A few weeks ago I wondered if I could add a keypad to a truck that was already factory wired for keyless entry, minus the pad. I searched far and wide to find a definitive answer to the question I had and could not find it anywhere. I found answers telling me that after specific year models (2008 and up) you could not do what I wanted to do, but nothing to say that for my year it would, or would not work.

So... I wanted to add a keyless entry pad to my '01, like the one that came from the factory on my '03 Lariat 2wd, I know you can add those aftermarket stick-to-the-door type, but they're cheap and look tacky so I didn't want to go that route. The problem started when I called Ford to get costs on parts. The door handle w/ the cut out for the pad alone was $176, and another $149 for the pad/harness. Not wanting to spend that kind of money for something that may, or may not, work. I went to a local junk yard and found a 2003 Expy with a keyless entry pad that was in good condition and ended up paying $15 for it.

The harness for the Expy is different than the harness for the F150's so I had to change the wiring to make it work. In order to do so was simple enough, just cut the plug-in off the door handle and lengthened the wires long enough to make it work for where it needs to plug in on the F150's.

After 2 beers and an hour of fighting my very curious 3 year old son away from "daddy's new toy" ( roll of 18 ga. wire ) I had the new harness built and was eager to try it out.

I am happy to report I plugged my new harness into the factory location, with the driver window down and the truck locked I punched in the 5 digit code on the keyless entry module under the dash, hit the "1-2" button, and entered my new 5 digit code, the locks cycled and all works as it should.

I was surprised that no where on the internet could I find an answer to this very simple question... So here you go... If you do not have a keyless entry keypad on your truck from the factory, but do have it pre-wired for key fob/pad, you can add it to the truck at a relatively inexpensive cost.

 

Unfortunately I did not think to take pictures along the way to better explain it on here later so... sorry. But it was relatively straight forward, for me even, and I am not a mechanic or wiring guy by any means. I am a trim carpenter, if that puts it into perspective...

 

Wow! Great info! Mine had it from factory. What I this 1-2. Button? Might not need it. Mine unlocks via 5 digit code on the box and also my chosen code (looked it up to figure out how to program it).

 

part of the sequence to change the lock code...

Enter the factory code, hit the "1-2" button, enter a new code and the locks cycle, good to go with your new code... also hitting "3-4" right after you unlock the truck opens the rest of the doors on the truck.

 

but you could add aftermarket....and with the keyfob you dont need a keypad at all.

 

Unless you hate walking around with a wad of keys in your pocket. I work in the woods and if I lose my keys out there I wouldn't be in a good mood for quite some time.

 

As I said, I know you can add aftermarket, but it looks horrible. I wanted an OEM look. My truck came with a fob... but it doesn't allow me to lock and unlock the truck from the outsidd with the vehicle running. The pad does. Florida gets hot, it's nice to have AC to jump back into if you're running into a store for a quick minute or two.

 

This has been discussed on here before. About 2 years ago, this was a topic that showed the box, under the drivers dash, the 5 digit code written on it, etc. As long as the truck has power factory door locks, switching the left side door handle and using the code will make it work. It is a relative easy add on.

I have a outside Ex[u handle ready to go on lil Red as soon as the weather allows this kind of outside work. I need to fix the lock mechanism anyways, as the rods are not on correctly, because it is too tight to turn with a key in the cold.

 

I dont depend on keyless entry alone. Ive never found my battery dead...but I know that as soon as I trust it, itll happen.

 

I surely wish I could have found a thread on it! In the end I was very pleased with how it worked out. Factory fit, finish, and function! Awesome.