elijahbird7 Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 Yesterday, I took my '19 Nautilus to the grocery store. When I walked up with the cart to unlock my driver's side rear door by touching the handle, it would not unlock, and yes the key fob was in my pocket. I then walked to the passenger side rear door, touched the handle and it did not unlock, then tried the passenger side front door, it would not unlock. Then touched the driver's side front door handle, and it unlocked. I looked in the Owner's Manual to see if there are any settings that somehow changed, but couldn't find anything that made a difference. I tried it again today, and same issue. Anyone have this issue? Likely have to take it in whenever the roads are clear and not salty here in the midwest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 1 hour ago, elijahbird7 said: Yesterday, I took my '19 Nautilus to the grocery store. When I walked up with the cart to unlock my driver's side rear door by touching the handle, it would not unlock, and yes the key fob was in my pocket. I then walked to the passenger side rear door, touched the handle and it did not unlock, then tried the passenger side front door, it would not unlock. Then touched the driver's side front door handle, and it unlocked. I looked in the Owner's Manual to see if there are any settings that somehow changed, but couldn't find anything that made a difference. I tried it again today, and same issue. Anyone have this issue? Likely have to take it in whenever the roads are clear and not salty here in the midwest. Couple of things to verify..... First - you are touching the inside of the door handle as if you were opening the door, right? The sensor is on the inside of the handle. If you are standing perpendicular to the car and the key is in your outermost pocket it won't be close enough to unlock the door. Make sure the key is within a foot or so of the door handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted January 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 Yes, I had a '16 MKX before this car with the same Door Handle unlocking, so I am using the same standard. My '19 has worked the same until this just happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted January 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 I also took my 2nd key fob that I have never used before just in case the first one was having a weakening battery issue, and the same thing still happens. Only the driver's side front door unlocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Went to pick up a pizza today. Tried unlocking those 3 doors before I left home, and again when I got to the Pizza Place. Not working. When I got back home, when I tried the rear door on the driver's side, it unlocked. I then tried the other two on the passenger side and they both unlocked as well. So no idea what the issue was, and if they will continue to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKXMark Posted February 2, 2020 Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 If the fob is in a pocket with a cell phone it tends not to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 After it didn't work, I took the key fob out of my pocket and held it in my left hand every time I tried the handles. I keep my phone in a packet that attaches to my belt, so never in my pocket with the key fob. Just got back from lunch today, and all three doors that weren't unlocking are still working as of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOTMY911 Posted February 3, 2020 Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 On 1/31/2020 at 12:59 PM, elijahbird7 said: Yesterday, I took my '19 Nautilus to the grocery store. When I walked up with the cart to unlock my driver's side rear door by touching the handle, it would not unlock, and yes the key fob was in my pocket. I then walked to the passenger side rear door, touched the handle and it did not unlock, then tried the passenger side front door, it would not unlock. Then touched the driver's side front door handle, and it unlocked. I looked in the Owner's Manual to see if there are any settings that somehow changed, but couldn't find anything that made a difference. I tried it again today, and same issue. Anyone have this issue? Likely have to take it in whenever the roads are clear and not salty here in the midwest. Funny mine did the same today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hope yours starts to work again like mine has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOTMY911 Posted February 3, 2020 Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 17 hours ago, elijahbird7 said: Hope yours starts to work again like mine has. It work with the other fob, probably time to change the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos36 Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 On occasion, I have found it necessary it squeeze a door handle repeatedly (2-3 times) to get an unlocking response. I just attribute it to door handle road grime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Could be a flaky Body Control Module. If it keeps happening try disconnecting the battery cable for a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Couple of thoughts. Weather around here in January is not great. Since I am retired, I don't need to go anywhere when the roads are salty or snow filled. I think I only went out about 4 times that month, and only drove about 3.5 miles each way to get groceries and lunch. So maybe the battery wasn't in a good mood, but still not sure why one door would open and 3 wouldn't. On that day that I first found the rear door not opening, something else strange happened before I left home. I had gotten my license plate renewal sticker the day before, so started the Nautilus with the key fob and then walked out