# Passive Entry System Problems



## Czaja25 (Mar 5, 2013)

Hey guys
So I'm not sure if I am posting this in the right section or not, mods feel free to move it. I'm having issues with my passive entry system I use to LOVE being able to use on my 2012 LTZ RS. Anyways, as most of you all know, when I'd walk up with the fob on me, it would sense it and with a pull, unlock all the doors (or just the driver if i wanted to change it). Couple months ago, I noticed it stopped doing it i think after i may have taken it in for a coolant tube replacement. Either way, it was a while ago and I have nothing but time now so I want to address it. I've done a lot of searching on this forum for trouble shooting and I've messed with the configuration on my radio but all i can get is the car unlocking by itself when i walk away. I want it to unlock with a pull of the handle like it used to. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Could it possible be the battery in your key fob is low .
Try disconnecting the battery cable for a minute .


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

I don't have an LTZ but would think any settings would be buried in the radio like all the other car settings. If your not finding any settings out of whack I would probably take to the dealer since it appears to be malfunctioning.


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## Czaja25 (Mar 5, 2013)

brian v said:


> Could it possible be the battery in your key fob is low .
> Try disconnecting the battery cable for a minute .


Thanks for the response Brian. I had not thought of that but after testing the current battery in it, it registered as still working. But i switched it anyways with a new one and still nothing.:question:



spacedout said:


> I don't have an LTZ but would think any settings would be buried in the radio like all the other car settings. If your not finding any settings out of whack I would probably take to the dealer since it appears to be malfunctioning.


I went through all of the possible settings for 15 minutes last night and couldn't find anything about walking up to the car and the doors unlocking. All i could find was walking away the car locks on it's own.


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## WhiteAndBright (Mar 4, 2013)

On my 12 ltz I have to pull the handle for the doors to unlock, but just like you said when I walk away it locks by itself..


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## plasticplant (Mar 26, 2013)

Not to highjack this thread, but how did you get it to do that in the first place. I would love to have my car open when I walk up to it and pull the handle. Heck, it would be nice for it to lock when I walked away from it too. I haven't looked into it, as I just came across this thread, but is there info on what all the fob can be programmed to do?


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## Czaja25 (Mar 5, 2013)

WhiteAndBright said:


> On my 12 ltz I have to pull the handle for the doors to unlock, but just like you said when I walk away it locks by itself..


Yeah you and I have the same exact cars, quite literally lol 2012 LTZ RS summit white with black rims hahah anyways, my car USED to do what yours still does. When i used to walk up to it and pull the handle, all doors would unlock. Couple months ago that stopped working and i never felt the need to address it till now. Walking away still locks them which is great but I still have to press the unlock button on my fob to unlock the doors rather than just pulling the handle like i used to be able to do.


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## Czaja25 (Mar 5, 2013)

plasticplant said:


> Not to highjack this thread, but how did you get it to do that in the first place. I would love to have my car open when I walk up to it and pull the handle. Heck, it would be nice for it to lock when I walked away from it too. I haven't looked into it, as I just came across this thread, but is there info on what all the fob can be programmed to do?


If I'm reading your car description correctly, you have a 2LT. And I'm pretty sure the keyless/passive entry system only comes with the LTZ. I could be wrong though. Anyways, all the settings your fob can do can be found in the CONFIG menu on your radio. And checking in your manual would be a good idea.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi Czaja25,

I’m sorry to hear of this problem with your passive entry system. I cannot guarantee anything but I will be glad to look further into this for you. If any extra assistance is needed please send us a private message referencing your concern. I look forward to hearing from you!

Kristen A.
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## Czaja25 (Mar 5, 2013)

Chevy Customer Care said:


> Hi Czaja25,
> 
> I’m sorry to hear of this problem with your passive entry system. I cannot guarantee anything but I will be glad to look further into this for you. If any extra assistance is needed please send us a private message referencing your concern. I look forward to hearing from you!
> 
> ...


Thanks! I'll probably be contacting you soon!


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Czaja25 said:


> If I'm reading your car description correctly, you have a 2LT. And I'm pretty sure the keyless/passive entry system only comes with the LTZ. I could be wrong though. Anyways, all the settings your fob can do can be found in the CONFIG menu on your radio. And checking in your manual would be a good idea.


Its was optional on the 2LT in 2012 when I bought my car, think it was called remote access. Looking on chevys website now it looks like a $300 option 'Keyless Access with push-button start'. However Gm does not include this with the diesel for some reason, I think it should be standard.


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## rcclockman (Jan 16, 2012)

ya mine only unlocks when my fob is like 6 inches away from the handle in my right pocket, im sure its supposed to work farther away...Never automaticly locks when you walk away, I thought that wasent possible..


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Czaja25,

No problem! Talk to you soon!

Kristen A.
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## socalcruze (Aug 4, 2012)

Are you having trouble finding the menu option for the setting - is that the issue? Or does it appear to be set correctly and just not working? I think I noticed that the menu options come up different for me based on whether just the accessories are on but not the engine, the engine is on but not in gear, and when the engine is gear. I have the NAV package though, so that could even be a bit different from yours if you don't.

Agree, the keyless is really nice...


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## Czaja25 (Mar 5, 2013)

_*UPDATE!*_ 
So I tried to manually delete the fobs from my car. I only own one (the one the dealer gave me when I bought the car). So when I turned the key in the handle 5x to bring up the fobs, my car had 3 in it's memory. So I thought that was sort of odd. Next thing I know, my car won't recognize my fob. I can press the lock and unlock buttons on it to unlock and lock the doors but I can't start it. It just says no key recognized blah blah. So I freaked out and called my local dealership looking for help. He said to try to remote start it, viola! It works, and I can start my car again. So one speed bump addressed. I made very slight progress through all of it. I used to never be able to automatically unlock the doors just by having the fob on me. NOW, after all that fuss, when i have the fob on me and pull the REAR passenger doors, it unlocks all doors?!?!?!

