Passive Entry System Problems

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.

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.

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.

Click to expand...

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).