I just had an aftermarket receiver and speakers put in to eliminate the Bose system. After they completed the install the remote keyless entry doesn't work anymore. The power locks work inside the car so that system is still intact. I would go back to the people who installed it, but they are an hour drive away and had to give it two tries to get even close to right so I just don't trust them anymore. They also sell alarm systems with keyless entry so I suspect this is an attempt at another sale.

Any ideas if the problem could be related to the way they wired the power antenna or something else in the install?

 

The Passive Keyless Entry (PKE- key fob) system has it's own receiver. Trying to help you with the problem may be challenging due to all the electronics in the system that are involved.


To save a lot of typing and diagnostic time try this.

1) test the key fob battery for proper voltage or replace it with a fresh new battery. If you have a second key fob have you tried to see if that works? It could also have a weak or dead battery. Have you done this before posting here?

2) The PKE can be used in passive mode or non passive mode. How do you normally have it set up? Do the doors lock automatically and the horn chirp when you walk away from the car with the key fob in hand? Do the doors automatically unlock when you walk up to the car with key fob? These setting can be changed. Even whether just the drivers door unlocks or both driver/passenger doors unlock together at the same time. I'm not sure how much you know about this but this will give you direction. Read the owners manual for more info.

3)check PKE receiver is getting power, is the fuse plugged in and not blown? That's important!


I am looking at the 1993 model factory service manual and there are a lot of electronics involved with the PKE system. The system apparently can be diagnosed through the DLC connector on my 1993 model which has OBD1 technology, terminal H would need to be grounded to do the test. Your car ('96) with a OBD2 software will most likely have a different testing procedure.

Try the simple stuff first, cheap and easy. If it works great, if not onto plan B. Post your results - Ozz

 

I don't know if it is PASS. The key fob is definitely not original. I bought the car from a dealer two weeks ago so I don't know much about its history. I've tried replacing the battery in the remote and it is definitely sending a signal as it has an LED that flashes when the buttons are pushed. I didn't check every fuse, but I did check the one that said it was for the power door locks and the one that I understand to be for the power antenna and they are both OK.

I started with suspecting the power antenna since every other power connection had been hooked up for the receiver last week and it was still working. In addition the wiring harness connected to the Bose amp was disconnected and connected to a wiring harness adapter kit for the aftermarket stereo, but some of the connectors to the amplifier are simply disconnected now. It doesn't make sense to me that it would matter unless it was using the radio antenna for the receiver.

 

Are you sure you have a PKE fob. Mine doesn't have an LED light. Look up a PKE fob picture you might have an aftermarket alarm and your friends at the stereo store might have undone that. The PKE receiver antennae is in the drivers door and by the back hatch.

 

It's definitely not a PKE fob so who knows what they did. I know that they were messing around under the driver kick panel. Maybe they disconnected something while putting in the front speakers. Now I have to figure out how to take that off tomorrow and see if there is just a loose wire. I've been thinking about putting in a new keyless entry system since I have to mess with this and the current system has required me to be very close to the car anyway. This is under the driver side kick panel if I understand correctly. Now to figure out the wiring for it. I won't hook up the alarm, but at least then I'll know what system is in there and it won't require such a strange battery for the remote.

 

2) The PKE can be used in passive mode or non passive mode.


No, it can't (not the factory one). It can be used passive, or turned off.

 

Toricred, you do not have a factory fob, so you do not have a factory keyless entry system. I assume it was working before you had the new radio installed, no telling what the installers did, I would take it back. Good luck.

(What is "PASS"?)

 

First things first, you need to get under the dash and check with a meter that the PKE Receiver is getting power. On my '93 the battery input terminal is F and the feed wire is orange going to the door lock switch, it has a 20amp fuse. The PKE fuse is 5amp and is red, goes to ignition input A5 terminal.

When sitting in the car,doors closed, key in the ignition, look at the information center screen above the radio. Turn the ignition key to RUN but don't start the engine. Look at the bottom left corner of the screen in yellow/orange it should light up PASSIVE KEYLESS ENTRY for two seconds. Do you see this on your car?

 

Since he's already mentioned he does NOT have the factory FOB (per his description with the LED light), there is no way whatever FOB he has is going to work with the factory PKE receiver.

I believe Mark is correct, and his whole keyless entry system is some type of aftermarket setup.
In that case, all bets are off as to how it is wired up or what might have happened during the audio install.

 

I'm going to spend some time today looking at the specific locations they had open that make sense to me could be the issue. First the accessory power under the center console since they had that open to get to the back of the receiver. I don't know if the power they used is that one, but at least it is pretty easy to check. Second under the driver kick panel since I'll need to open that up to install a different aftermarket system anyway.

How hard is it to open up that kick panel? I can grab the bottom of it and pull it up a little to look under, but certainly that's not the way to open it up.

UPDATE: The plot thickens. Today when I went out to work on it I used the remote out of habit and it worked. It's been working all day. The only difference I can tell is that it is about 20-25 degrees cooler today than yesterday so I'm beginning to think a loose connection. Another odd thing that happened is the PKE light started lighting up while I'm driving to the nearest town and was out on the way back. I think the PKE system is probably shot and I'm not that interested in repairing it if an aftermarket is less expensive.

 

You are using an aftermarket system now.

 

Yes, but one that doesn't consistently work. It died again this morning. The temperature is about the same as yesterday so that's not a clue. I think it has to be a loose connection based on some shift in the car, but I'm not certain where. Unfortunately I cracked a rib yesterday so I am not up to working on it for a few days. I'll get it. Thanks to all for the suggestions and helping me understand what PKE is.

 

There's a good write up here to test your factory PKE. Could be good to use both if you have an aftermarket door unlock for added security. But then again, the after market keyless entry might trigger the factory alarm,..

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/vemp-1109-c4-keyless-entry-alarm-repair-part-1/#__federated=1

 

Unless I'm missing something I can't do this test since I don't have a PKE key fob.

 

You can test the PKE system by turning off the car and locking the doors with the door lock switch them a minute or so later reach in the window manually unlocking the door and opening it from the inside. The horns should start beeping. If not it may be turned off. If so you can go through the process of seeing if it will search for a key fob. Keep in mind that if your door jamb switch is bad, then the alarm function will not work because it will think the door is still closed.

 

No,that would test the alarm system, not the PKE. They are entirely separate.

You could test the PKE system by going through the fob programming procedure and see if everything happens as it should until you need the fob. Might be informative.

 

This is getting really frustrating. Now the alarm is randomly going off.

By the way I was working on getting behind the kick panel on the driver side and some of the little plastic retaining posts for the speaker broke off. The plastic pieces are definitely brittle, but with a 19 year old car I guess that is to be expected.

I can't find that speaker cover listed on any web sites for sale. Where would be a good place to get such a piece?

 

Asked in post #8,"When sitting in the car,doors closed, key in the ignition, look at the information center screen above the radio. Turn the ignition key to RUN but don't start the engine. Look at the bottom left corner of the screen in yellow/orange text it should light up and read PASSIVE KEYLESS ENTRY for two seconds. Do you see this on your car?"

I don't believe you answered this yet

 

You're right I missed that question. Right now I can't do anything to get that light to come on, but earlier today the light was on even when I was driving. I think I found the splicing where the aftermarket alarm was put in. Up under the dash on the outbound side on the driver side. Right where the door sill comes in. Since they had the door sill open the connection up there might have been jarred loose.

UPDATE: There's also a yellow box up under the dash. Is that probably the aftermarket keyless entry system and alarm?

 

Check the door closed switches