Wathen1955

Drove the vette today to work. PKE worked as usual, opening the doors and I drove to work. Get to work and walk away from the car and it locks the doors and blows the horn.
Leaving work - no issues. Unlocks doors I get in and drive home.

Park it in the driveway, open the door, and closed the door. I walk away and I noticed that the horn never peeped. I go back out 10 minutes later and its still not working.

I checked the battery with a battery tester and it indicated the battery had only 10% left. So I replaced it. Still does not work. I know the battery is seated correctly and making contact. So I figure I'll reprogram it and I can't get it to reprogram. Mine is a 96 using this procedure in the manual:After reading some posts on the PKE, is it necessary (i.e. using the keys to open the doors)?
Will the car security system enable to prevent theft?

Wathen1955

This evening, I had to pick up my daughter, and I noticed that now the PKE warning light is always lit even when the car is turned off. I was able to turn the light off by inserting the key again and pulling it out. Weird...
I tried to program it again, but as soon as I turn the ignition to ON, the light is already on and will never enter programming mode.
What fuse do I need to pull to keep this light off? I'm not planning on having it fixed if its the relay located in the dash.

markKlein

You shouldn't have to reprogram. Need details about what does and doesn't happen when you try before I could even have an opinion. My only guess now is that the battery is bad (being just a little weak is enough to jinx things), or maybe the battery resally isn't seated right or the fob isn't quite reassembled right. I know you said you were "sure", but....

(locking the doors shouldn't have anything to do with it, but check to make sure one of the "door open" switches isn't stuck)

Wathen1955

When I turn the key to the on position without starting the car, the warning light is lit (passive keyless entry), and I'm not able to get it into program mode if it lit when turned to the on position. The remote is 20+ feet away from the car. I tried it today when I got home from work and the remote still does not work even with the new battery.
When the key is in the ignition, I do get a chime because the driver side door is open.

Wathen1955

Last night, I disconnected the battery and reconnected it this morning. Tried to reprogram again and it will not enter in program mode.
So I get out my FSM and the instructions there are a little different than the manual. It said to press the Trip ODO key once - release - then press and hold for 5 seconds. It also said to hold the Fuel Info button for 10 seconds until it illuminates.
Tried and it still won't go into program mode. Sometimes when I turn the key off, pull it out and reinsert it, turn it to on, the light is already on and won't turn off. I then repeat this cycle with sometimes the light staying off when turned on but not going into program mode.
At this point, I'm probably going to pull fuse #26 so the stupid light does not come on at all and drain the battery.

cal55

I'm having a similar issue. I had my battery disconnected over the winter and noticed after reconnecting it the PKE wasn't working properly. Mine locks but I have to use the key now to open the door, it worked fine before.
Joe

markKlein

What do you mean it locks? You mean when you walk away from the car the doors lock automatically? Have you thought about a new fob battery? (PS don't disconnect the battey, hook up a trickle charger).

cal55

Yes, it locks when you walk away but doesn't open, I have to use the key. I replaced the fob battery today and it made no difference. I do have a trickle charger, but I have a battery disconnect switch installed, which I used over the winter.
Joe

dirtcheap74

I found out that you cannot enter program mode, even if the fob battery is dead, not entirely sure why as the FSM does not explain it clearly, but I think it has to do with detection of a new signal or possibly 3 fob's have already been "paired" to the car in the past. In my case I have 2 old fobs that are toast and a brand new fob that owner bought from chevy like 4 or 5 years ago but never got around to using. I had to put a little spacer in my fob to keep the batter in place and PKE started working again like a champ. Does not matter if you unplug the main car battery, PKE stores a link to a fob in eprom if I remember correctly from reading the 1996 FSM.

Either your battery is janky (my old battery basically read "good" on a voltmeter but would not work with fob/pke), new energizer battery from target and a little spacer has worked for me for a few months now. Never could get the car into program mode.

As for security, if you lock the doors with the electric lock switch, that will enable security as per FSM, when you unlock the door with your key it disables security to the CCM. If you lock the doors manually, you get no security system enabled from CCM.

Wathen1955

I was over at Pete's today (PLRX on the forum) and I'm getting a code 12 which means the transmitter is shot (oh joy).
I'm just going to continue to use my keys instead. The light remains lit, but if I put the key back in (without turning it on) and pull it out, the warning indication on the DIC goes out. As long as the light is off, I don't have to worry about the battery drain.
All the other functions on the car work fine.

dirtcheap74

man that sucks

1800Wing

I just bought a couple of new fobs....shoot me a PM and i'll send you the links if you want.

later, tiny

Wathen1955

Thanks for that but the problem is not the FOB is the PKE receiver.

1800Wing

Oh..okay, when you said the transmitter I thought "fob".....strange it puked just from a battery change though. I sure wouldn't think that would kill it, to be sure the battery has been changed before.

later, tiny

cal55

Does not matter if you unplug the main car battery, PKE stores a link to a fob in eprom if I remember correctly from reading the 1996 FSM.

Either your battery is janky (my old battery basically read "good" on a voltmeter but would not work with fob/pke), new energizer battery from target and a little spacer has worked for me for a few months now. Never could get the car into program mode.

Thanks for the information, I'll have to play around with it some more. It worked fine last fall.
Joe

Wathen1955

you would think that disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes and re-connecting it would allow you to enter the program mode, but after several attempts, it never enters into program mode.

Since the receiver can cost between $200-$300, not including the labor, I'm just going to use my keys unless I can find someone that can do the job for under $500 installed.

My biggest concern was the light on the DIC remaining on after I turned the car off. I discovered that if I re-insert the key and pull it out, the light goes out. How strange is that?

cal55

(Since the receiver can cost between $200-$300, not including the labor, I'm just going to use my keys unless I can find someone that can do the job for under $500 installed.)

Maybe you can pick up a used receiver on ebay or from vette2vette? If mine is shot I'll probably leave it alone too.

Joe

markKlein

I'm not sure what you are saying here, but if your receiver is working correctly, you can go into programming mode regardless of how many fobs are present, how many have been programmed in the past, etc. The fobs have nothing to do with it, it's all about the receiver working correctly or not.

cal55

I think I figured out my PKE issue. I believe it's the passenger door light switch. I noticed when I opened the door the interior light didn't come on. I ordered a new switch and will see it that's the problem. I believe that switch is tied into the PKE system. I'll post my findings after the new switch is installed.
Joe

Wathen1955

After I read a boat load of threads on PKE, that was one of the potential issues was the door switch or the chime not operating. I'm planning on disconnecting the battery one more time and try re-programming mine, but I'm going to take a closer look at the door switches.

Let us know how it turns out.