Random single honk and lock on exit, no WAL

[B177y]

I have a 2024 Pro. It doesn't have the hardware for WAL or PAAK. It had the WAL toggles when it was new for some reason, but they were removed in the last OTA. I had WAL and PAAK on my previous Mach-e, so I am familiar with how they work. This isn't a WAL or PAAK issue.

This past couple of weeks I have started getting a random single honk and the doors lock when I exit the truck. The truck is off, parking brake on, trans in park, fob in my pocket, windows can be open or closed. Frunk and tailgate are closed. It has happened while connected to my home EVSE and while not connected. It is like having WAL, but it happens while I am still next to the truck. Scares the #%&@ outta me when it happens which is usually in my garage so it's extra loud. Happens randomly, or at least I have yet to find any patterns or commonalities.

12 volt shows 12.3 via OBD carscanner with truck off. No recent OTA, no error codes.

I feel like this issue has had previous threads but the search still seems like it is being rebuilt since the forum outage last month so I wasn't able to find anything.

Any ideas on the cause or solution, or is this just another fun random Lightning personality quirk?

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[The Weatherman]

Can’t say why it locks on its own, but you might want to check some of the setting in the truck and make sure the Lock and key prevent notices are turned off. This might stop the honking even if it does keep auto locking.

Sorry that’s all I got.

 

[RLXXI]

Ghost in the machine.

 

[watts/up]

So, I believe our Pros have the hardware for WAL but definitely not for PAAK. When I was adding passive entry I was given the BCM firmware that included WAL but I had issues with it so I used the original 312 XLT firmware instead. Have you received a BCM update recently? Activation (then subsequent deactivation) of the toggles is/was as separate update but can also be added via FORScan. I think the hope is we all get WAL eventually through an update.

 

[B177y]

So, I believe our Pros have the hardware for WAL but definitely not for PAAK. When I was adding passive entry I was given the BCM firmware that included WAL but I had issues with it so I used the original 312 XLT firmware instead. Have you received a BCM update recently? Activation (then subsequent deactivation) of the toggles is/was as separate update but can also be added via FORScan. I think the hope is we all get WAL eventually through an update.

No BCM updates for me.

When I first got the truck and had the WAL toggles but couldn't get WAL to work, I made a thread and @rugedraw and @Mike G checked my VIN and said that there was no RFA module, therefore no WAL. Original thread here.

Complete mystery why I had the WAL toggles, but regardless, it never worked. I messed around with Forscan too and was never able to get WAL operational. I left all of the toggles in the "ON" position with the hope that one day an OTA might activate something. The opposite happened....in June of this year, I got the OTA that removed the toggles.

I have had this random honk and lock a few times in the 1 year of ownership (30,000 miles), but recently it has happened 2 or three times a week. Maybe 10% of the time that I get in and out of the truck.

I feel like @TaxmanHog has experienced this, but the seach function is tottally borked since the forum outage.

 

[watts/up]

Interesting. I understood that WAL depended on the same hardware that passive entry and approach lighting does (which is not the RFA module) but perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I feel like @TaxmanHog has experienced this, but the seach function is tottally borked since the forum outage.

Once I had what I thought was WAL, but it never repeated, I suspect I might have unknowingly tapped the lock button on my FOB.

Regarding honks, I disabled all the alerts, no spontaneously honks have occured since that change.

 

[astrand1]

So, I believe our Pros have the hardware for WAL but definitely not for PAAK. When I was adding passive entry I was given the BCM firmware that included WAL but I had issues with it so I used the original 312 XLT firmware instead. Have you received a BCM update recently? Activation (then subsequent deactivation) of the toggles is/was as separate update but can also be added via FORScan. I think the hope is we all get WAL eventually through an update.

There is no extra “hardware” for WAL. That’s just programming. So I’m sure that’s what’s going on with the OP.

 

[B177y]

Interesting. I understood that WAL depended on the same hardware that passive entry and approach lighting does (which is not the RFA module) but perhaps I'm wrong.

No passive entry or approach lighting on my truck.

 

[B177y]

There is no extra “hardware” for WAL. That’s just programming. So I’m sure that’s what’s going on with the OP.

If I do have WAL, then the OTA should have left the toggles in place and it should work as intended. I can walk away from my truck 100 times and maybe once or twice it honks and locks as soon as I exit. Lately that's been more like 10 out of 100. WAL on my MME was 100% reliable and predictable. About 20 yards away it locked. My random honk and locks occur as soon as I shut the door.

 

[astrand1]

Sounds to me like you might have gotten an update that messed something up. Having said that I legit have WAL on my lariat and it is by no means 100% reliable. Sometimes the truck locks right after last door is closed. Sometimes I can walk a football field away and it does not lock. They really need to dial it in.

 

[watts/up]

If I do have WAL, then the OTA should have left the toggles in place and it should work as intended.

Adding WAL is a two-part update: the BCM needs to be updated to provide the core functionality, and then the APIM needs to be updated to add the toggles. Ford botched this process earlier in the year by rolling out the BCM update but not the APIM one leaving users annoyed that they couldn't disable it. Anyway, that's why I asked about the BCM update earlier. You could have received that but not the APIM update. Sounds like you didn't though so it's strange would would all of the sudden have WAL. You can easily add the toggles via FORScan if you'd like to try and see if you have WAL. If you truly don't the toggles will appear in "Lock" settings but will be disabled.

 

[watts/up]

No passive entry or approach lighting on my truck.

Right, as was the case with mine.

I looked back at the original thread post to check my hardware claim and it's unclear to me if you need the handles or not to have WAL. It sounds like the adding the handles do provide antennas along with capacitive touch capabilities but the initial diagram seems to indicate that there is a separate approach antenna. I'm not sure which, if either, would be responsible for WAL. (I would suggest that you could try adding approach lighting via FORScan to see but my guess is you need the updated BCM firmware to enable that change, and again, this may be tangential to WAL anyway.)

BTW, if you're looking for a project, adding passive entry is a fun one. It's the only feature that I truly couldn't live without, even more than ACC. The only thing that initially held me back was having to update the BCM firmware, that's a bit scary.

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