My four month old 03 has been perfect...well, nearly perfect. I had one problem. Early on, I took a trip to a mountain lake, 50 miles from home. When I saw a good campsite, I jumped out of the truck to claim the site. I left the truck running and slammed the door. Guess what.

When I tried to get back in, the doors had locked. Luckily I found a high enough place for my cell to work, called the wife, and she drove the 100 mile round trip to open the door for me with our spare key.

I can't imagine I accidentally hit the lock switch, so what happened may always be a mystery.

Now, I'm very hesitant about geting out of the truck and slamming the door shut, even for a few seconds.

Any ideas about why my truck locked me out? Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas about what I might do to avoid a repeat in the future? Yes, I know I need to hide a spare key.

Thanks for any replies.

 

Hasn't happened to me on my '03, BUT....

I had the same thing happen on a rented Dodge Intrepid. Came out of the hotel to find it covered with snow. Started it up and got out to clear the windows. Tried to get back in and I was locked out. I am about 99.9% certain I didn't hit the door lock.

 

Yeah, it happened to me once also... I was at the fuel station, waiting in line, and it was cold out so I decided to quickly hop out and get a cup of hot cocoa. Much to my dismay, when I returned to my truck, it was locked tight (and running). :'( I don't think I hit the lock button either, so it may be a mystery for me as well... Luckily, the station was only about 5 minutes from my house and my cell worked fine where I stood. At any rate, you are not alone!

 

Used to happen to me on my 2nd Gen all the time. Here is the solution. !. Carry a spare key in your wallet. Or @. Put on in those magnetic hide-a-key boxes or both.

I keep a key for both mine and my wifes car in my wallet. Just cut the platic part of and it is fairly flat.

Works for me.

 

thats a good idea about the wallet thing. I've done it a few times and had to call AAA to come out, which always took forever. Not sure about the cummins, but on my vw, if you opened/unlocked the doors with the remote and didn't do anything for maybe 10-15 seconds, the car locked again. Maybe there is some similar function on the dodge? Maybe you subconsciously locked the door.

 

The new trucks are supposed to be lockproof with the keys in the ignition, so if thats what happened then get your dealer to fix your lock setup..i had the problem alot with my last truck..second gen..you could lock that thing anywhere anytime and the lock button was right beside the window button..i got burned by passengers bumping it as well..after the first time i hung a key under the truck and it saved me many times over the remaining years i had the old girl

 

My keychain has a quick detachable link on it that only has the ignition key to the truck and the mustang on it. The other part, has the remote lock keyfob, an EXTRA Dodge RAM key, and the Mustang door lock key on it - house key too.

I NEVER leave the truck or 'Stang (running or not) without the keyfob in my pocket. I keep an extra Dodge key because I don't trust the keyfob battery to work all the time.

 

If keys are in the ignition and driver's door is open the door electric lock is deactivated. Of course a shirt or jacket sleeve could brush the lock button which manually locks the door. Members of AAA can get a plastic credit card key free for each of their vehicles. I keep one in my wallet. It will unlock doors and turn on the ignition switch.

 

I don't know why the door locked you out unless you manually pushed the door lock button bu mistake. The body controller is set up to prevent the door locks from working if the key is in the ign.. only a guess

 

well...it is suppsoed to be deactivated while it is running but same thing...at a gas sation geting some stuff inside the store and it locked...it was 5.00 am and I asked the gas sation attended to use his phone and he said yes but ONLY if you tell me what she drives so when she comes he can hide (he knows my wife and she is NOT a morning person!!)...had the wife come out and let me in...a few growls later I was on my way!!!...since then it hasent happend (i leave a window cracked if I do leave it running AND i have a spare in my wallet
Cameron

 

kNOCK ON WOOD, Not me yet. But you can get a key made at any local key place for the truck. NO IT WILL NOT start the truck but it WILL OPEN the door. Put the spare in you wallet with the rest of the junk and if needed you have it.

vernl - "The new trucks are supposed to be lockproof with the keys in the ignition, so if thats what happened then get your dealer to fix your lock setup"

I like it that the doors lock with the truck running, I can disconnect the other keys and lock the doors while it warms up.

Just my $.02 8)

 

Have you ever seen the old movie classic, "2001 A Space Odyssey?" Remember how HAL the computer locked the astronaut out of the space ship and wouldn't let him back in? These new trucks are pretty advanced! You don't suppose...

 

Yup, had it happen to me too! Jumped outta the truck, closed the door (truck is still running) ran around to the passenger side to get my one year old out of the back seat and the rear door was locked, figured I forgot to unlock the doors so go back to the drivers door and :'(. Luckily was able to get the wife to bring out the spare set while I shivered in the cold for 20 minutes trying to keep the young'un happy bobbing up and down out of her sight.

That was NOT a fun day!

 

Hmmmm....something to think about because I leave my truck running just about every morning with me not in it....and other times too.

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me, I know it's not supposed to occur, but it DOES. During a casual discussion with the service mgr. at the dealer, he said that this actually happens quite a bit, and no-one really knows why. He surmised that certain frequency's may trip the remote in very few and special circumstances? I now detach the remote, AND have a key tie wrapped at a strategic location on the truck.