Remote Start with Myfordmobile

After I charged my car (Thanks IKEA for free charge), I checked the app to see status. App gave me the latest status of the car including charge. At the bottom of the same screen, there were 3 options: Start, Lock and Unlock. So, I clicked the option to lock the car and then clicked on Start option to start the car (same screen). After a couple of seconds, the lights started flashing, fan started blowing with hi speed, nothing else happened. So the car did not start. I pushed the start button on the car and horn started in panic mode. So, turned off the horn. I thought, I made a mistake, did it for the second time and this time, tried to push the brake, again, the panic started with the horn making noises. Any idea? is this the right way to start the car remotely using the app? any assistance you may offer? Thanks

Were you sitting in the car? (It doesn't like it if you're sitting in the car using the app)

Did you wait the few minutes for the app to sync in between hitting lock and start?

You don't have to hit lock first, it will automatically lock the doors when it attempts to start.

I'll try again with your suggestion, starting the car from outside to see what is happening. I have a Mercedes and installed a remote starter a few years ago, I can start the car from inside but the door must be closed. I use a remote starter app from Directed/Viper to start the MB. Thanks for your post.

Sorry have to ask - you remote started the car. The lights flashed, the fan started blowing, and nothing else happened. What were you expecting would happen? The car doesn't make any noise when it starts. The only reason you would use the remote start is to run the heater or A/C to get the car warm or cool.

And JMueller is right, you have to wait a while until the command works on the car. Lock and Unlock take a little while for those to actually happen.

There are two ways to remote start your car. One is from the keyfob, but obviously you need to be within the range of the keyfob for this to work. The second is through the Ford app. That works from anywhere. I use this feature frequently. Part of my commute involves riding Metro. It's nice to be able to "start" the car a few minutes before I get off the train so that the A/C has had a chance to cool the car down before I get out to it.

Keith

What is the benefit of remote starting the FFE? You're just draining the traction battery to maybe slightly warm or cool the cabin. It's better to plug the car in and set a GO TIME, then you're using wall power.

Pearl said:

What is the benefit of remote starting the FFE? You're just draining the traction battery to maybe slightly warm or cool the cabin. It's better to plug the car in and set a GO TIME, then you're using wall power.

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The benefit is the same thing as GO times just done on-demand. I never use GO times, schedule is too erratic/unpredictable but I usually know 5-10 minutes ahead of time when I'm leaving (or when the wife & kids are leaving). I mostly use it in the morning when my wife's taking the kids to school, but she takes her good 'ole time getting ready, the kids are hot to trot, so I remote-start and help them get strapped into the car... they'll be sitting for a good 5-10 minutes before she's out the door. It keeps them warm or cool on utility power.

Could use GO times for the kiddos, but there's usually a +/-10 minute window for when they're ready to go.

Remote start is one of the main reasons I got the car. Cabin is cool in the summer and warm in the winter (as I'm heading to the car from work).

Hi all, thanks for all of your responses and posts. Actually, today, I locked the car and moved away from the car for about 100 meters and then remotely started the car. Everything was working great and there was no panic horn either. Now I have another question for you experienced FFE drivers: how can I set the temperature and fan speed? the reason is that the fan was at high speed after the car start up while the interior was warm enough. Thanks

Kamroud said:

Hi all, thanks for all of your responses and posts. Actually, today, I locked the car and moved away from the car for about 100 meters and then remotely started the car. Everything was working great and there was no panic horn either. Now I have another question for you experienced FFE drivers: how can I set the temperature and fan speed? the reason is that the fan was at high speed after the car start up while the interior was warm enough. Thanks

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There is only a little configurability for remote start that I've seen, in the dashboard menu left side there's a couple Remote Start options.

"Auto" basically does what you are describing IIRC, it's a sort of template HVAC setting that it will choose based on outside temp I think.
"Last settings" (might have that wording wrong) basically acts like you just turned on the HVAC power button. Consequently though, if the HVAC was turned off the last time you stopped the car, it won't turn on either during Remote Start IIRC.

Yeah, would be nice if you could set the desired temperature remotely...

