How to Unlock the Anti-Theft System When a Focus Won't Start?
2 Answers
Repeat the process of turning on the vehicle's power three times, then turn it off. Disconnect the vehicle's battery for 15 seconds. Wait until the engine warning light appears on the dashboard, do not perform any operations, wait for a while before attempting to start the engine.
Last time my old Focus got immobilized by the anti-theft system and wouldn't start, which really freaked me out - I thought the car was completely dead. First I tried pressing the buttons on the remote key fob repeatedly, locking and unlocking several times to see if it would reset the signal. Then I checked if the key battery was dead - even after replacing it with a new coin cell, it still didn't work. So I simply disconnected the negative terminal of the car battery, left it disconnected for 10 minutes, then reconnected it and tried starting again - this time it worked. Turns out the system was in self-protection mode triggered by the aging battery. Prevention tips: Always keep a spare key in the glove box, and avoid placing keys near phones or magnetic cards that could interfere with the signal. It's recommended that owners regularly get their car's electronic systems checked, rather than panicking when problems arise.