Things You DIscovered About Your Raptor

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Don S

Don S

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Okay, I've read through the Owners Manual and have gone back and researched certain things for clarity. Watching a Raptor review on You Tube last night, I came across an interior overview....nothing new, until he tried to open the center console. It was locked. Okay....that's something I thought would be a nice feature, but didn't read or hear about anyone locking the console. I ran out at midnight and checked mine, sure enough the key in the FOB locks the center console. I'm sure many new this, but was a nice surprise for me.
 

WRCRaptor

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I got my truck back in late October and now that it’s warm in MI I also learned that the fan speed lowers from high when you make a call on Bluetooth!
 

kpecks

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I finally figured out I can release the tailgate with the truck locked while the key is in my pocket. couldn't figure out why the tailgate wouldn't lock even after I locked the truck... until I left the key inside the house and went back out to get something from the bed and it wouldn't open.
 

Oldfart

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If your truck has been sitting for a while (for me I do it if >1 full day), you can hold the gas pedal to the floor (also pressing brake) and the truck will crank but not fire. It will automatically stop cranking about 8 seconds later-though I have the push button start, not sure if you have a conventional set up if it behaves the same. Rest the starter for a few moments, and do the same procedure. Once you see the oil gauge come up for a second or two, release the gas. Engine will fire and no phaser rattle. MIGHT also prevent it in the future, not sure about that though. But...I've had no rattle issues on mine w/that technique. And I'm not worried about wearing out the starter, remember it's supposedly robust enough to handle the auto stop/start duty (though I've disabled mine w/Forscan) so I figure it's pretty beefy. If not, not too hard to change.

Also, if you'd like all 5 gauges showing (oil pressure, water temp, fuel, trans temp and boost, set it to the 'gauge view' screen, but do NOT push OK. Whichever gauge is not in your top row (i.e. the one you'd select w/'OK') will be displayed in the center and be functional. Personally, I keep the trans temp in the top row and the boost in the center:

View attachment 143313

Mine's a '17, not sure if this will work on the 18's and 19's with their added gauge displays.

Finally, the mileage in the 'tripA' and 'tripB' meters resets to 0 at after 9999.9 miles. The clock (elapsed time) will keep recording, but it 'may' reset at 999:59, I"m not sure. I don't have that many hours on mine yet.

Doesn't doing that wash down your cylinders with fuel?
 

zemuron99

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Doesn't doing that wash down your cylinders with fuel?

I think if you hold the accelerator down it cuts off fuel and ignition. But, tbh, I'm not 100% sure on that. It starts normally once I release, no pop or anything that might show there's unburnt fuel accumulated in the exhaust or turbos before the cats. The owners manual doesn't address this specifically.
 

RaptorRnr

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Here's a handful more additional features that are nice to know.

Driver (edit, mis-stated driver side) side rear seat fold down - the rear seat on the driver side does fold down. That gives you access to the subwoofer and amp, if equipped. It's difficult to release. You must first fold up the seat cushion, then pull up on the lever behind the seat back. It's difficult to find but impossible with average sized hands if you don't put the seat up first. After fishing for it for years on my previous F-150s I finally bought (edit to include the original) "Builtright Industries - Rear Seat Release Kit". Currently, it's $29. that offers a strap, similar to the built-in jack access release on the passenger side. It can be handy if you need to hide something, like the keys, behind the back seat.

Disable traction control and RSC - if you want to test your F-150 (and many other Ford models) for their "raw" performance without some of the safety features, you can disable both the traction control and Roll Stability Control (RSC). Simply disable traction control by pressing the button on the dash. Then immediately press and HOLD the traction control button, which will disable RSC. You will see both disabled settings show up as a gauge message when disabled. Then you can experience the raw capabilities of your vehicle without some of the dynamics that also happen to keep it safe.

Windshield wiper courtesy wipe - I really prefer the courtesy wipe feature. This setting is set using the Settings on the dashboard. When you clean your windshield using the button at the end of the turn stalk, it will clean your windshield and run the wipers. The courtesy wipe will spray the windshield, then run the wipers 3x (I think that's the number of times) then a few seconds later a fourth wipe will run. This makes it so that when fluid is still running up your windshield it will run one last time. Imho, it is timed perfectly for the typical windshield cleaning to avoid streaks of water running up the windscreen moments after the initial 3 wipes.

