1996 PKE module replacement
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,018
Likes: 9
From: Winston Ga.
1996 PKE module replacement
I wanted to put this all down in one post for those who have determined that their PKE module is bad and need to replace it.
My PKE was giving me fits. The OO gave me the fobs but said they didnt work right. I tried programming them and they worked for about a week then stopped.
I then started finding my rear hatch open on occaision when I went out to the car in the morning <scary> but not as scary as the hatch popping open while driving down the road. This happened to me twice!
Suspecting a bad module I pulled the fuse and found that the hatch stopped opening up at random times.
I found a used module on fleabay from Corvette Recyclers and sent them a message asking if they could guarantee it would be good. They said yes so with a grain of salt I accepted that and it arrived promptly.
Dash pad removal:
Remove the neg battery cable connection. You are working near the passenger air bag (at least in my model) and don't want that explosion in your face unexpectedly!
The dash pad covers the air bag and you don't have to remove the air bag to get the pad off.
The FSM is pretty straight forward on dash pad removal so I waited for a nice day to tackle it. below is a summary of how to replace the module.
Remove all the vent covers. The drivers side, center and passenger side. Its a small Torx head screw with two in each vent cover. The passenger side is behind the center vent which just pops out.
Take the fuse box cover off and there are 3 hex head screws that hold the side panel on. take these out.
Behind the side panel there is a hex head screw for the lower knee pad and one for the dash pad. take these out
Behind the passenger vents are 3 hex nuts for the lower pad. remove these and pop the lower pad off. You dont need to completely remove it but the dash pad tabs are under the ones that hold the lower pad.
Behind the center vent is a hex head screw holding the dash pad, its on the left. Also remove the one on the right holding the center trim face and pop it out about 4 inches. No need to completely remove the trim piece.
Behind the drivers vent is one hex head screw holding the dash pad.
Pop off the defrost vent trim in the center of the dash. be careful as the light sensor is attached. Unplug the sensor, it has a tab to keep it from backing out so bend the plastic slightly to unplug.
There are 2 Torx screws under the defrost vent holding the dash pad. remove those.
At this point there really is nothing holding your dash pad in but friction.
Pull the drivers side towards you and it will pop off the clips that are holding it in. Then pull the passenger side up and back and the entire pad should come out easily. Be careful and put it aside with all the little baggies holding your screws. You did use baggies right?
PKE module:
Look under the center AC tube and you will see two boxes. The one on top is the tone generator for the chime that tells you the lights are still on etc. It is Velcro'd to the top of the PKE module.
The PKE module has spring clips on the sides holding it in.
Unplug the chime module and use a screwdriver to pop it free from the Velcro and pull it out.
Unplug the PKE module.
Now is the tricky part. The PKE module will not come out from under the vent tube by pulling it out the drivers direction. I used a screw driver to pop the spring clip to the rear of the dash and skew the module out of the clips. It WILL come out the passenger direction but it wont go easily. just keep tugging and tweaking until it does. It took me longer to do this than to remove the dash pad.
The install is pretty much a reversal of the above. The new PKE module popped right in but I had to use a screwdriver to bend the rear spring clip enough to allow it to go in.
I also pulled the Velcro off the chime to allow it to go back in easier. Its not not going anywhere without it and is tight enough it wont rattle.
Plug everything in and test it before you put it all back together! Mine seems to be working great after replacing the fuse, turning the system on and programming the FOBs.
I wish I had taken pics but since this is the first time I had the dash pad out I was focusing on not screwing it up. It really is pretty easy but it sounds daunting. I hope this helps others that find they need to get the dash pad out.
If I missed anything please post it up!
My PKE was giving me fits. The OO gave me the fobs but said they didnt work right. I tried programming them and they worked for about a week then stopped.
I then started finding my rear hatch open on occaision when I went out to the car in the morning <scary> but not as scary as the hatch popping open while driving down the road. This happened to me twice!
Suspecting a bad module I pulled the fuse and found that the hatch stopped opening up at random times.
I found a used module on fleabay from Corvette Recyclers and sent them a message asking if they could guarantee it would be good. They said yes so with a grain of salt I accepted that and it arrived promptly.
Dash pad removal:
Remove the neg battery cable connection. You are working near the passenger air bag (at least in my model) and don't want that explosion in your face unexpectedly!
The dash pad covers the air bag and you don't have to remove the air bag to get the pad off.
The FSM is pretty straight forward on dash pad removal so I waited for a nice day to tackle it. below is a summary of how to replace the module.
Remove all the vent covers. The drivers side, center and passenger side. Its a small Torx head screw with two in each vent cover. The passenger side is behind the center vent which just pops out.
Take the fuse box cover off and there are 3 hex head screws that hold the side panel on. take these out.
Behind the side panel there is a hex head screw for the lower knee pad and one for the dash pad. take these out
Behind the passenger vents are 3 hex nuts for the lower pad. remove these and pop the lower pad off. You dont need to completely remove it but the dash pad tabs are under the ones that hold the lower pad.
Behind the center vent is a hex head screw holding the dash pad, its on the left. Also remove the one on the right holding the center trim face and pop it out about 4 inches. No need to completely remove the trim piece.
