FAQ: Programming a New Keyless Entry Remote

Thanks Larry, so while you were programming the first two, you had a third standing by and did it?, or did you add the third at a later date?

You can't program one later. All the remotes you wish to program MUST be done at the same time. When you jump out the DLC, program all 3 remotes in succession and then pull the jumper before you shut the ignition off.

That's what I figured, but when we tried to program the third remote after successfully programming the first two, the third did not respond?

BMD wrote:

That's what I figured, but when we tried to program the third remote after successfully programming the first two, the third did not respond?

Are all the remotes the same part number? If so, I would think the 3rd one is somehow defective or has a weak battery. When you jump out the DLC, it erases the memory. You have to program them one after the other at the same time.

On the 98's, you can program up to 4 remotes.  That might not be the case for all years.  I see on the first page of this thread, the 94-95's, you can only program 2.

Ok, thanks Larry.

I dunno why this post didn't send but let's try again... I've got a '97 that I recently bought a new remote for. I jump #4 and 8 in the OBD connector, close the door, and turn the key to "on". The car does not acknowledge any sort of programming mode. Forging ahead regardless I hold the lock and unlock buttons on the fob for as long as 40 seconds and nothing happens. It seems my car isn't going into programming mode. Any thoughts on this? Is the '97 unique or is my keyless entry module broken? The owners manual mentions no procedure for programming a new remote, though it does say keyless entry is present on my car. Perhaps I could use a GM TechII to initiate programming mode via the computer directly? I tried it with some chinese $5000 tablet OBDII reader/scanner thing but it kept borking and refusing to acknowledge the existence of my car.

I would double check that the correct pins were jumped and that they are making a good connection. Once you are sure of that, try the procedure one more time just to make sure it wasnt a fluke. If its definitely not working, the receiver for the key fob in in the trunk mounted up where the 6x9 speakers are located. I would inspect that for damage to the unit or wiring. If everything looks okay, the unit might be bad? Ive never heard of one failing but I imagine they can be swapped out of any 8th gen Riv and will just have to be programmed to your key fob. I would say damage to the wiring somewhere would be a more likely situation though.

Aaah, so that's what the big shiny plastic thing under the deck lid is? I noticed that when I replaced the 6x9 speakers but had no idea what it is. How could I verify the connection of the pins? Check for continuity across them with a multimeter? I've done the procedure two or three times using various objects to jump the pins with no success.

The DLC is mounted up side down which confuses some. The wider end is the top where #1 -8 is. Make sure you are connecting 4 and 8.

My DLC isn't mounted at all, lol. I have verified that it's 4 and 8 and also verified that there are metal contacts in those two holes. I'm very confused at this point.

Be careful not to touch wire to wrong terminal or you can short out all kinds of things, Happened to me when I brushed the wire up against one of the other terminal as I was trying to jump #4 to #8

OK. So... I bought a remote for my Saturn and it is the biggest chinesium POS on the planet. I mean total POS. The rubber pad doesn't fit well and the buttons get stuck. Yada yada. I want a fob as good as the OEM one. And I really don't want to pay $80 like I saw on one site. Especially if that $80 one turns out to be total garbage. Where can I get a GOOD fob?

Yardley wrote:

OK. So... I bought a remote for my Saturn and it is the biggest chinesium POS on the planet. I mean total POS. The rubber pad doesn't fit well and the buttons get stuck. Yada yada. I want a fob as good as the OEM one. And I really don't want to pay $80 like I saw on one site. Especially if that $80 one turns out to be total garbage. Where can I get a GOOD fob?

Try calling junkyards.

LARRY70GS wrote:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Key-Fob-Original-GM-25678792-Keyless-Entry-Remote-Control-Transmitter-Alarm-/282508234226?fits=Year%3A1996%7CMake%3ABuick%7CModel%3ARiviera&epid=206449884&hash=item41c6cd8df2:g:bZMAAOSwhQhY0Xra&vxp=mtr

This looks exactly like the one I bought. Can't confirm as my ebay history doesn't go back far enough.

Got a used one off ebay in really good condition. Programming it with the instructions on page 1 here worked like a charm. It took me a couple of tries until I figured out to just hold the buttons down until they registered. Took almost a minute of holding for each fob.

I still have bent paperclip in the car. The remote is nice, though, for anyone who might use the car and be in a parking lot where security is compromised.

We adopted grandma's Cobalt that is totally base. I bought power lock kit on ebay and hope to get that installed before the first snow. Like programing, it all should work per instructions.

Everyone keeps mentioning jumping pins 4 and 8. Only once did I see a reference of exactly how to determine just which pins were indeed numbers 4 and 8. So... as I understand it, in the OBDII connector under the dash, in the top row of pins I count from the left 4 pins over, then another 4 pins over (pins 4 and 8 counting in the top row from left to right) and jump those two pins?

I want to make sure i get this right.

thanks