" it (and I'm not really sure why it worked) was to disconnect the battery for a few minutes, then reconnect it. One time after doing that I had to reprogram the fob, but it helped with the range. Worth a try.

 

[4xdog]

This works -- trust me. Try holding the fob in contact with your chin or your forehead. I do this on my 2001 Tacoma and it gives at least 5x the range I get otherwise. Somehow the body becomes a larger antenna for the RF, or something...

Learned it from Jeremy Clarkson on an episode of Top Gear many years ago.

 

[another_mike]

This works -- trust me. Try holding the fob in contact with your chin or your forehead. I do this on my 2001 Tacoma and it gives at least 5x the range I get otherwise. Somehow the body becomes a larger antenna for the RF, or something...

Learned it from Jeremy Clarkson on an episode of Top Gear many years ago.

while that does work, the OP still has an issue as he shouldnt have to be standing directly next to the van to have to use the remote.

To the OP, Do you know if you have a factory keyless entry or a dealer installed module?

 

[IdaSHO]

LOL


Can you hear me now?

 

[ujoint]

I'm just going to stand back and reflect on who created this thread and how he would react if I had!

 

[philos]

New aftermarket FOBs aren't a bad gamble at ten bucks a pair...
Reprogramming procedure is just cycling the key in the ignition between "on" and "off" a bunch of times until the body module goes into programming mode. Mine even came with specific instructions for vans.

No range issues in a couple years.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Corneilius]

Alright, the key fob to the chin trick did give me a couple more feet. Impressive but not entirely practical. It is a factory Ford fob so I assume the body module is the same. Philos, have you got a link to said Fobs? Are they universal type that just reprogram to the frequency of the Ford body module?

Chris: piss off, troll

 

[philos]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/122256791128
Yeah, the cheap ones that look exactly like the factory ones.
Easy to program, I've never had any trouble with them over several Fomoco vehicles.
This link they're down to eight bux shipped.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[tgreening]

I bought 2 brand new eBay fobs and while they work as advertised and were a piece of cake to program they gave me exactly squat as far as extra range. Of course this is on an 05 super duty but I'd assume the issue is more or less the same, whatever that issue is.

 

[another_mike]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/122256791128
Yeah, the cheap ones that look exactly like the factory ones.
Easy to program, I've never had any trouble with them over several Fomoco vehicles.
This link they're down to eight bux shipped.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Although when you go into the application it indicates it wont work on a 1998 E series...

 

[Corneilius]

Although when you go into the application it indicates it wont work on a 1998 E series...

I discovered this yesterday. I happened to have a random Ford van key fob kicking around my tool box. I went to reprogram it and discovered the procedure for my van is actually the pre-97 procedure for whatever reason.

Typing this so hopefully anyone searching like I did yesterday finds it. To reprogram my 1998 Ford van I had to find the "programming connector" under the dash taped to the steering column. It was a black connector with two wires. White with yellow stripe and black. I jumped the two wires together and the door locks cycled to indicated programming mode.

Unfortunately the Post 1998 fob would NOT program to my van. I "reprogrammed" my old fob but it did not increase the range. I guess next ill try buying a set of remotes intended for the older system.

Again, the "8 key cycles" method did NOT work for my 1998 Ford

 

[philos]

Bless Fomoco and the way they sneak things in like that...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[tgreening]

Wouldn't poor range more likely be due to a bad antenna connection or something? I'm assuming there is some sort of receiver the fob transmits to. I bought 2 new ones for my truck as extras and they did nothing for increasing range, which tells me it's at the truck end somewhere and unrelated to the fobs. I would assume this might hold true for a van as well.

 

[Corneilius]

Wouldn't poor range more likely be due to a bad antenna connection or something? I'm assuming there is some sort of receiver the fob transmits to. I bought 2 new ones for my truck as extras and they did nothing for increasing range, which tells me it's at the truck end somewhere and unrelated to the fobs. I would assume this might hold true for a van as well.

Correct, there is a black module under the dash between the radio and the steering column that I BELIVE is the keyless entry module. However how it works is beyond me. It seems that new remotes are a cheap enough fix to try and rule out. It also seems more plausible to me that my fob has become damaged/weakened over that last twenty years versus the module under the dash. Drops, humidity etc.... but it seems like we have anecdotal evidence both ways