Behind the drivers vent is one hex head screw holding the dash pad.
Pop off the defrost vent trim in the center of the dash. be careful as the light sensor is attached. Unplug the sensor, it has a tab to keep it from backing out so bend the plastic slightly to unplug.
There are 2 Torx screws under the defrost vent holding the dash pad. remove those.
At this point there really is nothing holding your dash pad in but friction.
Pull the drivers side towards you and it will pop off the clips that are holding it in. Then pull the passenger side up and back and the entire pad should come out easily. Be careful and put it aside with all the little baggies holding your screws. You did use baggies right?
PKE module:
Look under the center AC tube and you will see two boxes. The one on top is the tone generator for the chime that tells you the lights are still on etc. It is Velcro'd to the top of the PKE module.
The PKE module has spring clips on the sides holding it in.
Unplug the chime module and use a screwdriver to pop it free from the Velcro and pull it out.
Unplug the PKE module.
Now is the tricky part. The PKE module will not come out from under the vent tube by pulling it out the drivers direction. I used a screw driver to pop the spring clip to the rear of the dash and skew the module out of the clips. It WILL come out the passenger direction but it wont go easily. just keep tugging and tweaking until it does. It took me longer to do this than to remove the dash pad.
The install is pretty much a reversal of the above. The new PKE module popped right in but I had to use a screwdriver to bend the rear spring clip enough to allow it to go in.
I also pulled the Velcro off the chime to allow it to go back in easier. Its not not going anywhere without it and is tight enough it wont rattle.
Plug everything in and test it before you put it all back together! Mine seems to be working great after replacing the fuse, turning the system on and programming the FOBs.
I wish I had taken pics but since this is the first time I had the dash pad out I was focusing on not screwing it up. It really is pretty easy but it sounds daunting. I hope this helps others that find they need to get the dash pad out.
If I missed anything please post it up!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,620
Likes: 206
From: Orlando FL
Two comments off hand
I wanted to put this all down in one post for those who have determined that their PKE module is bad and need to replace it.
My PKE was giving me fits. The OO gave me the fobs but said they didnt work right. I tried programming them and they worked for about a week then stopped.
I then started finding my rear hatch open on occaision when I went out to the car in the morning <scary> but not as scary as the hatch popping open while driving down the road. This happened to me twice!
Suspecting a bad module I pulled the fuse and found that the hatch stopped opening up at random times.
I found a used module on fleabay from Corvette Recyclers and sent them a message asking if they could guarantee it would be good. They said yes so with a grain of salt I accepted that and it arrived promptly.
Dash pad removal:
Remove the neg battery cable connection. You are working near the passenger air bag (at least in my model) and don't want that explosion in your face unexpectedly!
The dash pad covers the air bag and you don't have to remove the air bag to get the pad off.
The FSM is pretty straight forward on dash pad removal so I waited for a nice day to tackle it. below is a summary of how to replace the module.
Remove all the vent covers. The drivers side, center and passenger side. Its a small Torx head screw with two in each vent cover. The passenger side is behind the center vent which just pops out.
Take the fuse box cover off and there are 3 hex head screws that hold the side panel on. take these out.
Behind the side panel there is a hex head screw for the lower knee pad and one for the dash pad. take these out
Behind the passenger vents are 3 hex nuts for the lower pad. remove these and pop the lower pad off. You dont need to completely remove it but the dash pad tabs are under the ones that hold the lower pad.
Behind the center vent is a hex head screw holding the dash pad, its on the left. Also remove the one on the right holding the center trim face and pop it out about 4 inches. No need to completely remove the trim piece.
Behind the drivers vent is one hex head screw holding the dash pad.
Pop off the defrost vent trim in the center of the dash. be careful as the light sensor is attached. Unplug the sensor, it has a tab to keep it from backing out so bend the plastic slightly to unplug.
There are 2 Torx screws under the defrost vent holding the dash pad. remove those.
At this point there really is nothing holding your dash pad in but friction.
Pull the drivers side towards you and it will pop off the clips that are holding it in. Then pull the passenger side up and back and the entire pad should come out easily. Be careful and put it aside with all the little baggies holding your screws. You did use baggies right?
PKE module:
Look under the center AC tube and you will see two boxes. The one on top is the tone generator for the chime that tells you the lights are still on etc. It is Velcro'd to the top of the PKE module.
The PKE module has spring clips on the sides holding it in.
Unplug the chime module and use a screwdriver to pop it free from the Velcro and pull it out.
Unplug the PKE module.
Now is the tricky part. The PKE module will not come out from under the vent tube by pulling it out the drivers direction. I used a screw driver to pop the spring clip to the rear of the dash and skew the module out of the clips. It WILL come out the passenger direction but it wont go easily. just keep tugging and tweaking until it does. It took me longer to do this than to remove the dash pad.
The install is pretty much a reversal of the above. The new PKE module popped right in but I had to use a screwdriver to bend the rear spring clip enough to allow it to go in.
I also pulled the Velcro off the chime to allow it to go back in easier. Its not not going anywhere without it and is tight enough it wont rattle.
