Leaving AC running with truck locked? - SOLVED!

[RickLightning]

Doing all this does it disable the window switches on the front doors?

The reason I ask is my dogs will step on the switches and open the windows. I have the window switches on the rear doors disabled all the time so the dogs don’t open them when driving. Dogs stay in back when driving but come up front when parked.

No, they are not disabled.

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[flyct]

No, they are not disabled.

Thanks for the reply.

My dogs would escape if left in the car with functioning window switches. Tesla‘s dog mode works great in dog mode. Plus you can monitor the interior camera while away from he car to see what the dogs are up to.

Another issue that could be a big problem is the rear seat heater. To add. I have a dog blanket on the rear seats of the truck. The dogs have turned on the rear seat heaters by stepping on the heater button. The heater got the seat dangerously hot under the dog blanket. I pulled/removed the rear seat heater fuse which now disabled the heater.

I wish Ford would enable a dog mode and camp mode like Tesla does.

Our dogs are familiar with being in the Tesla for short periods of time while we shop.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

I agree on all counts. I was one of the first people to take delivery of a Lightning and one of the first things I requested of Ford is Dog Mode. I came up with the work around but it's NOT as good as Tesla (as you point out.)

 

[RickLightning]

I was mystified when years ago I learned of "dog mode". Yes, I've seen idiots with dogs sitting on their laps while they drive (idiots because a loose dog on your lap is simply dangerous), but never thought that people drove around shopping with their dogs. Grew up with two big golden retrievers, and we never took them to run errands.

I think this has grown over the years, you see people in stores with dogs and I scratch my head - "did Bailey really want to go to JoAnn Fabrics today"?

If your dog opens windows and turns on seat heaters and such, maybe they belong at home? Just a thought.

But, to each their own. I do set the limit on this though - totally unacceptable (but note the puppy in a carseat):

I agree on all counts. I was one of the first people to take delivery of a Lightning and one of the first things I requested of Ford is Dog Mode. I came up with the work around but it's NOT as good as Tesla (as you point out.)

People asked beginning in 2021 with the Mach-E. It's almost 2026, and no dog mode. Not happening.

 

[K6CCC]

I was thinking of getting a separate temperature sensor that calls my phone as a back up. Anyone use one of those?

I have a wireless temperature sensor that sits in the well where the gear shift handle would retract along with an Apple AirTag. Note that the one that I use connects to a base station at home, so it does not report data if I'm not at home. For your purpose you would need one that report via cellular or WiFi (assuming you have WiFi available).

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

Agree it's not happening. The feckless lawyers at Ford probably killed it.

I too do not take my dog (a 89 lb Fox Red Lab) on errands. Except when I drive from Boston to our camp in Maine, I need to stop at a supermarket in Portland and buy groceries. I walk the dog (Louis; 4 years old last Friday) and then put him back into the cool Lightning with my jury-rigged dog mode. The back seats are always closed. The underseat storage unit is always flattened. On the floor is a 4 inch thick pad that fits the entire back seat floor area. Luckily he never has thought to venture into the front; his space is so much more comfortable!

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

I leave the truck running. Get out. Key&phone in my pocket. Use the door handle button to lock the truck. Done.


Sounds like there's a setting I have different compared to yours.

Edit: I can also use the 7/8, 9/0 keypad to lock without it doing a warning beep.
Key Detection Alert is off in Settings. Turning it on didn't do anything different from what I could tell just now.

How long before the AC shuts off when you do this?

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

Doing all this does it disable the window switches on the front doors?

The reason I ask is my dogs will step on the switches and open the windows. I have the window switches on the rear doors disabled all the time so the dogs don’t open them when driving. Dogs stay in back when driving but come up front when parked.

You might want to get a divider to keep the dogs in the back seat area.

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

I've used the Sketch app to write a note for this situation. Here's pictures from when I was testing it.

Looks like this from the outside

And I see you're keeping the dogs entertained with Stingray Karaoke while you're gone. How many times can they listen to "Who let the dogs out?"?

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

How long before the AC shuts off when you do this?

If you do not turn off the "Power Down" timer, it'll shut of in 29 minutes. If you do shut off the Power Down timer, it'll keep going until the battery reaches the level that you set.

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

If you do not turn off the "Power Down" timer, it'll shut of in 29 minutes. If you do shut off the Power Down timer, it'll keep going until the battery reaches the level that you set.

Exactly. Most folks don't realize the truck will shut down.

My approach to keeping the truck on is to turn on the frunk ProPower Onboard. That way it will keep running until the reserve is reached (usually a very long time).

 

[flyct]

You might want to get a divider to keep the dogs in the back seat area.

The dogs know to stay in the back seat whenever we are traveling so no divider is needed. When we travel between our house and cabin we travel with 1 Caged Parrot and 2 Mini Goldendoodles, {25 and 28 lbs) ALL in the back seat.

I NEVER leave them in the TRUCK unattended because of the window buttons being active and not being able to monitor the interior temp in the truck. .

A few times I have left them in our Tesla in Dog Mode for less than 10 minutes. Those few times it was while wafting in the car while my wife was in the market shopping and she called me to pick out steaks, because I do that better then her. I pulled up the interior camera while in the market for those few minutes.

IT GETS REALLY HOT IN THE CAR IN FLORIDA WITHOUT THE AC ON. I have 2 close friend who's dogs died in when left in their trucks. One just 2 months ago. I can't describe how devastating it was to the owners. Just typing this I get sick to my stomach. Those dogs jumped into a truck unnoticed when the door was opened and sat down in the back seat. The owner closed the door not realizing the Dog was in the truck and walked away.

Here is a current screen shot of the Tesla interior now parked in the sun. The camera also displays the interior temperature. You can see it is 132 dF right now, even with a sunshade in the front windshield.

 

[flyct]

Quick story. I once had a lady call the police on me one hot day in Florida. My dogs were in my Prius with the AC on. I was standing outside the car. She thought I left the dogs in the car with no AC on because she couldn't hear an engine running. She yelled at me and I tried to tell her t was 72 deg n that car and the AC was on. She still called 911 on her cell phone. After the police arrived I thanked her for her concern my animals and understood why she did that..

 

[UtahRookie]

Bingo! Bingo! That was it. Have to close the door and then lock it from the outside. Tried it both with the button on the door handle and with the fob (I never use the keypad - I do have the master keypad number saved in my password manager if I REALLY needed to use it).

You can put in your own personal key code if you like. It still maintains the original code also.

 

[K6CCC]

You can put in your own personal key code if you like. It still maintains the original code also.

I know. Only reason I expect to EVER use the keypad is if the fob dies or gets lost.
So I have master passcode in my password manager which I can get to from my phone if I should ever need it.

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