Key Fob Programming / Tuning

[sdwndr]

I got a custom dyno tune last month and recently went in to the dealership to get the battery of my key fob replaced under warranty. They said that, because of the tune, they cannot reprogram the key as they normally would. Is this true? I’ve never heard of any issue like that, but my 2006 Mustang didn’t have this newer style of key fob. And if it’s true, how is everyone handling key fob issues after a tune?

It sounds like they can get around it by reinstalling stock tune, reprogramming the key, and then reinstalling the tune. That makes sense, but it makes me a little nervous to have them mucking around with my tune. Any one else deal with anything like this?

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[Smokey613]

I am curious, did you tell them about the tune or did they check for it? Also, what year is your Mustang?

 

[sloppymax]

The battery of the fob be replaced without any programming. I would just have replaced it myself. Now if the fob itself failed then I would go for warranty but the tune has nothing to do it. I am tuned and I was able to purchase a fob off eBay then program it myself. I have also had a battery die in the first fob and it was just a replace then drive off deal.

 

[Smokey613]

I replaced both fob batteries right after we bought our 2015. I wanted a known starting point and since the car was almost four years old it seemed like the sensible thing to do. It took maybe five minutes to do both. I am still wondering how they found out it was tuned. Maybe it’s something that dealer checks for on Mustangs and if so, why check on a simple fob battery change. I think there is more to this story.

 

[brucelinc]

I replaced both fob batteries right after we bought our 2015. I wanted a known starting point and since the car was almost four years old it seemed like the sensible thing to do. It took maybe five minutes to do both. I am still wondering how they found out it was tuned. Maybe it’s something that dealer checks for on Mustangs and if so, why check on a simple fob battery change. I think there is more to this story.

Yep, something is out of whack here.....

 

[sdwndr]

Forget the detail about the battery change. One of the buttons had fallen off as well and I think they just offered to replace the entire key under warranty.

I’m honestly not sure how they found out about the tune, my wife was the one who brought the car in (it was her fob). It’s possible she mentioned it to them. I usually like to mention it myself so they don’t perform a factory flash and mess everything up (I’ve heard that can cause major issues and have been planning on getting one of those DO NOT FLASH covers for the ODB port).

So anyways, assuming the key is being replaced/reprogrammed, any other experiences with getting this done with a tune? I’ve got at least one person here saying this should have nothing to do with the tune.

 

[sdwndr]

Also, what year is your Mustang?

It is a 2017.

 

[sdwndr]

So I spoke with my wife and she said that they asked if we had an aftermarket tune only after attempting to program the new key and getting some kind of error.

 

[Smokey613]

It seems you were unlucky enough to get a dealer that looks for any excuse to void the warranty. I know when I had my 300C, it was common opinion on those forums that some dealers always checked for a tune on any Charger R/T or Challenger R/T that came in, especially the SRT model.

 

[AlphaCoyote]

Just replace the battery yourself. The battery type is CR2025. You don't need to reprogram the key after replacing.

 

[sdwndr]

It seems you were unlucky enough to get a dealer that looks for any excuse to void the warranty. I know when I had my 300C, it was common opinion on those forums that some dealers always checked for a tune on any Charger R/T or Challenger R/T that came in, especially the SRT model.

They didn’t say anything about voiding the warranty. It even sounded like they were willing to replace the key under warranty, despite this apparent snafu with the tune.

 

[sdwndr]

Just replace the battery yourself. The battery type is CR2025. You don't need to reprogram the key after replacing.

Yeah, it is tempting to do that but the broken off button is kind of a pain, and I wonder a little bit of there is a bigger issue with it since the battery went out after only two years (assuming it is the battery, since I haven’t replaced it to test). As long as they were willing to replace it for free, it is hard to turn that down, but it is turning out to be a little more of a headache than I had hoped.

 

[AlphaCoyote]

Yeah, it is tempting to do that but the broken off button is kind of a pain, and I wonder a little bit of there is a bigger issue with it since the battery went out after only two years (assuming it is the battery, since I haven’t replaced it to test). As long as they were willing to replace it for free, it is hard to turn that down, but it is turning out to be a little more of a headache than I had hoped.

My battery went out after 3 years. I'm sure ford isn't using the best quality batteries for their key fobs. It's pretty simple replacing the battery and you can get them on Amazon for like $3.

Is the broken off button as big of a pain as potentially buying a new key fob, un-tuning the car, programming the new key, and re-tuning the car?

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