Has your camping trip ever been marred by someone’s car alarm going off in the middle of the night? I’m ashamed to say, but it might have been us, sorry! More than once – in the middle of the night – someone has accidentally triggered the panic alarm on our Ford F-150. Once triggered it sends us into a frantic search for the keys, which is the only way to stop the Ford’s panic alarm. We go camping to get away from sounds like this, and so as soon as we got back to civilization we began searching the internet for a way to fix this problem.
We finally found a solution that didn’t involve super-gluing the key fob, and as a bonus, we were able to add some useful features for off-road travel – such as “bambi mode” which lets you use your fog lights at the same time as high beams in deer country. You can also use the method described below disable your Ford F-150’s seat belt chime and the engine auto-stop/start if you choose.
Using FORScan to Disable The Ford F-150 Panic Alarm
What is FORScan? FORScan is a third-party software that works with OBD2 scanner/programmers. It’s designed specifically for Ford vehicles and allows users to diagnose error codes, as well as to make a number of modifications to the normal factory settings by writing new code into the vehicle’s computer module. Using a programmer, you’ll have the option of disabling the panic alarm – or requiring two presses from the keyfob to activate it.
Will Using FORScan Void My Ford’s Warranty?
Legislation known as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act helps protect the rights of shade-tree mechanics. It states that manufacturers or dealers can’t deny a warranty claim because someone other than the manufacturer worked on the vehicle. That being said, you should always back up your Ford’s original profile, so that you can easily load it and restore everything to factory defaults, just in case you make a mistake.
Step 1 – Get A FORScan OBD2 Scanner
To make changes to your vehicle’s programming, you’ll need a FORScan scanner. These work by plugging into your vehicle’s OBD port, seen in the photo below. We chose a hardwired model, the OHP ELMconfig Adapter that plugs into our laptop’s USB port, instead of a Bluetooth model, which we’ve heard can have connectivity issues.
Step 2 – Download The Software
Follow the instructions that came with the OHP programmer and download the software to a laptop. To access the features that you’ll need to disable your Ford F-150 panic alarm, you’ll need to pay about $10 for a subscription. See the info that came with your OHP scanner/programmer to unlock all its features.
Step 3 – Find a FORScan Spreadsheet For Your Vehicle
To find a FORScan spreadsheet for your Ford vehicle, you can search online for “FORScan spreadsheet” plus your vehicle’s model and year. The one we used for our 2018 Ford F-150 can be found here as a Google document. (We make no claims as to the accuracy of this spreadsheet, as we did not create it.)
Step 4 – Follow A YouTube Tutorial
We’d love for our post to be a one-stop resource for disabling your Ford F-150 panic alarm, but now that you know the basics, the easiest way is to follow a YouTube FORScan tutorial. Below is the one we used and it’s very easy to follow.
Ford F-150 Panic Alarm Options With FORScan
There are 5 options available to change your Ford F-150 panic alarm settings using FORScan.
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- Panic alarm on fob disabled
- Panic alarm on fob requires 2 presses.
- Panic alarm on fob enabled.
- Panic alarm – lights and horn.
- Panic alarm – lights only.
That’s it, you’re all done. After removing the FORScan programmer, try setting off the panic alarm to see if you were successful. If you chose “0” as the value in the field shown on the spreadsheet, nothing should happen when you press the button on the key fob. If you chose “1” then setting off the panic alarm should require two presses.
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See What Else You Can Do: For more hacks you can perform on your Ford F-150, see How to Enable Bambi Mode on Ford F-150
An Alternative For Fixing Panic Alarm On Ford, Jeep Rubicon, etc.
A less invasive and cheaper way to stop the panic alarm from being accidentally triggered on Ford, Jeep and other vehicles, is to use a key fob cover. These make it harder to accidentally press the key fob panic button and trigger the alarm. They also give some extra protection to your expensive key fob. We wanted our panic alarm absolutely gone, that’s why we used FORScan instead.
Disclaimer: We’re not mechanics nor Ford vehicle experts. Before making any changes to your vehicle, be sure to back up its original profile, so you can return all settings to factory, if needed. When in doubt, have someone with expertise in using OBD2 scanners perform these changes for you.
Full Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. There’s no extra charge to our readers for using these.
