How to lock all 4 doors when towing 2014 Ford Focus?

[howdymi]

I have a 2014 Ford Focus with automatic transmission that is set up to be a toad.  It has the key start not the keyless.  I understand there is a way to go through the sequence of putting in neutral to be tow ready and being able to exit the car to disconnect the battery. After disconnecting the battery you can turn the key to the off position and remove the key.  My problem is I can?t find a consistence routine to remove the key and have all doors stayed locked so I only have to lock the drivers door with the key.  I don?t know if any of that makes sense.  But all I want to do is make the car tow ready following Ford order of doing it.  Somehow end up with the ignition key in hand so as to lock the drivers door for towing and all doors be locked.  I?m only interested in how to accomplish this on a 2014 Ford Focus automatic with standard key ignition.  I have had several times I have been able to lock all 4 doors as I want to.  But it?s not 100% reliable.  How are you doing it??   

 

[Ken & Sheila]

ON my Jeep while still in the driver seat I lock all the doors, when I manually unlock the drivers door to get out it unlocks all the doors o BUT if I do the same thing a second time the other doors remain locked, so I disconnect the battery, turn the key to unlock, and then key lock the drivers door (using the 2nd key).

The second way is to get the vehicle ready to tow, get out of the vehicle, use the keyfob (2nd) to lock all doors, disconnect the battery.

Both of the above require the use of both sets of keys.

ken

 

[John From Detroit]

I have always carried two keys. One in my right pocket, one in my left.. That way when I pull a bonehead stunt like locking my keys in the car (more often that I care to admit) the solution is.... Easily found in my other pocket.

 

[c_oneil]

Hi there,
I am towing a 2012 Focus automatic with the keyed start and understand exactly what you want to do.  I know I have discovered just after disconnecting the battery that one of the passenger doors is unlocked with no way to lock them without power.  I lock the car doors with the key fob right before I put the key in the ignition and put transmission in neutral.  The next thing I do is disconnect the battery and take the key out of the ignition switch.  The drivers door can be locked anytime later with the key.  I'm not anywhere near my Focus now to confirm this but you may have to keep the driver's door open during all this because I think opening the driver's door causes all the other doors to unlock also.

 

[oldme]

On our CRV I put a spare key in the ignition,
Set it to acc and then close the door.

I use the key with the remote to lock the rest.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

Interesting post as I never lock my toad nor any of my bay doors while traveling on the highway. I keep fire extinguishers in bays on both sides of the coach and one in the toad.

In case of an emergency involving me, or an accident I've come upon, I want to be able to get to all the tools, fire extinguishers,etc that I may need to rectify the situation.

If we stop somewhere to eat I'll lock the toad and bay doors then.

I notice you said you disconnect the battery.  My toad battery is what supplies power to my toad auxiliary braking system in case the toad breaks away from my coach. 

How do you apply power to your auxiliary  brakes in case your toad breaks away?

 

[howdymi]

I notice you said you disconnect the battery.  My toad battery is what supplies power to my toad auxiliary braking system in case the toad breaks away from my coach. 

How do you apply power to your auxiliary  brakes in case your toad breaks away?

In my case disconnecting the toad battery is called for in the Ford Manual.  I use a 12 volt booster pack that is being kept charged by wiring direct from the motorhome back to the booster pack.  No power can be applied to the car chassis during towing, so the battery pack works out fine.

 

[howdymi]

I have always carried two keys. One in my right pocket, one in my left.. That way when I pull a bonehead stunt like locking my keys in the car (more often that I care to admit) the solution is.... Easily found in my other pocket.

Not sure what this has to do with my original question. Only one door the drivers door will lock or unlock with a key.  I want all doors locked when on the road or stopping at a rest area.

 

[bucks2]

I use an electric solenoid (latching relay similar to the 12v disconnect many have in RV's already) with a weather resistant switch in the grill to disconnect the battery. I do my entire hookup, including locking the doors with the remote. (on my vehicle the ignition key stays in the switch) The last thing I do is operate the switch to disconnect the battery. When I'm at my destination I flip the switch the other way to reconnect the battery and then my remote works again to unlock the doors.

