dayle97se

I have a 1996 coupe.

Yesterday. I went up to the car with the remote in pocket to uncover the car. The car (the drivers door anyway) unlocked as normal, and when I went to bring the cover in my house, the car locked and beeped. Ok - this is all fine so far.

Next I went the car to change the PKE setting to open BOTH doors. The PKE cycled thru the setting, and then locked the car. Now, the car will not open.

Here's the kicker - I left the key inside the car (I know - I need to make a copy of it, so let's not get into that right now). Luckily, the car is in my driveway, and not in a parking lot somewhere. But still....why can't I unlock my vette?

I tried replacing the FOB battery - twice. no luck.

It gets better: this whole time I was rushing because I was on my way to a first date. Ended up being 45 late b/c of this PKE $hi+, and had to take my brother's Sonata. Date went well, in case you were wondering...

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how did you resolve? How do I prevent this in the future? (besides getting a dupe key made....)

toptechx6

Is the key in the ignition lock cylinder?

dayle97se

no. thank god.

Klondike

You say you've replaced the fob battery; is that the fob you were working with, and the key is in the car...or are you working with a second fob? I guess you've tried to pop the rear hatch to get in that way.

dayle97se

Yes, I only have 1 FOB (I know - I should probably get another one). And they key is on the floor in the car (not it in the ignition). None of the FOB buttons are working; otherwise yeah I'd gladly crawl thru the cargo hatch haha.

ucfsaxman

Man tough situation. I'm glad the date went well I'd be going nuts if I was late and had that happen to me. When I bought my car it didn't come with a FOB. I always use the key to lock it or just hit the lock switch when i'm getting out. What I think I will end up doing and may be your best bet is to go with an aftermarket alarm setup.

toptechx6

Hmm, well there goes that theory, I was thinking that could be why the fob would not work. I think I would be using a coat hanger or slim jim to gain entry then sort out the PKE issue.

dayle97se

That's what I was afraid of. I'll try it if necessary, but only as a last resort. I guess i should have a friend pull on the driver's window a little bit, while I stick a coat hanger in between the window and the targa top?

CAJUN C4

Try rocking it side to side. This should unlock it.

Vette Jockey

Here is a possibility. I have a roadster, but except for the number of buttons on the FOB, I am sure they work the same.

When you cycled through, you may have held the button down too long which could have turned off the system. I turn it off when I am working in the garage and do not want it to activate.

I usually have trouble getting it activated again. But on the roadster, which only has one button, I hold the button down until I hear it cycle, standing next to the door. Then I walk away to see if the horn honks. If it does, I am done, if it does not, I do it again.

Hope this helps.

dayle97se

I thought that trick only worked if the FOB was left inside the car??? (I've done that before too ha). I have the FOB in my hand, but the keys are locked inside the car (not in the ignition).

dayle97se

That's probably what happened in my case; that I accidentally de-activated PKE. I tried holding down both buttons (not at the same time) while next to the car and nothing is happening..at all. Tried it for 45 minutes yesterday, I will try again when I get home (at work right now).

PS - thx to all the suggesstions and help so far, to those of you who have been replying to quickly. Still need to get into the car though (I have more dates coming up! )

markKlein

It does sound like you may have turned it off accidentally. Stand next to the drivers door, point at the door and hold down the door button. You should hear a clank-clank sound. It may take 5 or 10 seconds.

When you shake the fob you can hear the bearing roll back and forth, right?

Rocking the car only works if the fob is working and in the car.

I suggest you never leave the key or fob in the car alone.

VA50th

...hmmmm...here's the part I don't get.....I 'thought' to change the PKE settings so that it locks/unlocks both doors you had to have the key in the inigtion switch.

...and...if you just hold the FOB door button down (not in switch) you turn the system on/off...?

RollaMo-LT4

You are correct.
I would like to here more details on exactly what the OP did.
In order to change the door setting, the key needs to be in the ignition.
If you held the door button down with the key not in the ignition, all you do is turn the system off (or on if it was already off).
With the system off, the FOB will never open the drivers door.

To the OP, try what Mark suggested above. Stand next to the drivers door and hold the door lock button in for approx. 5-10 seconds.
Does anything happen at all? Any door lock cycling?

One last thing I am curious about.
You said you left the key inside the car? Which key?
The C4 uses separate keys for the ignition and door locks.
Perhaps the keys were on a key ring and I am just assuming you meant "single key".
And finally (even though it doesn't help you now), in the future leave your keys and FOB on the same key ring.

dayle97se

Then I was wrong. I admit: I mistakenly turned off the PKE with the key not in the ignition switch (when I thought I was changing the door setting). Agreed- I def need a spare set of keys and FOBS. And by "keys" I left both keys in the car. The door one and the ignition one.

The next challenge is getting in the car.

RollaMo-LT4

If you turned it off, you should be able to turn it back on again.
The key does not have to be in the ignition to turn the system on or off.

You said you changed the battery, so make sure it is the correct battery and the contacts are good.
If that fails, put your old battery back in and try again.
When you hold the FOB real close to the drivers door (within a foot or two), push and hold the door button for 5-10 seconds.
Do you hear anything at all that sounds like the door locks cycling?
If you do hear the locks cycle, you might need to actually walk away from your car (with the FOB) and then walk back up to it before the doors will unlock again.

It is just strange that your FOB would stop working at the same time you lock your keys in your car.

markKlein

He'd be in the same boat with an aftermarket system. Key locked in car and fob broken, aftermarket wouldn't really help.

markKlein

Rolla, do you know if the hatch function turns "off" with the door locks? I was thinking the hatch button should still work.

Dayle, any chance your car battery just died? Can you hear the ball bearing?

RollaMo-LT4

I am not sure about that Mark.
I "think" if your close enough for the hatch button to work, you're also close enough for the doors to unlock.
I've used the hatch button many times with the PKE system active and the doors auto locked, but the think they also unlocked when I got close enough to pop the hatch.

Let me go out and try some experiments with my car.

The PKE system in these cars do not have a very long range.