Help programming RKE transmitter for 2016

[AbelGoddard]

I don’t know the answer to your question, but here’s some info:

You can absolutely find a cheaper route with an official key.

3) if you’re plugged into DC, you can tell the car to stop charging. I’m not sure why one would do that.

4) that’s your remote start. Press the lock button and then hold that thermometer refresh button for 4 seconds. If you’re not within remote range of the car you can use the app to do it. It’s very handy.

5) panic button. Press and hold and the car alarm will go off and hopefully draw attention to it and whatever danger you’re in or need help with.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

Can I get a super basic answer on a piece of this puzzle?

If I acquire a Chevy key that has just those two buttons (or those two plus trunk/hatchback icon...or those two plus the red light icon) - will that work?

Ian

Probably slightly better than snowballs chance in hell odds.

How about countering, my owner's manual tells me I can program a key, but the instructions don't work. What say you Mr. GM Man?

 

[RSC]

Any updates on this? I have two remotes (95199350), but ordered another (94543206) before reading this. I have not tried the procedure in the manual. Has anyone had success with it?

My only reason for the third remote is that the buttons on one of the originals are worn out and partially torn. Really, if I could transplant the electronics from an original into a new body, it would be OK, but I'm afraid that this might be a destructive operation. Has anyone tried this?

 

[AbelGoddard]

So, I was finally able to get the car to the dealer, and their diagnosis is bad batteries in BOTH of my remotes. That diagnosis cost me almost $50. I haven’t been able to get new batteries again yet, so I don’t have an actual resolution. I find it odd that so many of us have the same problem and yet it’s never the car that’s the problem.

 

[EuwingKelly]

If you have a problem with the remote fobs, instead of going to the locksmith, visit the dealership. They probably have best solution to the problem.

 

[AbelGoddard]

I’ve had this car for, what, almost 3 years? I’ve had to replace batteries in both of my fobs at least twice, and one of them 3 times. In NO other car that I’ve had for many more years have I replaced batteries more than once.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

I’ve had this car for, what, almost 3 years? I’ve had to replace batteries in both of my fobs at least twice, and one of them 3 times. In NO other car that I’ve had for many more years have I replaced batteries more than once.

Any of your other cars have Push button To Start? The Spark was my first car with PTS. My somewhat educated guess is that the proximity function is what's causing the primary drain.... change that.... it is indeed because of the proximity function. That being said, is it a poor design causing this? I'm not sure. I've have my Bolt 14 months (with HEAVY use/57k miles), and haven't had to replace the fob battery yet. I have no other first or second what experience to compare it to.

I will say this, when I drove my Spark daily, when approaching the car, I'd reach into my pocket and press the unlock button on the remote. I would then enter the car, PTS, and drive. When you compare fumblef**king with keys and cranking to start, having to simply replace the battery once a year (you can even buy them in bulk and leave them with all your other batteries), it's a worthy endeavor TO ME. The car even tells you the battery it's getting low.

 

[AbelGoddard]

I agreed with your theory about proximity for minute, then thought back to all my other cars. Theory doesn’t hold up, unfortunately.

We currently have a Nissan Rogue that’s PTS that we got 8 months before my Spark. No fob batteries changed.

My Ford Focus Electric was PTS. Not just PTS, I never had to take the key out of my pocket, because the door had proximity and I just touched the door handle to lock and unlock. 3 year lease immediately prior to getting the Spark, no fob battery change. I spent literally zero dollars on that Focus for 3 years, besides the monthly payment and the electricity to charge it. Except for the low range, I loved that Focus. It was a really good car.

Prior to those, I had 2 Accords that were PTS, had then for about 5 years each. Replaced the fob battery on my fob once on each of those, but not my wife’s fob.

This Spark has given me more hassles than most of my other cars. But they’re more like irritations, because they haven’t kept me from using the car except while it was at the dealer to try to figure out what’s wrong.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

That being said, is it a poor design causing this? I'm not sure. I've have my Bolt 14 months (with HEAVY use/57k miles), and haven't had to replace the fob battery yet. I have no other first or second what (Edit should be HAND not what) experience to compare it to.

It sounds like you just solved it, IMO. The PTS remote electronics GM used appear to use a lot more power than competitors technology. Hopefully they changed remote suppliers for the Bolt.

 

[user 1908]

I tried it multiple times, multiple ways - never worked for me either. I broke down and went to the dealership. Cost me $40.

 

[Kermit]

We've had to replace the batteries in our 2016 Spark and 2017 Volt remotes. Never had to in my Ford Taurus (19 years of ownership, but not push to start.) Small price to pay I guess.

 

[ZNuts]

Bump, any update on this? The 2016 I just bought come with only one FOB. I'm texting the sales guy right now to see if he can get me another one.

 

[ZNuts]

btw, I found this, anyone got experience with this specific seller?

https://www.carandtruckremotes.com/2016-chevrolet-spark-remote-key-94543198.html#jmui=f%3A1340%3A305419896%3AbDxGcHBgTo5%40EMl8zj3%40Woo%25

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

Bump, any update on this? The 2016 I just bought come with only one FOB. I'm texting the sales guy right now to see if he can get me another one.