to put that sticker on the rear license plate. It is set to run 15 minutes when started by the key fob. When I bent down to put the sticker on, just when I was behind it, the engine stopped, which was less than 5 minutes since I started it. At first I thought maybe my pocket that the key fob was in caused it to hit an off switch, but then looked at the fob and saw nothing on it that would stop the engine. I then restarted it and let it run a little while before going to the grocery store, and that's when I found the rear door not opening when touching the handle getting back to the car with groceries. So have no idea if the Nautilus sitting around and not used much that month caused the whole issue. The first time the doors all started to open again was going to that Pizza Place that is about 12 miles each way and has a higher speed limit and when I got home they all opened again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 That’s a good guess. Weak batteries cause strange problems. Get a Ctek charger and top it off whenever you’re not driving more than 15 minutes at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 OK, so now I no longer think the battery could be the issue. Last week I didn't drive it for about 4 days. Was heading out to lunch, and touched the driver's side rear door handle when I walked up to it, and it did not work again. When I got to the lunch place, got out, locked the doors, touched the rear door handle again, and not working. I had an email conversation with my Service Manager after the first time this happened, and we both thought it might be a battery issue, since it wasn't driven much. So, when I got home, I hooked up the Battery Tender. After 3 days, I was going out, so opened the hood, the Battery Tender had the green light on meaning the battery was completely charged. Unhooked the Battery Tender, locked the doors and touched the rear door handle again, expecting it to unlock, but again it didn't. Went to the lunch destination, locked the doors and touched the rear door handle again, and still not working. Had lunch and came back out, touched the rear door handle again, and still not working. Drove home, locked the doors, and touched the rear door handle again, and it worked! So now I have no idea what the real issue could be. Maybe just midwest cold weather... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Try disconnecting the battery cable for a few minutes to reset the modules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 It worked fine again today. It was 4° here this morning. I think I will wait until we get some warmer weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Where the battery's Negative Cable connection is on the Nautilus is very hard to get at. I have always only disconnected the Negative Cable before the Positive Cable on any car. I am also pretty sure the battery was disconnected when they did the transmission software update since the Sync3 background had gone back to the basic Gold color, my phone was no longer connected, and stereo was no longer set to USB. So, if that has to be done, the dealer will be my choice to do it. I am going to email the Service Manager about it happening again and see what he figures out, but will likely wait until spring since it's not a real big issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS49 Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 I have a 2016 MKX and live in Wisconsin. It is about 16 degrees here today and my rear doors will not unlock by touch either. It's been intermittent the past couple of months but the driver's door almost always unlocks. I'm chalking it up to the cold weather, it just must be finicky. Hopefully with spring coming soon it will not be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Someone else mentioned the battery in the Key Fob, but I tried my 2nd Key Fob that has never been used and it made no difference. I will have had the Nautilus 1 year on March 1st and just passed 4,000 miles. If I remember correctly, on my 2016 MKX Reserve, there is a notice that comes up somewhere that tells you when to replace the Key Fob Battery. Don't remember if the notice was on the Dash or Sync3 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 And, my Driver's Door always unlocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted March 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 So, it's March 1st, and it is still working every time I touch the rear door. Time will tell I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 It has been working every time until today when I was headed out to lunch. Driver's side rear door would not unlock, same for both doors on the passenger side. I had thought of a couple things to try. First was to use the key fob to open and close the rear hatch. That did not make any difference. Then stopped at lunch, pushed the inside door lock, shut the driver's door and then touched the rear door handle, and again would not unlock. Drove home, tried it again, and still would not unlock from the rear handle. Tried my second idea which was to push the lock and unlock switch on the driver's door about 5 times, leaving it in the lock position. Closed the door, touched the rear door handle, and it then worked! So next time it doesn't work, I will try this again and see if that is the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahbird7 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 To verify, I was using the inside on/off switch, not the door handle outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos36 Posted March 12, 2020 Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 Some times the ol' logic-and-trial system will solve electrical problems...keep at it Elijah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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