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When you can't program more key fobs

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7K views 28 replies 12 participants last post by  brittbreeze  
#1 ·
This is and was unbelievably helpful, saved $275 and it works. So my Cadillac CTS had a key fob happy owner and no new key fobs could be programmed in my car. Only came with one Master Key Fob so I needed to clear the 4 existing keys in my car memory. Called three Atlanta dealers (Classic, Hennessy and Heritage) and every one of them said it requires the Dealer to reset and reprogram the DIC system … minimum one hour repair rate of $275 but probably more. So this guy on Social Media reads my thread and says nah… He’s a former ASCE Mechanic for GM…. and holy crap, it works.

If you have a Cadillac or GM with a Keyless Remote System and Memory Security and to program another fob… takes about 30 minutes and you MUST DO IT 3 TIMES …!

Step 1: First we need to gather up all your fobs and make sure they all have good batteries in them.

Step 2: We will need to find out if there are more fobs programmed to your car than you have on hand - put one fob into the cup holder and then take your physical key and place it into the driver side door lock. turn the key to the unlock position 5 times in 5 seconds. You will hear a ding and the DIC will display "Ready To Learn Electronic Key #X" x represents a number between 1 and 4. If you currently have two fobs and it says it is ready to learn key #3, then just simply press your ignition knob in and go about your day because your fine and there are no other key fobs that are programmed to your car outside of what you have. If you were like me, mine said key #4 and i currently only had one fob, so that meant that there were two fobs that were programmed to my car that i did not have access to. If this applies to you, continue to step 3.

Step 3: Push the ignition knob in to exit out of program mode.

Step 4: Take your fob out of the cup holder and place all active fobs at least 5 or more feet away from the car so that your car can not sense them.

Step 5: Take your physical key and stick it into the driver side door lock and turn it to the unlock position 5 times in 5 seconds, you will hear a ding.

Step 6: The DIC will display "Press Start Control To Learn Keys".

Step 7: Press your ignition control knob, the display will read "Learn Delay Active Wait 10 Min" it will then flash the message "No Electronic Key Detected" and then will go back to saying "Learn Delay Active Wait 10 Min" when it comes up the second time, the countdown begins and it will count down by the minute.

Step 8: Repeat steps 6 and 7 two more times.

Step 9: When the countdown ends for the 3rd time, you will hear a beep and the DIC will say "Ready To Learn Electronic Key #1" At this point, all previous and current key fobs have been deleted and you are starting fresh.

Step 10: Take one of your key fobs and place it into the key fob pocket in the center arm rest with the top facing down and the buttons facing forward. You will hear a beep and the DIC will display "Ready To Learn Electronic Key #2".

Step 11: Do step 10 for all remaining key fobs, up to 4 of them Step 12: Press the ignition knob to complete programming.

Step 13: Press the unlock button on each fob to confirm programming.
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This definitely gave me peace of mind knowing that only the fobs that i had on hand would work on the car. hope this helps someone out. ❤👍💪👏🙏
 
#2 ·
I saw the same thing, in my 2012, two months ago…but was very afraid of deleting my keys…then not being able to drive my car….im still not going to do it, in event of that happening….glad you had the balls to do it….i only got one key with my car, and I programmed a 2nd from my totaled CTS…2 years ago…no one’s come and driven it away as of yet…so I’m gonna leave well enough alone…lol
 
B
#7 ·
I can't get mine to enter the relearn mode. I've done the 5 unlocks in 5 seconds which is impossible. I had multiple people try. My key doesn't move fast enough or something. I think the original owner lost the original key set because I have no key fobs and the actual key is definitely not original. Is there another way to enter the relearn mode? The dealership wants $450 for just a new key plus a programming fee and that's just not doable for me.
 
J
#8 ·
First post the year you're working with. Then call a locksmith and see what they charge. Your circumstance will likely call for a scantool since the system needs to be told that all keys are lost so that it can be reset to position 1 with all slots open. Not all second gen cars can be programmed without a scantool. I believe it is limited by a cutoff year and whether or not the car is keyless entry.
 
B
#9 ·
Sorry,it's a 2010 CTS base model. It has those same directions in my user manual But it doesn't say what to do if you can't get it to go into relearn mode. I read through the service manual somebody posted right all roads lead to a scan tool. Is it a specific type of scantool that's needed, like would AutoZone have one? Or if a friend has a obd2 scanner is that the same thing? I googled it but it's all over the place there's some for 30 bucks some for $2,000. Or is it a locksmith or dealer type tool? Thank you for the information.
 
J
#10 ·
I'd still check with a locksmith they'll do a lot better than the dealer. If you want to do it yourself you'll need a diagnostic scanner capable of programming keys to the vehicle, it should have a menu option that will permit clearing of all existing key data. That's what was necessary in my case recently to make sure the new #1 key fob was registered in the #1 slot, that the computer is told all keys are lost.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Duh….but the statement was made they didn’t have the correct key…they could try this, after removing the door panel, unless its a coupe…

In regards to getting a fob programmed , I was able to self-program the fob I bought on eBay , even without the trunk key. I was able to unplug the trunk ignition and jump the plug with a wire five times... to simulate what happens when you turn the trunk lock five times to get it i to learning mode. After that I had three 10 minute wait times... worked like a charm!
 
#25 ·
This is my first post here. I did not see where brittbreeze had found a working solution for his issue which is the same as mine. If it would be better I could start a new thread on it or maybe moderator could move this. I am going to try to link my video that shows what is not happening.
 
B
#26 ·
CTSNE said:
This is my first post here. I did not see where brittbreeze had found a working solution for his issue which is the same as mine. If it would be better I could start a new thread on it or maybe moderator could move this. I am going to try to link my video that shows what is not happening.
Click to expand...
Never did figure it out but ended up losing my key recently. Called a locksmith with good reviews and he made me a new key for about $380. I added on programming the key fob I had already bought and tried to program myself unsuccessfully. There seemed to be an issue where is was slightly off on a frequency but he made it work. Still can't get it into relearn mode to be able to add additional fobs. However recently someone was driving my car and they were able to unlock all the doors just from the driver side by turning it to the unlock and then unlock again. All the doors open without having to open the driver's side door and hit the unlock button. I said how did you do that? So I'm wondering if maybe I was going from the locked position to the unlocked position instead of just unlocked, back a quarter turn, and then unlock. I haven't tried it yet with regards to getting it into relearn mode yet but maybe try that. I hope I'm explaining it correctly but basically you don't turn it back to the locked position. Kind of like when you're trying to start a vehicle with a almost dead battery like you don't turn it all the way to the off position before trying again just kind of let back on it and then back on. I just had no idea you could do that to unlock all the doors instead of having to open the door and press the button. And I'm wondering if that might have been my problem the whole time.
 
#27 ·
On my CTS brittbreeze if you turn the key twice in the door it unlocks the rest of the doors. I think it shows it in that video I posted at the end of my post but maybe not.
This car was built in the USA, I believe I saw that in the rpo list when I checked, but I definately saw it somewhere. But, the manual says if it was "sold" in Canada, it would need 2 fobs to program another one. I wonder in that situation if it will do this where it will not initiate communication from the door lock procedure.
2012 CTS base model
 
B
#28 ·
$450 later. The locksmith couldn't do it either that way. He had to breakout a machine and took a good hour and a half to get it right. He said something about the radio frequency being off just a tad from what it should have been. He spent a long time figuring it out but finally found one that worked and it's been fine ever since.
 
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