I gave a somewhat technical explanation on page 2 https://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4783&start=10 , as to why the spark owner's manual is likely incorrect about self programming, and someone with a "locksmith grade" programming tool said there was no option to program for the Spark EV, so the general consensus seems to be this can only be done by the dealer. If you find another solution, please fill us in ( I have 2 keys and I'm selling my Spark, so personally the value of the info is minimal, but future owners will appreciate it).

 

[ElDobro]

btw, I found this, anyone got experience with this specific seller?

https://www.carandtruckremotes.com/2016-chevrolet-spark-remote-key-94543198.html#jmui=f%3A1340%3A305419896%3AbDxGcHBgTo5%40EMl8zj3%40Woo%25

That remote is for Sparks that don't have DC charging.

 

[NathanBlackburn]

Battery replacement is the best solution to that problem, i was thinking to hire a locksmith for that work but after replacing the battery my problem has been resolved.

 

[kejava]

Sorry for the dead thread revival but I thought this was important to share my experience. Especially since there appears to be no normal solution to this.

TL;DR
I got this to add my 3rd key fob and it worked:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6B519ZJ

It's called the Universal EZ Installer and here's their direct website:
https://carkeysexpress.com/ez-installer
Their website offers almost zero information about it. You'll get more out of the Amazon page and the reviews.

Also mentioned in this thread, I got my 3rd key fob from this site:
https://www.carandtruckremotes.com/2016-chevrolet-spark-remote-key-94543206.html
I know there was some concern that this may not work with a Spark that has DCFC but this one does. Here are the details:

• GM Part Number: 94543206
• Note, the original fobs are PN: 94543205 but the 94543206 works fine so far
• FCC-ID: A2GM3AFUS04

SOME NOTES / ISSUES:

1. Some multi-megabyte download for GM cars had to get downloaded. So make sure you have a data connection.
2. Had to wait 12 minutes for it do a system scan. I don't think this is typical but I could be wrong.
3. Had to pick between the switchblade fob (does work) and smart fob (didn't work)
4. Asks you to turn the key in the ignition, which you can't do. I tried pushing the blue start button but that may have caused some of the problems I ran into.
5. Had to do the 10 sec push of the blue START button to exit the process.
6. I think that previous step (10 sec push) left the car in a weird state. It kept showing the the little Key/Lock icon in the dash display.
7. To resolve the key/lock thing, I started the key pair process again but exited out before it kept going with the process.
8. Possibly because I exited out of the process in a strange way, I got a few faults in my MIL. Cleared most with my normal OBDII adapter. But it left a persistent one for my parking brake. I think that one will clear on its own.
9. I believe the adapter is permanently paired with this specific car when you use it. So keep in mind that it won't be available to other cars after using it once, just this one car.

For starters, I don't normally buy gimmicky gadgets like this. I have a scantool.net OBDII adapter but I've been using their stuff forever. I don't know anything about "Car Keys Express" but my searching showed they are a legit business.

As others on this thread have pointed out, the standard 5 turn key method in the driver's side door does not initiate key pairing. So I looked around for what people do via the OBDII interface. Turns out, that's the other way. There's some fancy software pointed out in this thread that looks like it might work but I wanted to try something cheap/simple.
Also, I want to understand how they do this. I have a Kvaser CAN bus transceiver that should work fine for sniffing the bus traffic. I might be able to see what they are reading / writing and come up with a more reliable solution. It's very annoying that this required a special OBDII adapter just for setting it into pairing mode.

 

[ahmad]

I had precisely the same experience as telero, then again, actually Chevrolet corporate client service never hit me up. The unprogrammed key is as yet sitting in a cabinet. Vendor needs $80 for 30 seconds of work, and will not submit it under guarantee as a product imperfection. (Novato Chevrolet.
Roger, the assistance manager, is the most horrendously awful client care representative I've at any point gone over.)

 

[Porsche]

Anyhow, the manual for 2016 doesn't seem to exist...

You can find the 2026 Spark EV owners' manual here:

https://experience.gm.com/support/v...dex=1&year=2016&make=Chevrolet&model=Spark+EV
You can select pretty much any Chevy manual there. (this used to be a sticky post?)

 

[friendof83]

Sorry for the dead thread revival but I thought this was important to share my experience. Especially since there appears to be no normal solution to this.

TL;DR
I got this to add my 3rd key fob and it worked:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6B519ZJ

It's called the Universal EZ Installer and here's their direct website:
https://carkeysexpress.com/ez-installer
Their website offers almost zero information about it. You'll get more out of the Amazon page and the reviews.

