Delphi Electronics = JOKE

[Alli-max]

I have had MANY GM vehicles in the past, and I believe one of their mistakes is with Delphi. The alternators are CRAP. The remotes to the keyless are useless (sometimes they work a 1/8 mile away, sometimes they dont work at all).

And another thing... whats up with the horn? Does your PS horn come and go as it pleases?? I even had mine turned around at the dealer, and it still works on the days IT wants to.

C'mon GM, you can do better that this.

(off the soapbox.... but still..... I am tired of this nickel and dime stuff with a $40K truck)

[BadDog]

Yeah, what's up with these remote. My old Ram worked great from 30-50+' for the first 6 months of a new battery. I can't get my new Chevy to work from more than a car length away, and sometimes not then. No idea about the alternators, my wife's Bonne has not had any trouble. Her remotes look the same but work better than mine too...

[hoot]

My '97 remote only worked when within a few carlengths but my 2001 works real good. I remember testing it when I first got the truck and said to myself, "They must have increased the range".

Strange that you guys are experiencing poor range. I haven't changed my battery in over a year and it's still working good.

Funny how vehicles are different when they should be the same. I also never had an alternator go bad although there is lot's of documented evidence that they do suck.

So far no electrical problems except occasionally I get the airbag light. Goes out if I restart it.

[LA DMAX]

Alli, I haven't had any problems with alternator or keyless remote. Actually my keyless will work from 50 yards away, and even from the 6th foor where I work. I saw this spread on an alternator from quick start in this months 4wheel off road. You can get it in 140amp, 170amp and 200amp. Their site is alternatorparts.com
Later

LA DMAX

[Andy Chesek]

I own a '97 truck, and in the owner's manual it states the remote keyless entry should work up to 33 feet away from the vehicle. And, my remote sucks. 9 times out of 10 I am waiting at my door for 10 seconds or so before the remote decides to unlock the door.

No trouble with my alternator yet. My dad's 1982 Suburban is still running with the original alternator. They just don't build 'em these days like they used to.

[stretch]

quote - "No trouble with my alternator yet. My dad's 1982 Suburban is still running with the original alternator. They just don't build 'em these days like they used to."

I'm not picking on you 93_Burrito, just using your comments as an example -

15 years ago, the only keyless entry I knew of was Ford with the keypad on the door. It still stupifies me that they still use it today. My point is its easier and quicker to use the key. To be unhappy that your remote doesn't work from a 1/4 mile away is just a little over the top. Although mine works easily at 100 ft, I'm happy I don't have to use the keys anymore (less door scrtches).
As for the alternator issues, ya they suck but compared to older vehicles, they are superior. 20 years ago I worked at an auto parts store and it was not to uncommon for alternators and starters to be replaced every 40,000 miles or so. I recently replaced the alternator on my wifes Astro van, it was the original that lasted 105,000 miles. Sure I was less than pleased, but miles are miles

[Andy Chesek]

Haha,

I never mentioned that I wanted my keyless entry to work while I was a quarter mile away from my truck. I'd be more than happy if my remote worked consistenly from 10-15 feet away. That's all I ask, otherwise it defeats the purpose of having keyless entry. Like I said in my last post, I can stand at the door for 10 seconds or so, press the unlock button 4 or 5 times, and nothing happens. I've taken the remote apart before and cleaned it up, which seems to help for a day or two, then it goes limp again.

Dare I ask which auto parts store you worked for? Most large chains anymore, it seems like you have a 2 in 3 chance of buying junk right off the shelf when it comes to alternators, starters, etc. Plus it seems more and more difficult to find a person working the counter with a decent amount of knowledge. Recently I replaced the starter on a friend's Ranger, but I wanted to test the old one first. The employee at the particular store (a national chain) didn't even know how to hook it up to the test bed. This wasn't a new person either.

.

[hoot]

Burrito,

I found a strange thing happens inside the key fob transmitter. Some kind of oily substance builds on the contacts inside. On my '97, I had to pop it open once in a while and wipe the contact surfaces. Worked much better afterward.

Haven't had to do that over a year with the 2001.

[SoCalDMAX]

I don't see where 93_burrito (welcome aboard, by the way!) was asking for 1/4mi range, just that the thing work from more than a few feet. Mine works from 30-40', up to 75' if transmitting from the upstairs window.

If mine didn't work as expected, I'd replace the battery and if still no joy, then take it to the dealer and have him fix it.

Hoot got me thinking, so I opened the remote up. Almost completely sealed in rubber, probably could withstand quite a bit of splashing but not a run thru the clothes washer. There are no adjustments in it, unlike a lot of older ones I've seen (I tweak all of my garage remotes as well as position the rcvr antenna for max range).

As for the alternator issue, I've read of better aftermarket brands here. Ford is no better WRT to alternators, I'm on #4 on my Mustang, and the factory connector was too short, causing a fire. They gave me a new pigtail with the last alt.

Regards, Steve

[hoot]

SoCalDMAX,

Inside is the grey rubber gasket with the little black "contactors". They seem to get a filmy substance on them no matter how well sealed the fob seemed. Looked like it was outgassing from the materials inside. My '97 did it but my 2001 doesn't.

[ 08-09-2002: Message edited by: hoot ]</p>

[TxDoc]

http://www.alternatorparts.com/

200 Amp--better get a good belt.

[stretch]

93_Burrito
Like I said from the beginning -
quote:
"I'm not picking on you 93_Burrito, just using your comments as an example"

I hope you did not take it the wrong way, The 1/4 mile was from Alli-max's post.
As for the parts store I worked for - it wasn't a chain store, just a local buisness. The parts that were frequently replaced were rebuilts 'cause the cost of new was ridiculous at the time. Failure rates were high. The rebuilder they used isn't even in buisness anymore, I wonder why ???
As for your remote, like SoCalDMAX said - bring it to the dealer. ;)

[Budz]

Try a little dab of dielectric tune-up grease on the contacts to prevent foreign goo from causing poor contacts on the battery.

Bud

[hoot]

It's not the battery contacts, it's the buttons that you depress that make contact on the circuit board array.

[Andy Chesek]

I replaced the battery once, and that did nothing for me. The few times I've cracked the remote open, I've cleaned it up with a can of electrical contact cleaner. The stuff comes in a can a la WD-40, and I spray the liquid liberally (instructions per my electronics-whiz dad), then take a fair amount of time to make sure I wiped off the excess. That more or less provides a rather short-term fix. I'm not too concerned with it, there are other things I can do with my money that take precedence over haggling the dealer for help.

SoCalDMAX,
Thanks for the welcoming. I've perused this board for a while, it just took a long while to give up and register. I first heard about this site on a newsgroup, and since I started following along I've learned a lot. Up until then I was totally in the dark when it came to diesels, no friends or family members ever owned one. Since I don't own a diesel (yet), I don't comment too often. I'm fairly happy with the gasser I have now, but I could really use an 8 foot bed and have kicked myself for settling with a short bed. I planned on keeping this truck a while, but it may make an early exit for a long bed with a diesel. We'll see how the cards play out.

[N.E. TMRPR]

Hey guys, here's an idea on the keyless entry. The performance of mine has also gotten bad in the last couple of months or so. I tried my spare and it worked just fine. With the weather so hot all over the country this year we're all probably using our a/c pretty strong and the remote can get pretty cold. When you get to where you're going, you get out and put the keys in your pocket against your warm or even hot leg. This is going to cause condinsate inside the remote. Just think of your sunglasses when you get out and they fog right up. That would explain the goop and the fact that cleaning with electric solvent is only a temporary fix. Just my own observations.