Walk Away Auto Lock Feature Rapidly Beeps (18070C)

WALK AWAY AUTO LOCK FEATURE RAPIDLY BEEPS

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN

AFFECTED VEHICLES

All Models with Keyless Access

The walk away auto lock feature offers the convenience of automatically locking all of the doors and the tailgate (if equipped) when you walk away from the vehicle carrying the keyless remote.

The factory default setting for this feature is OFF, so, for it to work, you must first set it to ON through the Display Audio by selecting Settings, Vehicle, Door and Window Setup, Walk Away Auto Lock  , and Yes.  When you exit the vehicle and all of the doors and the tailgate (if equipped) are closed, the feature will start polling (searching) for the keyless remote for 30 seconds. If the remote is detected, you'll hear a single beep.

Once the remote is detected outside the vehicle, the LED on the keyless remote will rapidly blink if the remote stays within the feature's operating range. That range is about a 5-foot radius  off the sides and rear of the vehicle.

This polling goes on until either the 30 seconds runs out, or within that time, you step outside the operating range. Once the polling stops or you walk out of range before it stops, some exterior lights will blink, you'll hear another beep, and all doors and the tailgate (if equipped) will lock.

If the keyless remote isn't detected while polling when you exit the vehicle and all of the doors and the tailgate (if equipped) are closed, you'll hear instead a series of rapid beeps to remind you of that, and the doors and tailgate (if equipped) will remain unlocked. Unfortunately, some customers may find those rapid beeps to be worrisome and/or annoying, leading them to think there's something wrong with the vehicle.

Truth is, there's nothing wrong; the feature is just doing what it's supposed to do. You can get those rapid beeps for a number of reasons. Here's the lowdown:

• The power tailgate (if equipped) fully closes well after you've stepped out of the feature's operating range with the remote.
• You quickly step away from the vehicle while slowly closing the last door, and you're now out of range with the remote by the time that door fully closes.
• You've stepped out of range with the remote by the time the last door closed (by a passenger, for example).
• You're in range when the last door or the tailgate (if equipped) closes, but because the keyless remote is next to your cell phone or other electronic device, the remote is masked and can't be detected.

Keep this in mind if you get a vehicle in for this issue. And be sure to pass this along to the service advisors so they can educate their customers.