I had a Ram pickup that I could separate the key from the fob. If I held the fob close enough to the key I could still start the truck.

Has anyone tried this with the 2018- F-150's? It's a little harder to separate the key from the Ford fob, but I expect I'll give in and try it sooner or later.

 

On a Ford with a switchblade, the key can be removed by pushing out a tiny roll pin. The prox keys have a blade that can slide out by depressing a pushbutton. You will not be able to start the vehicle with the blade alone. The transponder electronics are in the plastic main body part of the key assembly.

 

I believe it is a roll pin and not a set screw since I can see daylight through it. So my question was how far can the blade and electronics be separated? I kind of knew the electronics were in the case.

 

My bad, it's a roll pin. I was going from failing memory.

Not sure on how far you can tear it down.

 

Something else just came to mind...

I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but available in the aftermarket is a sealed transponder keyblank without pushbuttons. Not for prox systems, key start only.

 

All I want to do is determine how far apart the pushbutton electronics can be from the metal key and the key still works to start the truck. On my previous Ram truck, it was only about 1/2 inch.which is curious.

 

Not really correcting, but to be clear the device with the pushbuttons is a transmitter. The transponder is in the ignition somewhere. A transponder is a device that receives a signal in this case from the key fob and emits a signal to the computer that allows the vehicle to start. There is probably an antenna of sorts located very close to the key

A transponder then is a device that receives a signal and then emits a different signal.

 

Curious...why?

Edit: nvm. Probably related

https://www.f150forum.com/f2/push-button-start-449908/

 

Curious in that it would be very difficult to make a keyfob with that short a range. Especially if it's bluetooth or radio frequencies.

 

...why