Keyless Entry problems on my 2004 T-Bird

[Bob1650]

I bought my "04 T-Bird a few weeks ago and haven't driven it much yet. It's got less than 30K miles on it. Everything worked fine when I bought it, but recently the keyless entry stopped working. The car won't unlock nor will the trunk open via the key fob. The battery in the remote tests fine, but I still replaced it with a new one. Still nothing. If I open the car door with the key it sets off the alarm and the car won't start. A few days later I got the 2nd key and remote. It worked OK for a few days, now it won't work either. New battery in it didn't help either. Anyone have similar problems or ideas what's wrong?

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[TBIRRRD]

I bought my "04 T-Bird a few weeks ago and haven't driven it much yet. It's got less than 30K miles on it. Everything worked fine when I bought it, but recently the keyless entry stopped working. The car won't unlock nor will the trunk open via the key fob. The battery in the remote tests fine, but I still replaced it with a new one. Still nothing. If I open the car door with the key it sets off the alarm and the car won't start. A few days later I got the 2nd key and remote. It worked OK for a few days, now it won't work either. New battery in it didn't help either. Anyone have similar problems or ideas what's wrong?

The keyless entry on the drivers door is an add on. When the battery goes dead the whole unit must be replaced. The rest of the problems I have not experienced.

 

[Gus Gutz]

Could be an issue with the RKE module. remote keyless entry module. It could be going bad.

 

[stevedaphotoman]

When I bought my 2002 from the dealer last year, I had an issue. I got one fob with the car and two keys.. They then gave me a second fob but without the trunk button.. (They must of had that one laying around in some bin) The dealer programmed both and they worked except for the one without the trunk button sucked..

I went out and bought a new fob from Auto Zone.. I proceeded to program both fobs, the old one with the trunk button and the new one from Auto Zone so they matched and worked.. Then the new one from Auto Zone kept acting up.. I programmed both fobs about 2x or 3x times.. If I remember correct it would not open the door and accasionlly set off the alarm.. Finally I took the new one back to Auto Zone and they swapped it out with another new one.. I came home and reprogrammed both again.. Bingo, both are working with no problems for over 18 months.. The new one from Auto Zone was defective out of the package..

Welcome to the wonderful world of 11 Gen T-birds.. I'm getting the feeling in my 18 months that this is a long affair that may keep you coming back to this forum for advice..