I have no idea what is going on but I'm tweaking with it every here and there hopefully till i can get it back to when i pull the handle on the DRIVER DOOR, all doors unlock. Anyways, that's the status update for now. Please let me know if any of you can help me because this is super frustrating and I really don't want to pay a dealership $200 bucks to do it!



socalcruze said:


> Are you having trouble finding the menu option for the setting - is that the issue? Or does it appear to be set correctly and just not working? I think I noticed that the menu options come up different for me based on whether just the accessories are on but not the engine, the engine is on but not in gear, and when the engine is gear. I have the NAV package though, so that could even be a bit different from yours if you don't.
> 
> Agree, the keyless is really nice...


I don't have that many options to choose from on my config screen. I think the setting I am talking about should be in passive entry, and then i also have remote start, and auto lock (when i walk away). I do not think I've tried looking through the settings with just the accessories on or even in gear but I will definitely try! Any other suggestions?


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## TheGov (Feb 12, 2014)

spacedout said:


> Its was optional on the 2LT in 2012 when I bought my car, think it was called remote access. Looking on chevys website now it looks like a $300 option 'Keyless Access with push-button start'. However Gm does not include this with the diesel for some reason, I think it should be standard.


I think this should have at least been an option on the Diesel. It has remote start, how far of a jump is it really to go with keyless/pushbutton ignition as well. No option for Manual tranny, so that surely wasn't the hurdle either.


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## WhiteAndBright (Mar 4, 2013)

If you will go into the config screen there is an option that says "remote start, lock, unlock" choose that and on the unlock it will give you the option of the driver door or all doors..


This extraordinary insight brought to you from the confines of my iPhone..


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## rcclockman (Jan 16, 2012)

Replaced Gm PArt #13503205(receiver) under warranty...R\Ploblems solved..Turns out theirs a batch of bad ones for certain vin numbers...


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## WhiteAndBright (Mar 4, 2013)

Any idea what the vins start and stop point is??


This extraordinary insight brought to you from the confines of my iPhone..


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## Ziadc (Jun 4, 2019)

Hi *Czajaw5, *

Have you solved your issue (driver side door not opening when you pull on the handle) cause I have the same issue.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

Reviving an old thread here, in hopes that someone in here has experienced this.

On my new-to-me '12 LTZ, with the passive entry sensors (not buttons), the entire passive entry system was turned off when I bought the car. It looks like it was since new, because the buttons on the key fobs are both fairly well worn.

I've turned the passive entry system back on and immediately experienced an issue with the driver's door. I reset all of the vehicle settings back to factory settings, which didn't help.

With the key in my pocket, I can tap my hand against either front door sensor and successfully lock the car.
Again with the key in my pocket, I can pull on any door handle of the locked car to unlock/open the door, EXCEPT THE DRIVER'S DOOR. The driver's door won't unlock like I don't have the key around. I've also tried with the key out of my pocket, in the same hand pulling on the handle or in my other hand, and it doesn't make a difference.

It seems like this is somehow broken for the driver's door handle only, although I can still lock all the doors from that handle, so it isn't completely dead. Right now, to get into the car, I pull on the rear door handle/open the driver's rear door passively, then close it, and then the driver's front door is unlocked so I can open it.

Has anyone experienced a partial failure at one handle only? Not sure if the 13503205 receiver would affect only part of the function.

Having had this feature on my old '12 LTZ, I remember how it should work, so operator error shouldn't be an issue lol.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

Sunline Fan said:


> Reviving an old thread here, in hopes that someone in here has experienced this.
> 
> On my new-to-me '12 LTZ, with the passive entry sensors (not buttons), the entire passive entry system was turned off when I bought the car. It looks like it was since new, because the buttons on the key fobs are both fairly well worn.
> 
> ...


Following up on this for those who are curious.

I took a chance on this being the door handle at fault. I browsed through car-part.com to look for Autumn LTZs, which was no easy task. I contacted two junkyards and both had the door inventoried, so they weren't willing part out the door handle. Third time was the charm because I found a yard with a damaged front door who was willing to sell the handle. What was better, I convinced them to sell both front door handles so I'd have a spare.

Using a YouTube video, swapping the handle was relatively easy. I was able to reuse the portion with the lock cylinder so no issue there. Upon powering up (which I did before full reassembly to test both handles), I found the new handle(s) working properly to unlock and lock the door! So it fixed the problem.

The only thing I noticed is instead of the door unlocking as I pull on the handle, I seem to need to release slightly on the handle and pull open again for the door to actually open. Not a huge deal but interesting that it's different. The donor car was an April 2012 build compared to my September 2011 and February 2012 build cars, so I'm not sure that changed somehow. Anyone with a later build 2012 LTZ able to confirm if you just pull on the locked door handle when it opens or is it a two shot pull?

I also took the old handle apart for S&Gs. The wire goes into the handle at the end opposite of the sensor. Both ends are basically sealed with a silicone material, plus the middle of the handle. I didn't dig out enough to see the sensor but I'd say it's very unlikely you can replace just the sensor portion. Which means you need to either find a color matched one already or paint it to match, which isn't easy with the handle AND sensor being body color. If you've got a 2012 LTZ with passive entry and plan to keep it a while, I'd recommend stocking up on spare handles while you can still find them, especially if you don't have a Black Granite, Summit White, or Crystal Red car (seem to be the most common colors).


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