Keys getting lock inside car

[JohnnyC]

I found recently, that while getting gas and doing minor interior work, my car would lock with the key still in the ignition (not on). Now everytime i get gas in the rain, zero degrees, etc, i roll the window down first. This just happened again on sunday.

I replaced the batteries in the fob a few years ago and do have to be rather close to the window for the car to initially open. Sometimes have to wave it over the window a few times. I have found the rear reads the fob more easily. But then sometimes it wont be a problem as the door unlocks.

Do i just need new batteries or is there a bigger problem?

 

[Rabbit]

I believe if your PKE is activated & working properly it shud prevent the locking if the key is in the ignition?

Had problems with the PKE?

 

[Paul Higg]

And if it is really working well it is supposedly, technically possible according to the owner's manual to rock the car to simulate waving it and it will unlock but I have never had it lock with the keys in the ignition.

 

[air1jpg]

The sensor in mounted in your door(s) could be going south.. That would explain why the key fob seems to work better when you are behind the car where the rear sensor is.

 

[JohnnyC]

Not sure what you mean by is the PKE working? My fob works, the buttons, etc. It does lock and chirp once i close the door and leave.

The senor in the door was repaired by yours truely. I had another post with the pics. some how it got loose, and was smashed a bunch by the window going down. I spent a whole weekend fishing out the pieces and gluing the blue frame back together. The wire all seemed to be intact.

I got a new battery for the fob, seems to be about the same. i got gas, left the window open and it did not lock. But I am still worried.

 

[Rabbit]

Not sure what you mean by is the PKE working? My fob works, the buttons, etc. It does lock and chirp once i close the door and leave.

The senor in the door was repaired by yours truely. I had another post with the pics. some how it got loose, and was smashed a bunch by the window going down. I spent a whole weekend fishing out the pieces and gluing the blue frame back together. The wire all seemed to be intact.

I got a new battery for the fob, seems to be about the same. i got gas, left the window open and it did not lock. But I am still worried.

What I meant was.under normal conditions, PKE active, the doors shud not lock with the key in the ignition.

 

[LT4man]

You are right. Technically speaking according to Chevy, as long as the key is in the ignition, the doors should not lock by themselves.

At the Cleveland CruiseFest last year, there was a CAC member who had an issue with his keys in his C4. Perhaps someone who knows of him will chime in with more info.

WHILE YOU ARE WATCHING YOUR VETTE DOORS LOCK MYSTERIOUSLY, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE THE !

 

[Tuna]

I witnessed the 'shaken car syndrone' a few years ago.
An open road racer in a 94 Vette left his keys on the console while on the grid at BBORR and walked away. The car locked. The windows were up so he and his navigator got rather concerned. There was a Texas State trooper near by and he was trying his best to unlock the door with one of his tools without any luck. Another Vette owner passing by asked what was up and was told about the doors being locked with the keys inside. That owner told the navigator to shake the car which would 'wake up' the fob and unlock the doors. The navigator thought the guy was crazy but tried it anyway. He rocked the car back and forth by the roof - which got the trooper's attention since he was still trying to make the unlock tool work. Voila, the Vette unlocked. Problem solved.

It appears that the C4 fob knows when it is in motion and transmits when it is. When it's not moving, it goes silent (car thinks the fob has moved away from the car and doors lock). Shaking the car, shakes the fob which 'wakes it up', the car get the fob signal and unlocks.

Also, the key should by all the way into the ignition switch to complete the circuit to keep the car from locking.

 

[Red Vette]

You are right. Technically speaking according to Chevy, as long as the key is in the ignition, the doors should not lock by themselves.

At the Cleveland Cruise Fest last year, there was a CAC member who had an issue with his keys in his C4. Perhaps someone who knows of him will chime in with more info.

WHILE YOU ARE WATCHING YOUR VETTE DOORS LOCK MYSTERIOUSLY, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE THE !

What happened in Napoleon, OH stays in Napoleon, OH.
Barrett

 

[JohnnyC]

Could it be the little resistor in the key itself is not making contact. The ignition is worn out?

I've be working on interior sometimes, and i'll leave the key near the shifter or on the little shelf by the speedometer with the doors open. Doesnt seem to lock then. But does it know the doors are open?

 

[air1jpg]

If the resister was worn out and your security system was still operational, you wouldn't be able to start your car. The resister pellet in the key tells the security module to enable the starter.

 

[JohnnyC]

it might have been that my key was not in all the way the times the doors locked. I was at the gas station (again) and this happened (again). I reached in and turned the key noticing that i could seen lots of "key". the silver part. I pushed in a little further and seemed to work. Make sense?

 

[Tuna]

Makes sense: If the key in the ignition chime is not working when you get out, the car probably thinks the key is out of the ignition when it is still stuck in there - just not far enough to tell the passive lock system not to lock.

 

[CAJUN C4]

I witnessed the 'shaken car syndrone' a few years ago.
An open road racer in a 94 Vette left his keys on the console while on the grid at BBORR and walked away. The car locked. The windows were up so he and his navigator got rather concerned. There was a Texas State trooper near by and he was trying his best to unlock the door with one of his tools without any luck. Another Vette owner passing by asked what was up and was told about the doors being locked with the keys inside. That owner told the navigator to shake the car which would 'wake up' the fob and unlock the doors. The navigator thought the guy was crazy but tried it anyway. He rocked the car back and forth by the roof - which got the trooper's attention since he was still trying to make the unlock tool work. Voila, the Vette unlocked. Problem solved.

It appears that the C4 fob knows when it is in motion and transmits when it is. When it's not moving, it goes silent (car thinks the fob has moved away from the car and doors lock). Shaking the car, shakes the fob which 'wakes it up', the car get the fob signal and unlocks.

Also, the key should by all the way into the ignition switch to complete the circuit to keep the car from locking.

The FOB has a Mercury swich in it. That's why Rocking it will open it.

 

[LT4man]

The FOB has a Mercury swich in it. That's why Rocking it will open it.

Maybe a Cleveland CruiseFest 2008 attendee will chime in with how successful rocking a Vette with a key fob locked inside really is!

Wish that would have really worked for me!

AFTER UNLOCKING YOUR VETTE BY ROCKIN', PLEASE DO US ALL A ROCKIN' FAVOR AND DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE THE !