Moonroof tip for full open - the moonroof will automatically open to a point where wind buffeting inside the truck is minimized. However, if you're running at a decent pace and want a little more breeze in the vehicle, open the moonroof to the standard opening. Then press the open button again. The moonroof will open slightly farther allowing additional airflow in to the vehicle. You may need to open the rear window or a rear side window to avoid the wind buffeting inside the truck, depending on your current speed.

Preserve the moonroof cable by reducing pressure - If you haven't opened the moonroof in a while, to avoid stress on the moonroof motor, start by opening the moonroof via tilt, while simultaneously pressing up with your fingers. This will release the pressure around the seal caused from a lack of opening the roof or weather causing a tighter seal. If you simply open the moonroof it may require additional pressure to release gunk formed around the seal, causing the cable to snap. It's a very expensive issue to resolve, especially in wide climate range regions. By opening the tilt first (after the winter or successive hot days), you remove the built-up seal pressure, reducing it for the moonroof motor. First run this tilt method, then open the moonroof normally.

360 camera views - If you have the 360 camera and your parking your "beast" in a parking spot, you may want to use the camera to center it in the spot. Pressing the camera button again offers 3 different views, plus turning it off (on a fourth press). Different views may be what your preferred camera view is.

Bed light for loading/unloading items in the dark - Don't forget about the bedight button on the back left of the bed. It can turn on the bed lights when loading items late at night, without having to turn them on inside the truck. This turns on the right and left lights, plus the lights above the rear window for viewing items in the bed of the truck. This may require the 801 or 802 packages. I'm not sure. Pressing the button again will turn the lights off. They also turn off automatically after 120 seconds (I think).

Locking the vehicle without a key - if you wish to lock your vehicle without a key, simultaneously press the 7-8 and 9-0 keys on the door keypad simultaneously. This will lock the doors on your vehicle. I have done this on other Ford vehicles where I leave my key in the car when I'm at the beach or flying and don't want to run the risk of losing the key. Simply lock the key in the car (perhaps behind the rear driver seat) and press these two buttons locking the key in the truck. Note that if you leave the key on the door, it will detect it and not allow you to lock the doors. The center console, however, doesn't have that proximity restriction.

Keypad tricks - If you have the doors set to unlock only the driver door (setting within the dashboard settings) then the keypad will also only unlock the driver door after pressing the key combination. If you want to unlock all the doors, after typing the correct key combo, press the 3-4 button and it will unlock all the doors. Similarly, if your Raptor is equipped with the ability to open the tailgate, press the 5-6 button, after typing the code, and the tailgate will open automatically.

Bonus tip, some higher end Ford vehicles allow you to roll down the windows by holding down the unlock button on the key fob. On a hot day this can allow the truck to cool down more quickly as you approach it. Similarly, if you forget to roll the windows up when you get out of the vehicle, you can hold down the lock button on the key fob to roll them up. Why the Raptor doesn't include this without mods is crazy. I haven't modded mine yet but will eventually use FORScan, which can enable these features (from what I have read but not yet confirmed). On some Ford vehicles with this feature, pressing the lock buttons and holding on the door keypad, 7-8 and 9-0, will also allow you to close the windows.
 
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RaptorRnr

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I have also used the ability to reduce the maximum transmission gears while towing. Recently, while driving down a steep grade with a trailer, I could hear the trailer brakes heating and locking up. I switched to a lower gear to slow down the truck and the trailer while continuing down hill, as opposed to completely overheating the trailer brakes.

Similarly, when driving down a steep grade in the snow, stepping on the brakes can lock up the wheels and result in simply sliding across the snow/ice. Relying on the 4 wheel drive system to slow the vehicle down, in a low gear can be really useful and maintain better traction. Basically, your brake system doesn't realize the vehicle is still in motion because all four wheels have stopped rotating. ABS isn't helpful in this situation but 4 wheel drive and engine speed can be. It has saved me from a ditch more than once.
 

GizmoVance

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Here's a handful more additional features that are nice to know.

Passenger side rear seat fold down - the rear seat on the passenger side does fold down.

Correction: You’re referring the DRIVER’s side.


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