AHTTG

First of all, I'm sorry if this topic has been brought up before(probably has). I did a quick search and couldn't find anything on the matter.

The problem that I have is that I regularly park my car in a relatively public area and it is just close enough to pick up the fob key in my pocket. This means that the car is essentially always unlocked from the driver's side. As you know, there's still no way anyone could drive away with the car, but they can get inside. I figured it was just a matter of time and it took about a year to happen, but it finally did. All they managed to get was the loose change I leave in the cupholders and a cable I use to connect my ipod to the stereo, everything else was left unchanged.

So, I'm wondering if there's a way to change the setting so that when I press the button on the key to lock the car, it will remain locked until I manually unlock it. No matter how close the key is to the car, I want it to remain locked until I push the button to unlock it.

Thanks for your help.

talon90

Unfortunately no, there is no way to keep the car from opening when it senses the fob. You can set it so that the passenger door will not unlock but the drivers door opening with the fob is a default setting. It is either driver or both, there is no option for none.

If the fob is more than 30 feet away it should be safe but if you can't accomplish that you can try wrapping the fob in aluminum foil while it is in the house. That should cut down the range that it will actually transmit by making a bit of a shield around the fob. Try it and see if it works for you. If that doesn't work for some reason (it should) you could always take the battery out of the fob when you leave the car for the day.

rdm1465

I would think that if you go and reset the locks to manual, should do what you want. i have had mine set at the passive mode for so long, that I would probably forget to lock it manually.

AHTTG

I did try the foil, it works, but it's also a clumsy solution. How do I take the battery out of the fob? Is it just the whole top plastic part that comes off?

AHTTG

I don't know what the mode is called, but the passenger side door remains locked. What's funny is that this problem basically renders the locking mechanism useless. You can lock the car, lights will blink, the horn will chirp... and yet it will remain open.

talon90

What year Corvette. It is different between the 2005-2007 cars and the 2008-2009 cars. The fob style changed. Do you have the fob with the integrated key (slim with the key that tucks inside) or thicker with the key outside on a separate ring? Either way, the directions are in your owners manual for changing the fob battery.

AHTTG

It's integrated, I just played around with it a little and it's the top part of the key. Anyway, I don't see how GM couldn't see a problem this obvious ahead of time. Every other car manufacturer that I've seen will have the option to lock the damn car...

RicK T

I don't think that is quite right. My understanding is that you can lock the car manually but when someone presses the door switch the car still searches for a FOB. If it detects one it will open. I could be wrong. I haven't tried it.

talon90

No Rick, you are exactly correct. Where the problem comes in though is if the fob is too close to the car when it is parked, then it simply always will see the fob and allow the door to open whenever anyone grabs the handle. In the OP's case, my understanding is that he can open the door no matter if he locks it and has the fob with him or not when the car is parked due to the proximity of the fob stored in the house.

AHTTG

Exactly. I'm sure everyone has tested this out the first time they got their hands on an electronic key fob. You park your car and whenever you're heading back you check out how far away it will pick up the signal, and it's pretty damn far. The problem is that in this case, the car will unlock the driver's side as soon as it picks up the signal and there's no way to override that. The vette is the only car that I've seen do that. So if you're like me, your choices are to either wrap the damn key in foil or have your fingers crossed

PJRed2008

I would think placing the fob in any metal container would scramble the signal. My car won't unlock unless I am close to the door.

dgrant3830

I was under the impression that the fob had to be within 3 feet of the doors or trunk for it to unlock. My '07 seems to be that way. Farther away than that and it won't open. Now the C-5's with the passive feature, I could unlock from a good 100 feet away, but not the C-6. It sounds more like too me that the OP's car isn't really locking to begin with or the receiver is having a problem. I think a Tech 2 is needed to figure this out.

Gearhead Jim

Perhaps get a small metal box like some breath mints used to come in, drop in the fob and put the box in your pocket.

Zoxxo

Very odd. My car (2007 Z) won't see the fob even if I have it resting on the roof of the car (!) When I take it to the dealer for anything they have to leave the fob on the wipers for the doors to open. Ditto my wife's C6 vert (also 2007) which won't even see the fob through the fabric roof. And I just replaced the batteries for both cars' fobs the other day so that's not an issue

I think something is screwy somewhere at your end because, as you say, it shouldn't be doing that and I doubt very much that GM overlooked something so fundamental. Are you *sure* that the thing is *actually* locking the car when you walk away?

Z//

AHTTG

It definitely locks as the passenger's side won't unlock without me pressing the button and the car is locked when it doesn't pick up the fob. I wish it would be the way you describe for the driver's side, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's been this way since day 1, I just haven't given it much thought until a few days ago.

johnodrake

I thought the range for the proximity exchange was 18 - 22". I know that both of my RKE (remote keyless entry) cars (Vette and CTS) are locked in the garage with the fobs no more than 15' away. I can't open either without getting the fob and walking up to the car.

Hogvette

The OP should try locking the doors by manually pressing the lock button on the FOB and then approach the vette while leaving the FOB in the house. Check the driver door to see if it stays locked.

While I can manually lock/unlock the doors by pressing buttons on the FOB from 30 to 50 feet away, the door will not automatically sense my FOB and unlock unless it is within about 2 to 3 feet of the car.

AHTTG

First thing I did. I guess I'll call in the service department on monday and see what they have to say

FortMorganAl

I've tested my 07 and if the FOB is on the bench 5 feet away it won't unlock. I can push the unlock on the FOB from over 100 feet away and it will unlock but if I just walk up to the car, the FOB has to be within inches of the door for the signal to be received.

I just tested it again. I just installed a fresh battery in the FOB last week. At 3 feet from the driver's door it will unlock. At 5 feet it will not. In the center of the roof it is marginal because it wouldn't unlock the first time I tried but the second time it did.

shopdog

Passive unlock shouldn't work if the fob is more than 3 feet from the car. The car transmits a very low power very low frequency signal when a door switch is operated. The fob simply can't pick this signal up from more than about 3 feet away. So it won't respond, and the door won't unlock unless the fob is within 3 feet of the car.

Now if you press the button on the fob, the fob transmits a ultra high frequency signal of significant power that the car can receive at a distance of 200 feet. The car replies with a high power response that the fob can receive. But this long distance mode of operation requires you to actively push the unlock button on the fob.

The OP's car may never be locking the driver door. Or perhaps the car's RCDLR is stuck in high power mode. In either event, the behavior described by the OP is not normal. The car is not supposed to unlock from a door switch touch unless the fob is within 3 feet of the car.