Warming up your truck in the winter helps your engine run more smoothly and keeps you from freezing on your drive to work. Remote starts can be an excellent help with this on cold mornings and if live in a quiet neighborhood, your Ford F150’s quiet start might be just the option you need!
What is quiet start on a Ford F150? Ford F150’s quiet start option means the driver can start the truck remotely. Most F150s idle high, between 900 and 1000 RPM until put into drive. If quiet start is on, it will idle high for a little over a minute, then lower to around 500 RPM to reduce engine noise, hence the name quiet start.
The F150’s quiet start is incredibly helpful with louder trucks like the Ford F150 and is popular in busy neighborhoods. Not only will it produce the same result with less noise pollution, but your neighbors will also be thankful that you have this feature on.
About Ford’s F150 Quiet Start option
Nothing can be more frustrating than loud, unnecessary noises before you are ready to wake up for the day. It turns out, a loud truck warming up can easily be one of those undesired noises in the wee hours of the morning.
With this in mind, Ford designed the remote quiet start for the F150 pickup truck, similar to the new quiet mode on the 2018 Mustang GT. Nicknamed Good Neighbor Mode, your truck will idle high to initially warm it up quickly, then lower the engine RPMs so that it does not wake up your neighbors.
The high idling last for between one and two minutes. This feature is only available during a remote start.
How to turn on Remote Quiet Start on a Ford F150
With such a fantastic feature, the first thing you should know is how to turn it on! Remember that the only way quiet start can be used is with the truck’s remote start – the rest is just as easy!
To set up your Ford F150’s remote start quiet start, follow these steps:
- In the driver’s seat, toggle through your steering wheel buttons to find the F150 Settings.
- Next, select ‘Vehicle’, ‘Remote Start’, then ‘Quiet Start’.
- You can then select between off or on.
- After your selection, a pop up will appear confirming the choice.
To use your quiet start, do the following:
- Exit your truck and lock the doors with your key fob transmitter. (Your key fob should work up to 300 feet away, making it easy to start your F150 from inside your house.)
- Press the remote lock button twice to start the engine.
- The headlights should flash twice, and then the truck will start.
- If the remote start fails, the horn will blow.
However, if your F150’s quiet start is enabled, there is no horn or other warning that the truck didn’t start. The truck will remain on until the set time limit is reached, found under remote start settings in your onboard computer.
Troubleshooting your Quiet Start / Remote Start
Sometimes, technology can be complicated. There can be odd things out of place that keep your remote start or quiet start from working correctly.
If you have locked your vehicle and pressed the remote start button twice, it should turn on. However, here are a few things that could keep it from doing so:
- Remote Start was switched OFF in the onboard computer.
- The hood is popped open.
- The battery is dead.
- The truck is low on gas.
- The Service Engine or other safety light is on.
- The vehicle is not in Park.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that you should not leave a vehicle running in an enclosed space. Even with the low idling of Ford’s quiet start, the exhaust fumes can quickly build up in a garage to a deadly degree. So, when using a remote or quiet start, make sure your garage is open, or your F150 is parked outside.
How long will an F150 stay on after a Remote Quiet Start?
Typically, the Ford F150 will turn itself back off in five minutes if the driver has not entered the vehicle.
However, you can extend this time by repeating two steps:
- Lock the truck again.
- Press the remote start button again.
This will add another ten minutes to the time limit, totaling to fifteen minutes. You can extend the remote start time limit up to 35 minutes.
This allows the driver to keep warming the F150 up without letting it be a sitting duck for passers-by to become interested in or waste too much gas if you get distracted by something else.
Why you should warm up your engine with F150 Remote Start
Perhaps your Ford F150 remote start and its quiet start engine seems silly to you when your new truck is fully capable of driving away mere moments after the key has turned in the ignition. But, there are a few advantages to giving it a few minutes to warm up before driving.
First, engines are made of both metal and rubber parts. Many of these parts move and are aided in this by oil. When warm and evenly disbursed throughout the engine, the oil allows the engine to do its job with ease.
Without this, the friction and pressure on the different engine parts can be excessive. This can not only shorten the life of your engine, but fuel economy and combustion will also be poor.
So, you want to give enough time for the oil, the metal, and the rubber to warm up if you want your engine running at peak performance. This can take anywhere from two to ten minutes, depending on the temperature outside.
Once the engine is warmed up, only then will your temperature inside the cab truly start to warm up, too.
On the Ford F150, you can preset your seat settings, temperature settings, and radio settings so that all are fully ready for you after you remote and quiet start your truck. This is a double win, allowing your truck’s engine to work at its best while letting you be warm and comfortable without waiting in the cold.
Why did Ford create Quiet Start option?
The previous Head of Vehicle Engineering at Ford Motor Company, Steve von Foerster, actually had the police called on him one morning.
If you are wondering what his crime was, it was simply starting his Shelby 350GT Mustang and driving away. The loud rumble of this engine put his neighbor over the edge.
He was long gone by the time the police showed up, but it had given him an idea. Vehicles with loud and proud engines, like your Ford F150, should have a way to be a little gentler on the ears in the morning.
His goal was to decrease the output to under 80 decibels. With this, hopefully, everyone can gain a few extra minutes of sleep without sacrificing a warmed-up engine in the morning.
Conclusion
Early morning rumblings are no longer needed with Ford’s latest innovations. By using the F150 remote start quiet start setting when you need to start your truck, you will be able to sneak out of the driveway without startling your neighbor’s baby or their dog before they are ready to wake up.
Whether your engine is the base level 3.3L V6 or the beastly 3.5L High Output EcoBoost V6, they are both able to pull copious amounts of weight at high speeds; there’s nothing like them. But, this beauty is often best appreciated after everyone has had their morning cup of coffee. So, use that quiet start option to keep the peace around the neighborhood.
Handy Hint: You might also be interested in another Ford innovation that isn’t as widely known as it probably should be; the courtesy wipe. You can find out what it is, how it works, and how to disable it if needed.