Fish I don't think it really matters. I just leave it on "auto" and if it's cold out the car gets warmed up, if it's hot out the car cools off. in 15 minutes (max remote start time) it's not going to reach any reasonable preset temp. And if it's not very warm or very cold there's no need to use the remote start.

If I know it's going to be a hot day, I'll make sure my climate control is set to LO before I shut the car down. Then when I get back to the car, the A/C is blowing on Maximum, and the car is cool inside, even if it's >100 deg outside.

Of course, if I fall asleep on the train, and don't wake up until my stop, this won't work....not enough time for the A/C to do much cooling from the stop to when I get out to the car.

What can we do to stop frost/fog inside the car without turning on the heater?

Kamroud said:

What can we do to stop frost/fog inside the car without turning on the heater?

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While driving? Note you'll have to wear warm clothes: frost/fog is mostly due to your breathing, thus to get rid of it you can:

• Crack a window
• Turn the HVAC on LO, just fan, A/C off

Either will replace the humid air inside the car with cold dry air from outside--thus you'll need warm clothing.

You can go to more extreme measures to stay warm while using as little electricity as possible (a small 12V fan aimed at the window, a 12V heated blanket, etc.).

To start out with you should use the preconditioning to prepare the car to the highest (85F) setting so it starts out as warm as possible. I was able to make my 15 mile (one way) commute without using heat on those <0F days here in MI this way--granted by cracking a window I was mighty cold by the end of those 15 miles but I saved most of the battery for the trip home (which was usually warmer and the car had sat in the winter sun all day warming up).

Kamroud said:

What can we do to stop frost/fog inside the car without turning on the heater?

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My car is kept outside and when I get in it cold there is usually some fog on the lower part of the inside windshield. I just hit the max defrost for a minute and it clears right up. Then I shut it off. With the system off completely the windshield will fog up a bit and then I hit the max for a minute and it goes away. My wifes fusion is like this too. Maybe its a ford thing with the ventilation system design and climate control.

what jmueller065 said plus some Fog-X applied to the inside of the windows!

Carbuff said:

My car is kept outside and when I get in it cold there is usually some fog on the lower part of the inside windshield. I just hit the max defrost for a minute and it clears right up. Then I shut it off. With the system off completely the windshield will fog up a bit and then I hit the max for a minute and it goes away. My wifes fusion is like this too. Maybe its a ford thing with the ventilation system design and climate control.

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Your case calls for the use of preconditioning even more: Set up the go time for the max temp when you get in it in the morning it will be toasty warm inside and no fog/frost/snow/etc. on it at all. Even if you don't leave at the same time every day I would still set up a go time--on the FFE the go time runs for a full 30 minutes.

I know: My first winter with the FFE we kept it outside. Even with about 1" of snow on it the precondition would melt it off the windows.

jmueller065 said:

Carbuff said:

My car is kept outside and when I get in it cold there is usually some fog on the lower part of the inside windshield. I just hit the max defrost for a minute and it clears right up. Then I shut it off. With the system off completely the windshield will fog up a bit and then I hit the max for a minute and it goes away. My wifes fusion is like this too. Maybe its a ford thing with the ventilation system design and climate control.

Click to expand...

Your case calls for the use of preconditioning even more: Set up the go time for the max temp when you get in it in the morning it will be toasty warm inside and no fog/frost/snow/etc. on it at all. Even if you don't leave at the same time every day I would still set up a go time--on the FFE the go time runs for a full 30 minutes.

I know: My first winter with the FFE we kept it outside. Even with about 1" of snow on it the precondition would melt it off the windows.

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Yeah, I kinda cant wait for the bad weather to use the preconditioning. Allthough if it snows I will be taking the Grand Cherokee to work. These tires are bad enough in the rain, I cant imagine them in the snow. LOL.

Carbuff said:

Yeah, I kinda cant wait for the bad weather to use the preconditioning. Allthough if it snows I will be taking the Grand Cherokee to work. These tires are bad enough in the rain, I cant imagine them in the snow. LOL.

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Why wait? I used preconditioning all year (in the summer I set it at 72).

I never really had any issues in the snow with the FFE--its traction control is a bit better than any ICE's that I have driven. The only time I ever got stuck was in about 6" of snow in an unplowed lot and even then I was able to rock it out.