Keyless entry pad question.

[$100horse]

My 96 XLT has a keyless entry pad. Being near the beach, I am guessing that the previous (and only other) owner decided to try and keep it from rusting by having that caramel colored undercoating stuff applied. Whoever did the job did NOT want that thing to rust out. EVER! This stuff oozes out of the X on a hot summer's day. Which in Florida, can last a while.
I was setting the codes for the keyless entry the other day, and, it pushed all they through. Had to take the door panel off and find it, put it back in the hole. Today, it did the same thing. Is there a point where something is supposed to "click"? I don't want to push too hard on it from behind, for fear of pushing out the trim facing on the outside. But, if it's just going to keep falling back in, then, there is no reason to use it. This undercoating stuff is all inside the door panel, and I'm wondering if it might just be keeping the pad from getting a good seal. Or, is that not even an issue, and I'm just not doing something right, or, missing a bracket/mounting clip somewhere?

Thanks.
Jes

 

[Joe Dirt]

The factory pad has a "lip" and a tab lock on it that keeps it from popping out... Do you have a closeup pic of it, and maybe even from behind? It looks to be in place on your intro pics, but maybe something is cracked on there, or you may be missing a part of the retainer...

I thought that the outside trim is attached to the other part, and it installed from the outside- at least that's how I remember it when I removed a keypad at the junkyard...

 

[$100horse]

It was intact when I took the pics. Then, I called the dealer to find the code for the pad, so I didn't take my fob in to the ocean again. NOTE: Key fobs are NOT meant for surfing! Surprisingly, about 20 minutes in the sun, and it's worked great since.
Once I got the code, and started using the pad, I pushed the buttons to lock it, and that's when it went in. Took off door panel, put it back, and, now it's done it again. I see the retainer your talking about. I'll try and get it seated in there until I here it "click" and then post an update. Thanks.
Jes

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread to the stock 95-01 section.

 

[$100horse]

Okay, went to the local pull-it yard this weekend. The problem with my pad is that someone tried to do something with it at some point, and, if you read the thread that tells you "everything you need to know about keyless entry", forgot to silicone the pad back in to the housing. So, tomorrow, I'll just try some RTV and see what happens with that. If that fails, I got an extra one at the yard for $5.35. I can live with that. LOL


Jes

 

[Joe Dirt]

Right on, Jes.

I figured someone had gotten in there and messed around...

 

[kevinspann]

There should be 3 small pins that hold in to the bezel. You could make some out of paper clips, if you wanted, or just put in the extra one you have. You could also put in the 98+ keypad, which looks a little "newer". I did this, and painted the bezel to match.

 

[$100horse]

The nice thing is that for $5.00 and change I can try the whole LED mod a couple of times before I get to a point of it being not worthwhile if I screw the first one (...okay, the first couple) up.