2015 Chevrolet Express
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2015 Chevrolet Express Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A guy over in Westlake Village called me about a 2015 Express that had already been through one locksmith before me. He runs a small service operation and the van was sitting in a lot off Thousand Oaks Boulevard, going nowhere.

The previous tech had cut and programmed a replacement remote-head key. But the van would crank, fire briefly, then kill itself. Two seconds of life, then nothing. He was told the body control module was the problem. The other locksmith packed up and left.

I got there and the module was fine. What had happened was a failed key learn, the kind that happens when someone rushes the security relearn timer or bails out of the process before it fully commits. GM's immobilizer on these writes the key provisionally first. If you don't complete the timed learn sequence, the system never permanently accepts the new key. The van remembers just enough to crank and then shuts it down. It is a convincing failure, and blaming the module is an easy exit.

I cleared the incomplete key data through the OBD port, ran a clean all-keys-lost procedure with the full timed sequence, and let it finish without cutting corners. The confirmation screen showed the key written and accepted. Van started, idled, stayed running.

He already had the key in hand from the first guy. He just needed someone who finished the job. I did not charge him for the other locksmith's mistake, only for my time and the correct procedure. He said something to the effect that he wished he had called me first. I get that a lot with these.

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