Also mentioned in this thread, I got my 3rd key fob from this site:
https://www.carandtruckremotes.com/2016-chevrolet-spark-remote-key-94543206.html
I know there was some concern that this may not work with a Spark that has DCFC but this one does. Here are the details:

• GM Part Number: 94543206
• Note, the original fobs are PN: 94543205 but the 94543206 works fine so far
• FCC-ID: A2GM3AFUS04

SOME NOTES / ISSUES:

1. Some multi-megabyte download for GM cars had to get downloaded. So make sure you have a data connection.
2. Had to wait 12 minutes for it do a system scan. I don't think this is typical but I could be wrong.
3. Had to pick between the switchblade fob (does work) and smart fob (didn't work)
4. Asks you to turn the key in the ignition, which you can't do. I tried pushing the blue start button but that may have caused some of the problems I ran into.
5. Had to do the 10 sec push of the blue START button to exit the process.
6. I think that previous step (10 sec push) left the car in a weird state. It kept showing the the little Key/Lock icon in the dash display.
7. To resolve the key/lock thing, I started the key pair process again but exited out before it kept going with the process.
8. Possibly because I exited out of the process in a strange way, I got a few faults in my MIL. Cleared most with my normal OBDII adapter. But it left a persistent one for my parking brake. I think that one will clear on its own.
9. I believe the adapter is permanently paired with this specific car when you use it. So keep in mind that it won't be available to other cars after using it once, just this one car.

For starters, I don't normally buy gimmicky gadgets like this. I have a scantool.net OBDII adapter but I've been using their stuff forever. I don't know anything about "Car Keys Express" but my searching showed they are a legit business.

As others on this thread have pointed out, the standard 5 turn key method in the driver's side door does not initiate key pairing. So I looked around for what people do via the OBDII interface. Turns out, that's the other way. There's some fancy software pointed out in this thread that looks like it might work but I wanted to try something cheap/simple.
Also, I want to understand how they do this. I have a Kvaser CAN bus transceiver that should work fine for sniffing the bus traffic. I might be able to see what they are reading / writing and come up with a more reliable solution. It's very annoying that this required a special OBDII adapter just for setting it into pairing mode.

Sorry for the dead thread revival but I thought this was important to share my experience. Especially since there appears to be no normal solution to this.

TL;DR
I got this to add my 3rd key fob and it worked:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6B519ZJ

It's called the Universal EZ Installer and here's their direct website:
https://carkeysexpress.com/ez-installer
Their website offers almost zero information about it. You'll get more out of the Amazon page and the reviews.

Also mentioned in this thread, I got my 3rd key fob from this site:
https://www.carandtruckremotes.com/2016-chevrolet-spark-remote-key-94543206.html
I know there was some concern that this may not work with a Spark that has DCFC but this one does. Here are the details:

• GM Part Number: 94543206
• Note, the original fobs are PN: 94543205 but the 94543206 works fine so far
• FCC-ID: A2GM3AFUS04

SOME NOTES / ISSUES:

1. Some multi-megabyte download for GM cars had to get downloaded. So make sure you have a data connection.
2. Had to wait 12 minutes for it do a system scan. I don't think this is typical but I could be wrong.
3. Had to pick between the switchblade fob (does work) and smart fob (didn't work)
4. Asks you to turn the key in the ignition, which you can't do. I tried pushing the blue start button but that may have caused some of the problems I ran into.
5. Had to do the 10 sec push of the blue START button to exit the process.
6. I think that previous step (10 sec push) left the car in a weird state. It kept showing the the little Key/Lock icon in the dash display.
7. To resolve the key/lock thing, I started the key pair process again but exited out before it kept going with the process.
8. Possibly because I exited out of the process in a strange way, I got a few faults in my MIL. Cleared most with my normal OBDII adapter. But it left a persistent one for my parking brake. I think that one will clear on its own.
9. I believe the adapter is permanently paired with this specific car when you use it. So keep in mind that it won't be available to other cars after using it once, just this one car.

For starters, I don't normally buy gimmicky gadgets like this. I have a scantool.net OBDII adapter but I've been using their stuff forever. I don't know anything about "Car Keys Express" but my searching showed they are a legit business.

As others on this thread have pointed out, the standard 5 turn key method in the driver's side door does not initiate key pairing. So I looked around for what people do via the OBDII interface. Turns out, that's the other way. There's some fancy software pointed out in this thread that looks like it might work but I wanted to try something cheap/simple.
Also, I want to understand how they do this. I have a Kvaser CAN bus transceiver that should work fine for sniffing the bus traffic. I might be able to see what they are reading / writing and come up with a more reliable solution. It's very annoying that this required a special OBDII adapter just for setting it into pairing mode.

Thank you for that detailed experience report, and I'm wondering what exactly was the successful process that was used to program the fob?

I have a 2016 EV and just ordered the same device and already have a new fob with flip key cut to fit this car from the last original key.
I noticed starting in 4. you reported "can't turn key, pushing blue start button, caused problems and then exiting". I'm just wondering if you managed to find the protocol to successfully program the fob without the errors? Do I need to be on the ready with the "OBDII adapter" that was mentioned, any specific make or model and or app that you used ? Thank you.