Redwolf Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 First off, something to get out of the way. Hi! I'm a newbie, please don't hurt me. That said. I have a 94 Regal GS, which I've had for close to a year now. I'm pretty sure that it came with a keyless entry system out of the factory, but the guy who sold it to me said he didn't ever have a remote for it (the car's changed hands 4 times now though, so that could be why ). Reading through my Hayes repair book and the internet, it seems that was a standard feature on those models. First off, if this car does have a keyless entry system where would the receiver for the keyless entry system be located? Secondly, is it possible to have the dealer get me a new remote for the system, or would they have to replace the whole keyless entry system to get it to work again? And if they could just give me a remote, would they still charge me an arm and a leg to reprogram it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossman429 Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 You can see if you have a RKE (remote keyless entry) system by looking in the trunk on the passenger side behind the carpet. If you have RKE there will be a purple wire with a black connector on the end of it. This is near where the antenna goes in the trunk. The dealership can order you a remote, they run about $60-$80 I think. You can get one on Ebay for much cheaper, but no garantee it works, but most do. Read this post for info on programming the new remote. If you pay the dealership to do this for you, you are a fool. http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22204&highlight=program+programme+rke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 $90 plus labor for something that simple? Yeah, you would be a fool to do that Okay, pulled the right-side carpet away. I found a purple wire, but no connector to be found. It seems to go up into a hole. I'll take some pictures to show ya. I'll also have to take some pictures of the power antenna mast for you guys. I solved the mystery of why the power antenna only works sporatically when I saw what a horrible job of wiring these guys did. You'll get a good laught out of it when I get my digicam back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron350 Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 This earlier thread has a picture of the RKE programming wire. http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22204&highlight=keyless+remote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted February 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Pics (I apologize for the incredibly bad quality and bandwidth suckage): That was the purple wire I refered to. It looks like I don't have a connector after all. Ah well, got my hopes up for nothing. In the meantime, look at the really bad wiring job. Hey, *somebody* thought it was practical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99RegalGS Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Look at your RPO Codes. They're located on the spare tire cover. If you have the RPO code "AU0" your car came with keyless entry. I had a similar situation when I got my Regal. The p/o had no clue if it had keyless entry or not (he didn't get any remotes when he got the car). About 8 months later I got my VIN # ran and found out that It had keyless entry. got a remote, IIRC it was $90 and got it programmed for ~$18 (This is before I knew how easy it is to program remotes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted February 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Ok, I fixed that rat nest today, and my hand brushed up against the wire that goes along the top of the trunk. It hit the connector I looked all over for yesterday. So ya, I have keyless entry. Looks like it's time to hit up eBay 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Ok, I fixed that rat nest today, and my hand brushed up against the wire that goes along the top of the trunk. It hit the connector I looked all over for yesterday. So ya, I have keyless entry. Looks like it's time to hit up eBay 8) glad to hear that you found it....when I looked at your pic, I would have bet $ that your car had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Ok, I fixed that rat nest today, and my hand brushed up against the wire that goes along the top of the trunk. It hit the connector I looked all over for yesterday. So ya, I have keyless entry. Looks like it's time to hit up eBay 8) eBay would work, but I had great luck this weekend at a salvage yard. My car is a '90 so it came with the cheaper Wicks box which was long since shot. At the yard I found a '93 Regal GS sedan with the better quality TRW box. Plugged it in my car and programmed the remote.....worked like a charm! I was quite happy needless to say. I'd recommend searching through your local yards before trying ebay. It is kind of a pain to take the backseat out to see if the car has the receiver box, but its worth it when you find one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3.1LUMITIC Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 did the cutty only come with opition or did lets say a 90 lumina euro coupe with everthing i havnt went and looked for wire and clip yet but dont wanna get my lazy ass up and look its been snowing all day :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regal_GS_1989 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 does anyone know where the receiver box would be on an 89 Regal?? I know that this car has every available option. But I can't find the RPO code sticker, and the guy cut out some of the wiring by the antenna so I am not sure if it came with RKE. FWIW, My car has the four Seater Quad Bucket Package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Under the trim panel on the passenger side of the rear deck, or "package shelf" as GM likes to call it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossman429 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Ok, I fixed that rat nest today, and my hand brushed up against the wire that goes along the top of the trunk. It hit the connector I looked all over for yesterday. So ya, I have keyless entry. Looks like it's time to hit up eBay 8) eBay would work, but I had great luck this weekend at a salvage yard. My car is a '90 so it came with the cheaper Wicks box which was long since shot. At the yard I found a '93 Regal GS sedan with the better quality TRW box. Plugged it in my car and programmed the remote.....worked like a charm! I was quite happy needless to say. I'd recommend searching through your local yards before trying ebay. It is kind of a pain to take the backseat out to see if the car has the receiver box, but its worth it when you find one! Hmmmm.... My reciever box doesn't work either...and I don't really want to take it apart and re-solder it. SO when did they switch to the TRW reciver? Can I assume that the older remotes will work on the newer TRW reciever? Can I also assume that the TRW plugs into the harness of the old unit, just plug and play? If this turns out to be true I may have to go hunting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 They've always used TRW receivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossman429 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 They've always used TRW receivers. But did anything change in 1993? