[dmann33]

I've been dreading this scenario for years going back to the acquisition of my 2015 Ody. I drove off without the keyfob and turned off the van!

Of course, I could start the van with the app and could turn the steering fine, but any attempt to put it in gear would kill the engine. I was stuck. I called Chrysler Assist (or whatever it is called) hoping that they had a means to "override" the drive away feature so that I could return to get my keyfob, but alas they could not. I was stuck.

I had not gone too far, but I was outside of my own town and dropped off my wife (and keyfob) and ran another errand across town (15 minutes away). She ended up using an Uber to bring her (and the fob) to me and the van. I know there are alerts when driving w/o the keyfob, and a chime when she walked out of the car, but there are chimes all the time for the open door or blindspot, etc so when you are in a parking lot stopped, you tend to tune them all out all too easily. This is one chime I would welcome to be more annoying.

It was suggested by my dealer to stash an extra fob (ie. the keysense one) in the back somewhere. It would be too far away for anyone to start the car with it and may not be a bad idea. I have not tested it yet, but with the Ody, you could NOT lock the van with a fob inside no matter what. I think it is possible in the Pacifica.

 

[x95stacey]

Yikes! Sorry to hear this. Didn't the chime continuously go off? Was there a message on the dashboard?


If you want to hide a spare key in the car you could do this by just removing the battery from that fob. Hide the fob somewhere and if you ever need it you can use it to start the car as depicted on pages 26 - 27 in the owners manual (dead fob battery procedure).

 

[Razorbackfan]

My corvette would ask me if I wanted to shut the car off if it didn't detect my key fob when I hit the push button.
Did the Pacifica just shut off without this? I haven't tested it.

 

[generaltso]

You don't want to leave a powered fob in the car as a spare. It will require more steps to lock the car, and if it's in the car anywhere somebody would absolutely be able to start it. X95stacey's suggestion of taking the battery out is definitely the way to go if you want to hide a spare. However, now that it's happened to you once, there's probably a good chance that you won't let it happen again!

 

[Rogus]

However, now that it's happened to you once, there's probably a good chance that you won't let it happen again!

If only that were true for all of us!

 

[dmann33]

My corvette would ask me if I wanted to shut the car off if it didn't detect my key fob when I hit the push button.
Did the Pacifica just shut off without this? I haven't tested it.

The Pacifica continues to operate normally w/o the fob. I guess you could drive for hours...just don't turn of the engine or you'll be stuck. There is an audio and visual alert when the keyfob is taken away from the cabin. However, keep in mind I had 2 passengers getting out and one complaining that they had to stay (with me). With doors being opened and closed and ppl walking around the car, I just disregarded the audio as I was subconsciously discounting it was one of the other alarms and as for the visual, well, I wasn't paying attention to that either.

I believe there was a message on the dash as I was driving, but I cant be sure if it shows when you scroll through different dash displays. I also had the radio up, so the chime must not have stepped on that, or I would have certainly noticed. In my case, it crossed my mind the instant I pressed the button to kill the engine.

 

[dmann33]

Here's an idea Chrysler Cares.... if the keyfob is absent and you want to kill the car, maybe they could require you to push it twice, essentially asking you if you REALLY want to shut it down in absence of the fob. That could save someone's bacon.

 

[x95stacey]

Other Chrysler vehicles I've owned will sound a continuous chime once the door is closed without the key inside. I'm surprised this didn't happen with your Pacifica. I did notice one loophole in that if the doors are never opened and the key leaves the vehicle through the window, the chime will NOT occur.

 

[tsax6010]

Here's an idea Chrysler Cares.... if the keyfob is absent and you want to kill the car, maybe they could require you to push it twice, essentially asking you if you REALLY want to shut it down in absence of the fob. That could save someone's bacon.

As a Systems Engineer that specializes in Microsoft Platforms, this is a familiar concept :wink2:

 

[migs]

Storing the key fob without a battery in car seems like a good idea however how easy is it to remove and replace the battery and will the key fob clear its memory if its without a battery for too long?

 

[generaltso]

Storing the key fob without a battery in car seems like a good idea however how easy is it to remove and replace the battery and will the key fob clear its memory if its without a battery for too long?

I don't believe the fob has a memory, so there shouldn't be any issue with that. It's not hard to remove the battery, but you wouldn't want to be taking it out and putting it back in all the time. You'll be able to start the car without the battery, so you wouldn't really ever need to put it back in if this was the permanent plan for that fob.

 

[Razorbackfan]

Here's an idea Chrysler Cares.... if the keyfob is absent and you want to kill the car, maybe they could require you to push it twice, essentially asking you if you REALLY want to shut it down in absence of the fob. That could save someone's bacon.

This is what the corvette does. When the fob is absent and you hit the kill switch it asks "fob not detected do you want to continue?" And if you hit it again it will shut the car off.
They started this in at least 2005 but keyless entry goes back to '96. So for at least 12 years they have been doing it.

