Yeah, I printed out the page in the manual & have tried numerous times with no luck - this is for a 2021 King Ranch Powerboost.
Got 2 spare key fobs (at a good price & they take returns) & darn if I can get them to program.

Can't find a video - I see videos for other Ford vehicles (one specifies orientation of fobs when inserting to programming slot) but I've inserted the spare fob numerous ways with no luck.

I also went to Ford's page - "How To Program Your Intelligent Access Key" - it tells me "the following instructions will walk you thru the process", but there are no instructions that I can find!
https://owner.ford.com/support/how-t...ccess-key.html

Having said that, I'm not 100% sure that I have the correct key fob - 99% of the numbers on the back of the sticker that came with my OEM key fobs match up to the ones I bought, but there are a lot of numbers on the sticker on the back of the fob - don't know which one is the actual part #?
I'm assuming the part # is HC3T-15K601-BD - that's the most prominent # on my OEM fobs and the spares I bought.

Hell, I've punched in every # on the back of the OEM fob tags AND 1 number that is different on the back of the replacement at Ford's site & get "Part searched may be obsolete or invalid. Please contact your dealer" for every # on the tags.

If none of those numbers on the back of the fobs (removable tag) are correct, I have no idea how to get the correct part #.
Hell, I've spent way too much time trying to find the correct front plate bracket for my truck (did not come with one but dealer "supposed" to have it in a few days).

Don't know if I'm missing something or if the instructions might have left out something (I doubt it)?

 

Swung by the local dealer - they used my VIN # to look up the part # of the fob (R8166) & key (R8176).
Of course, on Ford's parts site both those numbers come up with nothing.

I"m thinking the dealers are using a 3rd party instead of Ford for the fobs & keys.

The dealer only wants $299.93 for the fob & $172.43 for the key (which I assume is already cut).

When I came in the door, the gal in the service dept. told me $125 if I wanted to program a new fob.

Which brings up another point - when I bought my 2011 Corvette about 18 months ago, I remember reading in the owner manual that BY LAW, owners had to be able to program spare fobs (but not in Canada) themselves - no dealer involvement required.

Don't know if that has changed since 2011 - will have to do more research on that.

 

I've given up trying to program the 2 spare key fobs I ordered - going to return them.

I ordered 2 more from North Coast Keyless today - gave her the part # the dealer gave me (R8166) & she told me the ones I ordered should work.

She had previously told me to call Ford & ask for the Rotunda part #, but Ford Parts was no help - it does look like remotes are handled thru a 3rd party.

North Coast Keyless told me the Rotunda part # is 164-R8166, but if the dealer gave me part # R8166, he probably meant 164-R8166.

We'll see - they also take returns if they don't work.

I'll update after I get them if anyone's interested in ordering a spare key fob / blank key for their 2021.

BTW - no instructions @ North Coast Keyless for programming a 2021, but I did download their instructions for a 2020.

Those instructions do have a few caveats not in my owner manual (don't know if they apply for 2021).

Their instructions say load the key in the slot with the key ring UP, & the buttons facing to the REAR.

I'm sure I had already tried that configuration (tried every possible combo I could think of), but still no luck.

 

I ordered a fob from amazon and followed the owners guide page 75ish. The 17-20 one works.

 

Can you put a link to the one you got on Amazon - I'd appreciate it.

The remotes I got off eBay have part # 64-R8168 - I see the ones I have on the way are 64-R8166.

 

This is the one I bought on Amazon and it programmed without an issue.

 

Thanks - it has part # 64-R8166, which is the part # for the 2 USPS just dropped off - will try to program them later today.

I guess in the future I'm just going to have to ignore all those numbers on the back of many parts as they seem to be darn useless.
Most of the time in the "old days", the part actually had a part # on it - guess they don't want to make it easy for you to find parts thru a 3rd party.

I have no idea what all those numbers on the stickers on the back of my OEM remotes are for?

I just went thru the same thing trying to find the part # for a front license plate bracket - the numbers on the back of the bracket come up tilt when plugging into Ford's parts site.

Maybe those numbers on the stickers are the part numbers for the stickers on the back of the remote?
No doubt brought to you by the Dept. of Redundancy Dept....

 

I am not in favor of just anyone programming the key fobs. It should be done only by the dealer only after the ownership is verified.

Although it is innocent enough for people wanting a spare key, it can be used by criminals to steal your truck.

I say this as I had a brand new Toyota 4 runner that was stolen right out of my driveway. The police said they cloned my fob which was inside my house.

Beware.

 

Humm.....maybe it is a good idea to have 4 active keys then. I'm not up to date on how to clone and steal these days -I wonder if a would-be thief would get the error message about there already being 4 programmed keys and the 5th (cloned) key will not work?

I have no idea what the difference is between the user doing it themselves vs. having a dealership staff member do it and preventing thievery.

 

Just tried programming the 2 (different part #) remotes I got - still no luck.

If anyone's doing something different than the owner manual says, please enlighten me!

The cliff notes from the owner manual:
1. With power off, insert remote 1 in slot under cup holder.
2. Hit start button - wait 5 seconds & hit start button again.
3. Insert remote 2 in slot.
4. Hit start button - wait 5 seconds & hit start button again.
5. Insert NEW unprogrammed remote in slot & hit start button.
6. Programming is now complete.
7. With foot on brake pedal, press start button to verify the remote control functions operate & your vehicle starts with the new remote control.

Did it twice with the new remotes - no luck.
The manual does not say, but I'm assuming you leave the remote in the slot when you hit the brake pedal in step #7
.
I saw a video for a 2021 Expedition - slightly different instructions BUT when he hit the start button in step 7, he got a notice in the driver display that "Key Program Successful" - I never get any notice on the dash & the remote acts like it's not there (nothing works).

My instructions say hit the brake pedal after step 7 where the Expedition apparently does not require that step, but everything else looks the same.

Suggestions? Am I missing something here?