If Bob, BEZ06 reads this, he will be able to chime in on the best way to access the two wires on the end of the key switch....he has good knowledge of this area of the car as he has modified his trunk latch to add the pull down feature where it did not exist on his Z06.

 

Thanks cclive! This is great stuff and it is your kind of sharing that makes Corvette Forum a truly great place to hang out!

 

Hi Chris

There are 2 different key lock cylinders - one for the manual latch in the convertible and the earlier Z06, and one for the auto pull down latch in the coupe (and the 2009/2010 Z06 and ZR1 that have the pull down latch).




When I installed a pull down latch into my '06 Z06 I needed to get the proper key lock/cable. In the picture above you can see the 2 different lock/cable assemblies.

The one for the vert and early Z06 manual latch has 2 wires coming directly out of the key lock cylinder - and they are for the fob programming signal.

The one for an auto pull down latch does not have the wires - I assume the fob programming signal is actuated by the cable pulling the release lever in the latch and producing the signal from within the latch itself.

For both of the latches, the Service Manual shows that the "Trunk Key Switch Signal" is through a "tan" wire. When I did my latch conversion, the original manual latch installation had a connector inside the rear hatch compartment by the latch where the wires from the key lock cylinder plugged into - and the wires were tan and black (tan for the signal, and black is to ground).

When I swapped the latches over, I just spliced the tan and black wires from that connector into tan and black wires in the harness that plugged into the auto pull down latch.

I might mention that the wires from the hatch release button above the license plate also has tan and black wires to it.

So, for fred_S, let me ask - does your key open your hatch okay??? It looks like from your avatar that you have a coupe. If your key isn't opening the hatch properly, then the cable isn't hooked up to the release lever. Because the auto pull down latch fob programming signal is generated internally in the latch, you must have the cable hooked up properly so that it pulls the latch release lever in order to activate the internal switch that generates the fob programming signal. Below are pictures of the end of the cable - the first is not hooked properly into the release lever, and the second shows how the cable should be attached:








If the cable is hooked up properly, it takes a pretty good twist of the key to pull the cable to open the hatch. I would recommend that you first open the hatch and then try twisting the key to generate the fob programming signal - if the hatch is already open the key should turn much easier and it will be much easier to twist the key all the way to pull the latch release lever to activate the programming signal.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Bob

 

Thanks Bob,

My hatch opens perfectly with the key, I had a few spares made just in case, thanks to key blanks posted in this forum.

I will try to open the upholstery and see if I can follow the wire to where the connector connect

I will do that tomorrow, because of the time difference it will take a few extra hours to respond, but I will let you guys know if it's working.

Fred

***********UPDATE*************

Let me say, thank you Bob for the explanation. Having some photos of the situation is helpful.

You are correct, mine has the auto pull down feature, and indeed there's no separate wire running from the lock cylinder.
I have tried to turn the key so many times, eventually after about 30 minutes of trying to get the ^&*( thing to work, I gave up.
I can see that when I turn the key, the glove box light comes on, so there's something in the car that registers the key turns. However I cant get the DIC message to appear. I tried both working FOB's , one after the other.

For testing purposes, number 1 moves when you twist the key.

You said "When I did my latch conversion, the original manual latch installation had a connector inside the rear hatch compartment by the latch where the wires from the key lock cylinder plugged into - and the wires were tan and black (tan for the signal, and black is to ground)."

Would that be number 2 ?

Could I take that connector of and shorten the two wires five times in quick succession ??



Any input is greatly appreciated !!

Thanks

Fred

 

I'm trying to learn a new fob and when I turn the key five times the DIC does nothing. I have tried it multiple times and don't know what I'm doing wrong.

car off, doors open, trunk open, glovebox open.

 

For Fred, after looking at the schematic, the tan wire is the wire that needs to be grounded in order to put the car into the program mode. It is the same wire whether it comes off the top of the key switch or out of the latch box on the coupe with the pull down. It is this tan wire being grounded 5 times by the key switch, that kicks in programming mode. Also, as Bob said, there is another tan wire that comes from the external trunk button, so be sure to get the right one....although if the other tan wire is grounded, it will just open actuate the trunk opening relay, which will be easy to recognize.
I would think that one thing that could be wrong is that this tan wire is not connected to its plug...but either way, just grounding it five times should kick in the programming mode. It also could be that the ground wire (black) that goes along with the tan, may not be connected to a good ground. So that should be checked also.
Thanks to Bob for the explanation and pics of the two different key switches...I have a Vert and have never been inside that area, so I was unaware of the differences. Kind of seems like a bit of needless complication from GM, but we see this all the time.
But aside from all this, the tan wire needs to be grounded 5 times to put the car into programming mode...with either latch mechanism.

 

Thank you Chris,

I will try to ground the wire 5 times, updates to follow

Fred

 

I'm not sure what to tell you...couple of things to try...

1. Try turning the key more than 5 times...just keep turning it...it does not have to respond to the FIRST 5 turns, it will respond to ANY five turns, so try turning it and just keep going until hopefully the DIC comes on.
2. Make sure you are turning the key all the way. Sometimes when people try to do it very fast, they don't get the key turning all the way. The speed is not very hard to get, so try very deliberately turning the key all the way and don't worry as much about the speed.

