C7 Keyless Entry
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,547
Likes: 609
From: Southeast, WI
Neither the car, nor the fob transmits continuously. Only when requested.
Race Director
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 10,742
Likes: 629
From: Manheim Pennsylvania
You will have to program the system. Off hand I do not know the default setting. I programmed mine to lock and unlock automatically when I come and go. 
I got a surprise this past winter. When cleaning the inside windows I placed the FOB on the floor by the door. Evidently the car didn't recognize the FOB due to it's position. I closed the door so the side window would cycle up. The car thought I had gone and locked me inside. 
There is absolutely no electric power to anything.
Well I reached down and pulled the door release handle, the door opened and the alarm sounded. I had never pulled the door release before 
I pulled it with authority, you don't have to yank it, felt like I almost ripped it from the floor.
I got a surprise this past winter. When cleaning the inside windows I placed the FOB on the floor by the door. Evidently the car didn't recognize the FOB due to it's position. I closed the door so the side window would cycle up. The car thought I had gone and locked me inside. There is absolutely no electric power to anything. Well I reached down and pulled the door release handle, the door opened and the alarm sounded. I had never pulled the door release before I pulled it with authority, you don't have to yank it, felt like I almost ripped it from the floor.
Race Director
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 10,742
Likes: 629
From: Manheim Pennsylvania
Racer
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 350
Likes: 0
So the door does not unlock until you grab the door to open it? If it can lock itself when you walk away and unlock when you walk up to it there is a signal in the air all the time.
Last edited by HurricaneRN; May 19, 2013 at 10:11 AM.
Race Director
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 10,742
Likes: 629
From: Manheim Pennsylvania
The car door unlocks when it identifies the FOB. The light on top of the door signifies when locking/unlocking occurred. See operators manual. The car must transmit a signal continuously awaiting FOB reply. I don't see how else it would work. The FOB battery lasts about two/three years, if it was transmitting continuously it couldn't last that long. The car's battery only will last about three weeks without a charge. When you push the door/rear hatch unlock, the FOB then must transmit a signal. Anyway works fine, lasts a long time.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,037
Likes: 9,801
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
This started in 1993. passive keyless entry is what they called it. It got annoying for some (probably didn't read the manual because all you had to do to toggle passive/off was by holding the door lock button until the locks cycled) so when the C5 came out the key fob had a switch on it. In 2000 it was removed as a feature only to find its way back with the C6.
Bill
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 29,113
Likes: 2,194
From: Big Bend Country, TX
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15- '16-'17-‘18-‘19-'20-'21
NCM Lifetime Member
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,353
Likes: 541
From: Sarasota FL
St. Jude Donor '25-'26
The car door unlocks when it identifies the FOB. The light on top of the door signifies when locking/unlocking occurred. See operators manual. The car must transmit a signal continuously awaiting FOB reply. I don't see how else it would work. The FOB battery lasts about two/three years, if it was transmitting continuously it couldn't last that long. The car's battery only will last about three weeks without a charge. When you push the door/rear hatch unlock, the FOB then must transmit a signal. Anyway works fine, lasts a long time.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,547
Likes: 609
From: Southeast, WI
Hope that helps. Do a search for the C6 owners manual. It will expplain. I believe the C7 will operate similarly.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,492
Likes: 807
From: West coast CA
The car "locks" again when you walk away based on a simple 8-second timer. So you don't actually have to walk anywhere - it will "lock" with you standing next to it. No signal in the air.
It's an elegant system. I like it a lot more than the fussy Toyota one with its screwy external door lock buttons and constant transmitter polling.
I put "locks" in scare quotes because it's just a software state; there is no mechanism that moves in order to "lock" the door. For a C6 to be locked, it just means that the computer requires a fob response from outside the car when an exterior door handle is pulled, or else it won't energize the door release.
Last edited by torquetube; May 20, 2013 at 02:04 AM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,055
Likes: 24
From: Cary NC
Full operation explanation is now available in a GM video:
There is a physical emergency key hidden in the transmitter. It unlocks the back hatch, which gives access to a driver door unlock lever.
There is a physical emergency key hidden in the transmitter. It unlocks the back hatch, which gives access to a driver door unlock lever.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 35,617
Likes: 167
Tech Contributor
Cruise-In 11 Veteran
NCM Ambassador
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'10
The car locks itself based on a timed sequence. It does not always transmit.
It "unlocks" with a very rapid communication sequence that starts when the door handle is grabbed and culminates by releasing the door mechanism.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 29,113
Likes: 2,194
From: Big Bend Country, TX
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15- '16-'17-‘18-‘19-'20-'21
NCM Lifetime Member
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 29,113
Likes: 2,194
From: Big Bend Country, TX
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15- '16-'17-‘18-‘19-'20-'21
NCM Lifetime Member
Same set up
Same set up as we now have in the C6. Same fob body except for the addition of the remote start button for the A6 and the power up/down button for the vert.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 97,155
Likes: 1,471
From: Calgary, AB. There's a reason why white was the only color offered on every year Corvette. Proud Canadian German Jamaican!
St. Jude Donor '09, '12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17
Full operation explanation is now available in a GM video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gfWjAJfeb0
There is a physical emergency key hidden in the transmitter. It unlocks the back hatch, which gives access to a driver door unlock lever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gfWjAJfeb0
There is a physical emergency key hidden in the transmitter. It unlocks the back hatch, which gives access to a driver door unlock lever.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,547
Likes: 609
From: Southeast, WI
Yes and no. I have it on my 05 Cadi. I'm sure its the same as with the Corvette. These obviously is an antenna and the fob is constantly transmitting. I've be trying to fix a problem with the Cadi (system broke) and it is not cheap to repair. Coupled with then need to replace fob batteries more often because its always transmitting........... I'll take a traditional fob system over the no need to push buttons system. It's like voice recognition, an overkill.
