Trying to add a second key fob to 2018 Tahoe & something happened and none are paired to the truck & alarm keeps going off and can't drive - help!

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jimstem

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Trying to add a second key fob to 2018 Tahoe & something happened and none are paired to the truck & alarm keeps going off and can't drive - help!

Followed the directions for when you don't have 2 remotes paired (bought the truck with only one key fob). Bought a new key fob (oem) online and trying to pair it. Did the 3 10 mins things, hit the start stop, and it said ready for remote 1. Put it in the pocket, hit start stop, pulled it out, hit unlock. Still said ready for remote 1. Tried it again, and then the screen went black. It did not re-pair the original remote. Now I can't get it back into learning mode and every time I try, it sets off the car alarm cause I have zero paired remotes. What do I do in this case to get it back to learning mode? I can't even crank it up cause there are now no paired remotes. URG. Help!
 

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Trying to add a second key fob to 2018 Tahoe & something happened and none are paired to the truck & alarm keeps going off and can't drive - help!

Followed the directions for when you don't have 2 remotes paired (bought the truck with only one key fob). Bought a new key fob (oem) online and trying to pair it. Did the 3 10 mins things, hit the start stop, and it said ready for remote 1. Put it in the pocket, hit start stop, pulled it out, hit unlock. Still said ready for remote 1. Tried it again, and then the screen went black. It did not re-pair the original remote. Now I can't get it back into learning mode and every time I try, it sets off the car alarm cause I have zero paired remotes. What do I do in this case to get it back to learning mode? I can't even crank it up cause there are now no paired remotes. URG. Help!
Best advice I can give you is try disconnecting the battery and start over, otherwise call a locksmith or take it to the dealer.
although I have not looked deeply into it I was under the impression that you could not program a 2nd key/fob without the dealer tool because the security has been increased, but that you could add more if you had 2 working ones already.
and as a general rule if you doing something to it for 30 minutes at a time I would connect a battery charger to prevent issue's from it going dead in the process.
 
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jimstem

jimstem

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Best advice I can give you is try disconnecting the battery and start over, otherwise call a locksmith or take it to the dealer.
although I have not looked deeply into it I was under the impression that you could not program a 2nd key/fob without the dealer tool because the security has been increased, but that you could add more if you had 2 working ones already.
and as a general rule if you doing something to it for 30 minutes at a time I would connect a battery charger to prevent issue's from it going dead in the process.
So thank you for the reply! I finally got it to work after 4 (~35 min) attempts. Yes, you CAN program remotes as long as you have at least ONE working remote (otherwise, you have issues with setting off the alarm). I mean, actually, you can program with NO paired remotes AS LONG AS you have the physical cut key (but again, you'll have issues setting off the alarm).
So I followed the directions in the user manual (also many videos on youtube show it accurately). But when I got to the step where you actually put the key in the slot and hit the start/stop button, pull the key out, hit lock or unlock, it didn't advance and tell me it was ready for remote 2. After 3 attempts, I realized that the DIC does go black after a few minutes but it never leaves programming mode UNITL you hold the start/stop for +12 seconds. Once I realized that, I would attempt the pair the first remote. It wouldn't advance, so I'd put the key back in the slot again, different direction, holding against the front of the slot, etc, until after three attempts with the same key, the DIC came on and said ready for remote 2. Did the second remote with the same issue. Took 2 or 3 attempts to make it pair successfully, but it did. So now, I have two working remotes!!!! Thought I was going insane.
 

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