1990 Park Avenue help

[Barney Eaton]

I received a message from the owner of a 1990 Park Avenue attempting to reprogram the remote controls. He cannot find the connector that needs to be grounded...........

Does anyone have a service manual and know where the connector is located?

[NTX5467]

I put "aldl assembly line diagnostic link" into Google and found (on about the 4th page of listings) the following page on similar year Cadillacs (which should be the same for Buicks and many other GM vehicles of that model year).

http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/cad93rke.html

Many of the other pages found in Google dealt with the ALDL, but only in a code download or computer terminology for reading the data stream. The listed page describes the ALDL, descriptively and in illustrations, with respect to reprogramming the Remote Keyless Entry key fobs (I suspect that's what you mean by "remote controls").

A few things to be aware of . . . the RKE transmitters MUST be the exact ones for the vehicle--period. Many of them look alike and might have similar numbers on the back of the transmitter, but the GM part number/ID stamped on it must be exactly correct for the vehicle and model year. If the transmitter is not the correct one for the vehicle, it will not program fully or act correctly. If the particular transmitters did not come with the car when new, AND are Factory GM equipment (not aftermarket or GM Accessories security system upgrades), then verifying that they are correct for the car (via the GM Parts database at a dealership) is very important.

. . . As mentioned, ALL transmitters that will be used for the vehicle need to ALL be at the same place at the same time (i.e., with the car) as the reprogramming is attempted. They ALL must be programmed in the same session, NOT one now and others later as for the programming to take place, all memory in the transmitters' receiver must be cleared as part of the reprogram procedure. I think that a total of three transmitters will be recognized by those earlier systems.

. . . Make sure that the battery in each of the RKE transmitters is recent and charged. If the battery is dead, the transmitter will not work (I know that's pretty elementary, but some people don't understand that or know that there's a battery inside that can be changed by carefully prying the two case halves apart). The batteries can be sourced at the dealership or at most any full line battery display (i.e., at WalMart or similar)--just match the number designation on the battery itself, as in "CU2032", and everything should work fine. As with all batteries, there is a "+" and "-" side, so installing it in the RKE transmitter correctly is also important.

. . . There might be a lot of commonality between the various carlines in GM with respect to their keyless remote transmitters, but they are NOT generic by any means. For example, one vendor might have supplied all of the full size Buicks, Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles units whereas another vendor might have supplied the same things for the smaller cars of those same carlines. Model year is important too. Yet the cosmetics of the key fob transmitters themselves can be highly similar.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[Guest sixpack2639]

The "ALDL" connector is the connector that is used for scanning and retrieving trouble codes in the computer (OBD2 system). The connector is usually located on the drivers side under the dash where it would be easily accessable. They are at times covered with a clip in cover. Most are directly below the steering column.

FYI, I recently programmed a new fob for my daughter's 95 Park Avenue and found the diagram showing which terminals in the ALDL to cross was upsidedown. Once I realised this it was easy to finish the job.

Hope this helps, Carl

[Reatta Man]

Barney,

Doesn't that car have the single gray wire with the green connector above the fender well in the trunk?

Joe