Plug everything in and test it before you put it all back together! Mine seems to be working great after replacing the fuse, turning the system on and programming the FOBs.
I wish I had taken pics but since this is the first time I had the dash pad out I was focusing on not screwing it up. It really is pretty easy but it sounds daunting. I hope this helps others that find they need to get the dash pad out.
If I missed anything please post it up!
My PKE was giving me fits. The OO gave me the fobs but said they didnt work right. I tried programming them and they worked for about a week then stopped.
I then started finding my rear hatch open on occaision when I went out to the car in the morning <scary> but not as scary as the hatch popping open while driving down the road. This happened to me twice!
Suspecting a bad module I pulled the fuse and found that the hatch stopped opening up at random times.
I found a used module on fleabay from Corvette Recyclers and sent them a message asking if they could guarantee it would be good. They said yes so with a grain of salt I accepted that and it arrived promptly.
Dash pad removal:
Remove the neg battery cable connection. You are working near the passenger air bag (at least in my model) and don't want that explosion in your face unexpectedly!
The dash pad covers the air bag and you don't have to remove the air bag to get the pad off.
The FSM is pretty straight forward on dash pad removal so I waited for a nice day to tackle it. below is a summary of how to replace the module.
Remove all the vent covers. The drivers side, center and passenger side. Its a small Torx head screw with two in each vent cover. The passenger side is behind the center vent which just pops out.
Take the fuse box cover off and there are 3 hex head screws that hold the side panel on. take these out.
Behind the side panel there is a hex head screw for the lower knee pad and one for the dash pad. take these out
Behind the passenger vents are 3 hex nuts for the lower pad. remove these and pop the lower pad off. You dont need to completely remove it but the dash pad tabs are under the ones that hold the lower pad.
Behind the center vent is a hex head screw holding the dash pad, its on the left. Also remove the one on the right holding the center trim face and pop it out about 4 inches. No need to completely remove the trim piece.
Behind the drivers vent is one hex head screw holding the dash pad.
Pop off the defrost vent trim in the center of the dash. be careful as the light sensor is attached. Unplug the sensor, it has a tab to keep it from backing out so bend the plastic slightly to unplug.
There are 2 Torx screws under the defrost vent holding the dash pad. remove those.
At this point there really is nothing holding your dash pad in but friction.
Pull the drivers side towards you and it will pop off the clips that are holding it in. Then pull the passenger side up and back and the entire pad should come out easily. Be careful and put it aside with all the little baggies holding your screws. You did use baggies right?
PKE module:
Look under the center AC tube and you will see two boxes. The one on top is the tone generator for the chime that tells you the lights are still on etc. It is Velcro'd to the top of the PKE module.
The PKE module has spring clips on the sides holding it in.
Unplug the chime module and use a screwdriver to pop it free from the Velcro and pull it out.
Unplug the PKE module.
Now is the tricky part. The PKE module will not come out from under the vent tube by pulling it out the drivers direction. I used a screw driver to pop the spring clip to the rear of the dash and skew the module out of the clips. It WILL come out the passenger direction but it wont go easily. just keep tugging and tweaking until it does. It took me longer to do this than to remove the dash pad.
The install is pretty much a reversal of the above. The new PKE module popped right in but I had to use a screwdriver to bend the rear spring clip enough to allow it to go in.
I also pulled the Velcro off the chime to allow it to go back in easier. Its not not going anywhere without it and is tight enough it wont rattle.
Plug everything in and test it before you put it all back together! Mine seems to be working great after replacing the fuse, turning the system on and programming the FOBs.
I wish I had taken pics but since this is the first time I had the dash pad out I was focusing on not screwing it up. It really is pretty easy but it sounds daunting. I hope this helps others that find they need to get the dash pad out.
If I missed anything please post it up!
My pad did not just come out once I had removed all the known screws the first time. The adhesive action of the edge sealers of the pad made it like it was glued in. It took a lot of tugging and pulling to break mine loose and hoping there was actually nothing really holding it.
If you remove the two screws that holds the air vent to the dash, that will give you the extra space of a higher vent and letting the dash come forward a bit. There is not much gain in space but enough to make the difference to get the PKE out much easier.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 23
Likes: 5
From: Tupelo MS
I appreciate the info. Hope you don't mind me asking you a question. I have a 95 Vette, just bought it, owner claimed he lost the FOB. Ok, so I have purchased a FOB, it should be here tomorrow. But I just realized the "Passive Keyless Entry" light had not come on since I had the car, come to find out the fuse was missing, I put a fuse in it. The "Passive Keyless Entry" light came on, and wouldn't go off until I took the key out and put it back in, then didn't come back on, until I left it off for a few seconds, or removed the fuse. Also, it didn't seem to respond, when I go through the FOB programming steps, pressing the "Trip ODO" twice, then holding down the "Fuel Info" button until the "Passive Keyless Entry" comes on, the "Passive Keyless Entry" never comes on. I've not tried these steps with the new FOB, I don't have it yet, so, do you think the new FOB will make a difference, or do you think the PKE Module is the likely part that is not working properly?