 

Fred

No, I think #2 is a connector for one of the diversity antenna couplers.

Take a look at the picture below. The 2 wire pigtails you can see come from the wiring harness in the car - they come into the left side of the latch (as you're standing behind the car, the wire harness and connectors are on the left end of the latch). The 2 pigtails were initially wrapped together in one sheath, but I separated them. The one on the bottom has a coaxial cable that goes to the antennas. The one on the top goes to a white connector that plugs into a connector on the latch.




You may not be able to make out the colors of the wires in that top bundle, but they are:

• Orange/Black - Trunk ajar switch signal
  
• Light Blue - Trunk release relay control
  
• Tan - Trunk key switch signal
  
• Black - Ground
  
• White/Black - Cargo lamp switch signal
  
• Red/White - Battery positive voltage

You can see that the "tan" wire is the one that carries the "trunk key switch signal". I can't imagine that if all other features of your hatch work (the release buttons, the pull down feature, the lights in the hatch, etc.) that the tan wire wouldn't be hooked up and working also - they're all in the same wire bundle and the same connector plug.

So.....the tan wire you're looking for is in the wire bundle with the white connector plug that connects to the plug on the left side of the latch.

Good luck!!

Bob

 

Is it possible to program 1 FOB to work on 2 cars?

 

I believe no, because the system uses rolling codes like newer garage door openers....but if I had two C6s, I would sure try it...would be very interesting....

 

Bob

Thanks to your excellent instructions I found the connector with the "tan" wire. I took the connector of, and grounded the "tan" wire to the ground with the help of a paperclip. Many, many, many, many times ( I have spend the better part of an hour grounding the two) And.......
Nothing happened, I cant get the DIC message to appear. I tried both of my fully functional fobs, even tried in accessory mode, NOTHING.
Everything is working like it should, the pull down feature, everything.

The only thing I can think of is that European version must be different from US versions. I will have to take a trip to the dealer, I'm sure they can program an additional fob.

I would like to thank Bob and Chris for their excellent help, and if any of you thinks of a different approach to tackle this weird problem, please contact me.

Fred

 

^^^ Fred if my memory serves from reading the manual, only US cars can do the 30 minute Fob programming, this is disabled on Canadian and European Vettes. My Vette is in the shop so I can't check my manual at the moment, maybe someone else can.

The slot is nothing more than a slot to put the fob next to the antenna for the fobs. I saw a thread with pics a long time ago showing there was nothing magic in the slot.

IMPORTANT ANTI THEFT PROCEDURE - When I read this programming info in my manual (having bought my C6 after my C5 was stolen) it dawns on me that anyone with a desire to make a FOB for a Vette could do so easily if you gave them the key. Without the key, they can't make a FOB. I'm picturing a valet or unscrupulous Mechanic, or anyone else you'd give your FOB to, using the key and fob you gave him to make his FOB work on your car, get your address from your registration in the glove box and come steal your car with a perfectly working FOB.

Far fetched perhaps, but I NEVER give my key to anyone. Only the FOB.

 

Never thought of this, but it sure seems like a good idea!

cclive - Great writeup!

 

Fred,
We gave it our best shot!...Sorry you have had no luck getting it into program mode. Keep in mind though that even on the Canadian version, the DIC still responds to the programming signal from the key switch...it just will not do the LONG procedure...in other words, it requires a working fob inside the car for the DIC to respond to the key turns. My gut feeling is that the European version will do both the short and long procedures, but even if it is like the Canadian version, it is still designed to do the short procedure.
Good luck with it and be sure to let us know what happens...

 

A VERY good idea...........given a metal key, I can add a fob to a Corvette in 30 seconds.

 

Purely hypothetical... ( I can prove I own my car, and I have both working FOBS and 4 keys)

If grounding the "tan" wire has the same effect as twisting the key, than there's no need for a key. Anyone with access to a fob and the car can open the upholstery and shorten the "tan"wire to ground to program a fob.

OR....., it does matter weather the key is used or not ?

One way or the other, I have tried so many times now, I give up.

Fred

 

Hello all and glad to be on board with this great forum.

Well...turns out I am stuck with just one FOB (lost the other) and after ordering a new (actually used) FOB encountered the exact issues that Fred has. So I am stuck in Europe with one US Spec 08 and no GM place in sight...but to give up means that if I loose my only working FOB I am out of a working car???

BTW - Just speculation on my side but I think it could be a computer glitch of sort because sometimes during the five key repetitions the lock light comes on in the dash and sometimes it does not. In one unfortunate session the car alarm went off?

Cant' give up!.

 

We need to get in touch with someone at GM and ask if the European version of the car can have fobs programmed in the same way as ours or if something is designed differently.
I did send a fob to Sweden though and the guy was able to program it with no problems....
Perhaps Talon could get in touch with someone....Paul....???

 

Firstly: many thanks to Kent1999:http://forums.corvetteforum.com/memb...-kent1999.html

He posted a great empirically proven method

and I had to try it few times before it worked.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1570351932-post19.html

literally had to run and turn the key as a mad man but finally the beloved FOB3 message came on.

Fred_S this should do it.