Today my wife started the Durango from in the house, went out and loaded up the baby stuff (FOB was in the baby diaper bag), came back in for the baby and during that time the doors locked with the keys in the car while it was running. I didn't think the doors would lock with the FOB and prevent the unlocking via door handles with the FOB in proximity of the car (yet alone IN the car). She tried the handles, locking the exterior lock feature, the rear hatch etc etc. Eventually the car shut off after 10 mins but still won't register that the FOB is in the car and let her unlock it externally.

Had to drive all the way across town to get the spare keys. Thankful the baby was not in there or I would have been livid.

Any ideas of what went wrong?

 

Once she put the keys in the car, how did it lock? Did it do that by itself?

 

Yeah, once she put her stuff in the car, she locked it so nobody would jump in it and drive off.

 

Apparently it recognized that the keys were in the car, just as if she had them in hand and had gotten in the car to leave. She locked the door and it assumed she was inside.

 

Deedubb,

There is a lock button on the handle that works with the passive entry system. If the FOB is in proximity and the lock button on the door handle is touched, all doors will lock including the rear hatch. If the vehicle is running and all the doors are locked it is not designed to let someone in from the outside when the FOB is in the passenger compartment. How it got locked in the first place is the real issue. Were all the doors unlocked or just the drivers door? If it was just the driver door the manual lock could have been depressed accidentally. If all doors were open then see second part from owners manual below which is the only way I could find of locking the FOB inside.From everything I could find on the subject, in order for the passive entry system to work correctly the FOB must be kept on you.

From owners manual:

To Lock The Vehicle’s Doors
The front door handles have LOCK buttons located on
the outside of the handles.
With one of the vehicle’s Passive Entry RKE transmitters
within 5 ft (1.5 m) of the driver or passenger front door
handle, press the door handle LOCK button to lock all
four doors and liftgate.

Preventing Inadvertent Locking Of Passive Entry RKE
Transmitter In Vehicle

To minimize the possibility of unintentionally locking a
Passive Entry RKE transmitter inside your vehicle, the
Passive Entry system is equipped with an automatic door
unlock feature which will function if there is no Key Fob
present in the ignition.
If one of the vehicle doors is open and the door panel
switch is used to lock the vehicle, once all open doors
have been closed the vehicle checks the inside and
outside of the vehicle for any valid Passive Entry RKE
transmitters. If one of the vehicle’s Passive Entry RKE
transmitters is detected inside the vehicle, and no other
valid Passive Entry RKE transmitters are detected outside
the vehicle, the Passive Entry System automatically
unlocks all vehicle doors and chirps the horn three times
(on the third attempt ALL doors will lock and the Passive
Entry RKE transmitter can be locked in the vehicle).

 

Deedubb,

Sorry, I didn't read your post that she locked the door before I posted. If the vehicle is running with doors locked and FOB in car the passive entry system will not work. This prevents someone from just walking up to your car with you in it and just pulling the handle to get in.

 

Thanks Chris

This certainly makes sense, was just curious as to what happened so we don't do it again. My first thinking was the owners manual, but of course it was in the glove box, locked in the car

Appreciate the response

 

Deedubb,

If anything else happens like that and you (or anyone else) need remote access to owners manual you can go here and view it anytime.

http://www.dodge.com/en/owners/manuals/

 

I must have missed something here. Are you saying she put the key in the car and then maually pushed the lock button down before closing the door? Because the button on the exterior door handle is inoperative if the key is in the car. If the car was started (with remote start), all the same rules should apply. If they don't, that's a misapplication on Dodge's part. Now if you start the car normally and then leave the key in the car, all bets are off, because that's no different than in the old days when you could still lock yourself out.

 

Yeah, thats what was said. The thinking was that if the FOB was in the car, it would unlock like as if it were outside but right next to the car. I have since learned that the FOB is inoperative when in the car as per the post from DodgeCares.