So I went out and did the test on both my truck and the van and both of them act the same way. On the center of the info screen it says fob has left the vehicle and a constant chime but will shut off with one push. I agree with you they should do a program update to allow two pushes of the switch without the fob present.

 

[dmann33]

So I went out and did the test on both my truck and the van and both of them act the same way. On the center of the info screen it says fob has left the vehicle and a constant chime but will shut off with one push. I agree with you they should do a program update to allow two pushes of the switch without the fob present.

Thanks for sharing, nice to know GM has the double push. I too just went out to see how I could have missed the chime. Here are the results:

1) you do get a chime if the fob is absent and the door is opened, however, the chime goes away as soon as you hit 5 mph. The message on the dash will go away too if you change the display (up or down on the back left side of steering wheel). Its a mild chime, similar to what some cars do if the lights are on when you turn off the car.

2) The chime, as short as it may last, is easily drowned out by medium stereo volume.

Oh well. The double push would be nice.

 

[x95stacey]

1) you do get a chime if the fob is absent and the door is opened, however, the chime goes away as soon as you hit 5 mph. The message on the dash will go away too if you change the display (up or down on the back left side of steering wheel). Its a mild chime, similar to what some cars do if the lights are on when you turn off the car.

Yikes. Yeah this is an area for improvement then.

 

[cue003]

A double push to turn off would be a good solution or a chime that does not go away, mutes the radio and maybe increases with volume after 5mph. Does Chrysler have a suggestion box or maybe @ChrylerCares can bubble this request up to the appropriate people.

 

[billspreston01]

Ha! I did this last week. Dropped off my wife and forgot she had the key with her. Luckily she called me before I reached my destination so I was able to turn back. Realized later that I had the key sense in the center console so there was no chime and I didn't have to go back after all. I have since removed the key sense key.

I may pull the physical key out of the key sense key (or have a copy made) then stash that in the car somewhere.

 

[x95stacey]

I may pull the physical key out of the key sense key (or have a copy made) then stash that in the car somewhere.

That won't help you with restarting if you turn the engine off; you will need the fob to restart.

 

[generaltso]

That won't help you with restarting if you turn the engine off; you will need the fob to restart.

Yup, that physical key is only good for unlocking the doors, so stashing it inside the car wouldn't help with anything.

 

[billspreston01]

I haven't tried this, but I remembered reading it in the user guide:

Emergency Key
Should the battery in the vehicle or the RKE Key Fob go dead, there is an emergency key located
in the RKE Key Fob that can be used for locking and unlocking the doors. To remove the
emergency key, slide the button at the top of the RKE Key Fob sideways with your thumb and
then pull the key out with your other hand.
The emergency key is used to unlock/lock the driver's door and the glove compartment.
KeySense
Telltale
GETTING STARTED
15
In case the RKE Key Fob battery is dead, use the emergency key to open the door. If the vehicle
is equipped with Keyless Enter-N-Go — Ignition, remove the keyless ignition push button by
inserting the metal part of the emergency key under the button bezel at the 6 o’clock position and
gently pry the button loose.
NOTE:
The keyless ignition push button should only be removed or inserted with the ignition in the
LOCK position (OFF position for Keyless Enter-N-Go — Ignition).
With the keyless ignition push button removed, start the vehicle by inserting the emergency Key
Fob in the ignition and turning to the Start position.

 

[generaltso]

I haven't tried this, but I remembered reading it in the user guide:

Emergency Key
Should the battery in the vehicle or the RKE Key Fob go dead, there is an emergency key located
in the RKE Key Fob that can be used for locking and unlocking the doors. To remove the
emergency key, slide the button at the top of the RKE Key Fob sideways with your thumb and
then pull the key out with your other hand.
The emergency key is used to unlock/lock the driver's door and the glove compartment.
KeySense
Telltale
GETTING STARTED
15
In case the RKE Key Fob battery is dead, use the emergency key to open the door. If the vehicle
is equipped with Keyless Enter-N-Go — Ignition, remove the keyless ignition push button by
inserting the metal part of the emergency key under the button bezel at the 6 o’clock position and
gently pry the button loose.
NOTE:
The keyless ignition push button should only be removed or inserted with the ignition in the
LOCK position (OFF position for Keyless Enter-N-Go — Ignition).
With the keyless ignition push button removed, start the vehicle by inserting the emergency Key
Fob in the ignition and turning to the Start position.

Is this from the Pacifica owners manual? I know you could pry off the button on some older Chrysler vehicles, but I wouldn't try that in the Pacifica. Somebody in the Cherokee forum tried it and destroyed their start button. The correct way to start the Pacifica with a dead fob battery is to press the fob against the start button. The fob has RFID for backup, which doesn't require power.