I have a 2017 Escape titanium. I changed the starting battery and both my smart keys will no longer open the tailgate or chirp the horn when locking the doors. The remote start works fine as well as the door lock and panic alarm. The proximity access is fine.I have changed the remote batterys as well. I have searched the owners manual, sync system and the center info screen with no luck. The tailgate works fine with the dash button so its not a power issue. The dealer is of no help unless I pay $. Any Ideas? It is irritating that just because I changed the battery I will have to pay the dealer to restore these functions. I had a 14 Escape titanium before this one and changed the battery twice with no problem.

 

Does the lights come on when you unlock/lock the doors?
If I understand correctly the only button that does not work if the tailgate button.

 

yes, both remotes immediately after the battery change lost the tailgate function.I had the car at a locksmith and they confirmed that both remotes send a signal when the tailgate button is pushed but the vehicle does not respond. lights do flash when the lock function is used on the remote but chirp function gone. hatch works fine with dash button or rear button. Panic button works fine. Dealer just says they will look into it, but of course for a fee.

 

I would say the first very very unlike thing to do is have the keys reprogrammed to the vehicle, more likely I am thinking an internal module fault. Honestly there's not much diag you could do without the ford obd2 program we have at the dealer.

 

Locksmith Store is the best place to get your car key programmed cheap.

 

A little FYI,

Replacing a battery in a newer vehicle these days requires the system to be notified of the change. These changes are done to the vehicle's computer .Don't know if that affects other systems or not.
You can blame this all on technology.and changing a battery is more complicated than remove and install