PKE FIXED! (really long)
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Howard PA
PKE FIXED! (really long)
After many trial and tribulations with programming over and over and getting nowhere I decided to buckle down with the book.
Mine never flashed the sequence to look for the first fob. So reading the book it said to ground pin 8 of the DLC and look for the codes with the key in but not on. I didn’t get any codes, nothing happened. Then I thought about it a while and realized I never heard a “key in ignition warning” chime! Looking at pin A4 on the PKE module with a voltmeter revealed no change in voltage when I stuck the key in the whole way. I needed to disassemble the wheel and get to the ignition switch.
Disassembling the wheel isn’t a very easy task; I had to build my own tool to get that round clip out from the wheel lock mechanism. If you ever decide to remove your wheel be care full not to spin the airbag mechanism around. There’s a procedure in the book if you need to recalibrate or reposition it. Basically take it off and don’t **** with it!
On to the key switch, we’re talking about the switch that runs the chime along with some VATS operation and PKE not the chip reader. You have to remove a lot of stuff to get to it. It’s white in color and has two arms extending from it that contact the turn signal mechanism. I brought out the voltmeter again and looked for continuity across those two arms when I stuck the key in. It was making some contact but really high like 2MEG!
I pulled that switch out to look at it closer. (Remove the key or that switch won’t come out easy and you could break the whole thing, it just pulls right out) The contacts inside this switch were dirty. Taking this thing apart is a delicate operation; you have to pull the inner arm out first and then the outer arm. There are clips that hold both these arms in place. I fashioned a paperclip into a device to push the catches out of the way then pull the arms out. I cleaned the contact areas of both these arms with 400 grit sandpaper. Reassembled the switch reinstalled it and checked continuity again with the key the whole way in. I then had 0 ohms across it and the terminal A4 on my PKE module was switching from 12 to 0 as I ran the key in and out. This is after re-installing the turn signal mechanism to make the proper connections.
I then grounded pin 8 of the DLC once more and got a code of 13, “transmitter not in range” this told me the PKE receiver was now functioning correctly. Then I ran through the programming sequence again for the fob. It still didn’t work, never recognized the fob. I knew the receiver was working and waiting for a fob now because the light was giving me one flash about every two seconds. It never did that before I fixed the key switch.
So I took the fob down to my workbench (did I mention I an electronics tech?) re-soldered every connection including the IC and every feed through. As I was working on soldering everything one of the ends of a chip capacitor fell right off. It was a filter from the IC right to the antenna. Since the end fell off I couldn’t even measure it to see what it was, damit! I took a wild guess from another old key fob I had laying around. Don’t ask me what value it is I just used something that looked close from the doaner key fob. It may not even be needed, might just be for noise reduction, who knows. Anyway I finished soldering everything and went back out to try it. Low and behold everything works now to perfection. After it programmed the light started flashing two times about every two seconds waiting for the second fob. I pulled the key and walked away from the vehicle with the fob and heard the pleasing click of the doors and honk of the horn.
This whole thing took me about a day and a half to accomplish but it’s well worth the effort if you ask me to have the factory set up working properly.
BTW, pulling your dash cap to get to the PKE receiver really isn’t that hard or complicated. It’s just kind of time consuming. I did also remove the PKE receiver and re-solder the connectors going to the printed circuit board. None of them really looked bad but sometimes you can’t tell by just looking. I did them anyway for good measure.
Mine never flashed the sequence to look for the first fob. So reading the book it said to ground pin 8 of the DLC and look for the codes with the key in but not on. I didn’t get any codes, nothing happened. Then I thought about it a while and realized I never heard a “key in ignition warning” chime! Looking at pin A4 on the PKE module with a voltmeter revealed no change in voltage when I stuck the key in the whole way. I needed to disassemble the wheel and get to the ignition switch.
Disassembling the wheel isn’t a very easy task; I had to build my own tool to get that round clip out from the wheel lock mechanism. If you ever decide to remove your wheel be care full not to spin the airbag mechanism around. There’s a procedure in the book if you need to recalibrate or reposition it. Basically take it off and don’t **** with it!
On to the key switch, we’re talking about the switch that runs the chime along with some VATS operation and PKE not the chip reader. You have to remove a lot of stuff to get to it. It’s white in color and has two arms extending from it that contact the turn signal mechanism. I brought out the voltmeter again and looked for continuity across those two arms when I stuck the key in. It was making some contact but really high like 2MEG!
I pulled that switch out to look at it closer. (Remove the key or that switch won’t come out easy and you could break the whole thing, it just pulls right out) The contacts inside this switch were dirty. Taking this thing apart is a delicate operation; you have to pull the inner arm out first and then the outer arm. There are clips that hold both these arms in place. I fashioned a paperclip into a device to push the catches out of the way then pull the arms out. I cleaned the contact areas of both these arms with 400 grit sandpaper. Reassembled the switch reinstalled it and checked continuity again with the key the whole way in. I then had 0 ohms across it and the terminal A4 on my PKE module was switching from 12 to 0 as I ran the key in and out. This is after re-installing the turn signal mechanism to make the proper connections.
I then grounded pin 8 of the DLC once more and got a code of 13, “transmitter not in range” this told me the PKE receiver was now functioning correctly. Then I ran through the programming sequence again for the fob. It still didn’t work, never recognized the fob. I knew the receiver was working and waiting for a fob now because the light was giving me one flash about every two seconds. It never did that before I fixed the key switch.
So I took the fob down to my workbench (did I mention I an electronics tech?) re-soldered every connection including the IC and every feed through. As I was working on soldering everything one of the ends of a chip capacitor fell right off. It was a filter from the IC right to the antenna. Since the end fell off I couldn’t even measure it to see what it was, damit! I took a wild guess from another old key fob I had laying around. Don’t ask me what value it is I just used something that looked close from the doaner key fob. It may not even be needed, might just be for noise reduction, who knows. Anyway I finished soldering everything and went back out to try it. Low and behold everything works now to perfection. After it programmed the light started flashing two times about every two seconds waiting for the second fob. I pulled the key and walked away from the vehicle with the fob and heard the pleasing click of the doors and honk of the horn.
This whole thing took me about a day and a half to accomplish but it’s well worth the effort if you ask me to have the factory set up working properly.
BTW, pulling your dash cap to get to the PKE receiver really isn’t that hard or complicated. It’s just kind of time consuming. I did also remove the PKE receiver and re-solder the connectors going to the printed circuit board. None of them really looked bad but sometimes you can’t tell by just looking. I did them anyway for good measure.
Last edited by ALLT4; Apr 16, 2005 at 08:42 PM.