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 I don't think so. The one in my 94 convertible was the same old crap as the one in my 89. I think the only difference was the addition of illuminated entry. The one in my 94 needed soldering too, it was DOA when I got the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 They've always used TRW receivers. My 1990 came with a box made by Wicks Manufacturing. TRW came out in 1992 to my knowledge. Hmmmm.... My reciever box doesn't work either...and I don't really want to take it apart and re-solder it. SO when did they switch to the TRW reciver? Can I assume that the older remotes will work on the newer TRW reciever? Can I also assume that the TRW plugs into the harness of the old unit, just plug and play? If this turns out to be true I may have to go hunting In '94 or so they switched to a 2-plug wiring harness that will not work in your car without some rewiring. My advice is to find the single plug TRW box out of a 92-93 car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 They've always used TRW receivers. My 1990 came with a box made by Wicks Manufacturing. TRW came out in 1992 to my knowledge. The one that came in my 89, my 90 TGP, and my stepbro's 90 Cutlass were all TRW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Rockstar Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 did the cutty only come with opition or did lets say a 90 lumina euro coupe with everthing i havnt went and looked for wire and clip yet but dont wanna get my lazy ass up and look its been snowing all day :? LOL.. Too funny.. Basically, if it was a cool feature, we us Lumina owners DID NOT get it.. THis includes RKE.. We didn't get squat in the first gen.. Bewst off to find the setup and hack it in.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99RegalGS Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 In '94 or so they switched to a 2-plug wiring harness that will not work in your car without some rewiring. My advice is to find the single plug TRW box out of a 92-93 car. My Regal has a 2 plug RKE box. Also the single plug RKE box I got for my cutlass is out of a 94 Regal. So it's not a year thing, more like an option thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 In '94 or so they switched to a 2-plug wiring harness that will not work in your car without some rewiring. My advice is to find the single plug TRW box out of a 92-93 car. My Regal has a 2 plug RKE box. Also the single plug RKE box I got for my cutlass is out of a 94 Regal. So it's not a year thing, more like an option thing. That does seem to be accurate. I got my single-plug TRW box out of a 92-93 Regal, but your 93 Regal has the two-plug box. It's weird how GM switched back and forth between formats in the same year. Is the single-plug box functionally identical to the two-plug box? Meaning, does the two-plug box have more features like an alarm or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Okay, got the fob today. I hooked up the programming wire to a ground...and lo and behold, nothing happens. As far as I understand, after a second or 2 the locks will lock and unlock and the trunk release will try to realease, no matter what. I tried buttons on the remote, checking the ground, etc. So I ripped out the back seats, damn near broke the trim pannels (stupid GM and their crap plastic trim), pulled out the back shelf, took a rivet off the back left speaker that made that really annoying noise that's been driving me crazy for a week, and pulled out the receiver box after about 10 minutes of trying to get the wiring harness out of the box (thing did NOT want to come). I pushed the harness for the receiver into the trunk for now, so I don't have to go through all of that again only to realize that I need to do all that again after I buy a new box. I took the circuts out of the box, and out of curiosity, hooked the harness back up to it. and tested the multimeter from the pin inside the circuit that goes to the programming wire to the harness to the ground with the programming wire grounded. That worked, so it looks like the box needs to be resoldered. I'm really not looking foward to resoldering all those connections. :dammit: Just so I can possibly save some unnecessary work, have I completely missed something, or am I going to have to go ahead and resolder? Also, the box (and fob) are TRW, and I did NOT check the FCC ID's beforehand (opps). The guy selling the fob says it should work with 93-96 regals, and the remote shares the same FCC ID with the 95-96 regal fobs also for sale on ebay. Anyone else got a 94 regal (with single-pin programming connector) that I can check the FCC ID against? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 is the battery in the fob good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Try the battery first, maybe even a 2nd remote if you can get ahold of one, but I can't say I've ever come across an RKE receiver that I DIDN'T have to resolder. Also, I think I wrote that you can just resolder the chip, but the more receiver's I've come across, it actually works a lot better if you resolder the ENTIRE box. I don't know if it's worth looking for a different one because any one you get is also likely to need resoldering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Okay, batteries are fully charged (both read a strong 3 volts on the meter). Cleaned the contacts a bit, but the contacts and batteries were both quite clean. So I can safely rule out bad batteries. I will get some thinner today and see what I can do about the circuit board. Not looking foward to this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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