This type of arrangement may work on your car too.

Ken

 

[John From Detroit]

Not sure what this has to do with my original question. Only one door the drivers door will lock or unlock with a key.  I want all doors locked when on the road or stopping at a rest area.

Is there not a manual lock button on the doors or are they electric only.

Lock the other doors from inside the vehicle, This should be possible with the key in any position,

Then disconnect the battery (Disabling any electric/electronic locks

And lock the door with the key.

Nice of ford to take away the key locks on other doors.  Saves them about a dollar and makes it so you can not enter the car from the curb side when you park on the street to go shopping, this increases your exposure to passing traffic and the odds of you getting smucked by a passing idiot who does not see you cause he's working his touch screen infotainment center on his ford.

 

[howdymi]

Is there not a manual lock button on the doors or are they electric only.

Lock the other doors from inside the vehicle, This should be possible with the key in any position,

Then disconnect the battery (Disabling any electric/electronic locks

And lock the door with the key.

Nice of ford to take away the key locks on other doors.  Saves them about a dollar and makes it so you can not enter the car from the curb side when you park on the street to go shopping, this increases your exposure to passing traffic and the odds of you getting smucked by a passing idiot who does not see you cause he's working his touch screen infotainment center on his ford.

There are no manual lock buttons on any doors, only the FOB or the dash button to lock doors.  Yesterday I tried the sequence of readying the car to tow 6 times.  Doors all locked as I figured they should.  After disconnecting the battery I was able to remove the key and lock the drivers door.  Great I thought I had the process down pat.  This morning after going to town and back I tried it again. When it came time to open the drivers door to get out all the doors unlocked, so right back to square one.  A half hour later I go back out to try again, tried 3 times and worked fine every time, it did not unlock all the doors when opening the drivers door.  It's just rather frustrating as it works one time and not the next. 

 

[howdymi]

Interesting post as I never lock my toad nor any of my bay doors while traveling on the highway. I keep fire extinguishers in bays on both sides of the coach and one in the toad.

I guess the reason I lock is because of a experience my father-in-law had several years ago.  They had left a campground where they stayed for the night while heading to Texas.  As the day went on they had make several stops here and there.  Finally he stopped at a traffic light and when pulling away a car came up beside him and motioned for him to put his window down.  When he did the lady told him at the traffic light someone had got out of the car and he drove off without them.  He stopped to look the car over and found all the stuff in the glove box pulled out, a suitcase they carried in the car had been opened and dumped out.  The lady that stopped him said she was right behind him at the traffic light and didn't see anyone get in the car, only get out.  So no telling how long someone had been riding in the car.  So he locked the car after that and I always have to.   

 

[ArdraF]

If your driver door has a push button lock, leave the rear door open until you're ready to leave then reach in from the rear and lock the driver door with the button.  When you close the rear door they should all be locked.

We always lock our doors when driving.  My dad and another friend both had people try to get into their cars when they stopped at traffic lights.  When I pull out of the garage or wherever, the doors are locked.

ArdraF

 

[howdymi]

If your driver door has a push button lock, leave the rear door open until you're ready to leave then reach in from the rear and lock the driver door with the button.  When you close the rear door they should all be locked.

We always lock our doors when driving.  My dad and another friend both had people try to get into their cars when they stopped at traffic lights.  When I pull out of the garage or wherever, the doors are locked.

ArdraF

There are no lock buttons on the doors.  The only way to lock the 2 passenger side doors and the rear drivers side door is with the FOB or the dash button.  The drivers door only can be locked or unlocked with the key.

 

[John From Detroit]

Then it goes back to lock with FOB or Dash button, Disconnect battery, Lock driver's door by hand.

And that is a real good design for a car, no manual override for the locks means = death trap in some conditions. 

My Recommendation has changed: Get a better designed car, one with lock buttons.