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<center><big><big><b><i><font color="#3333ff">Giammalvo Files</font></i></b></big></big></center>
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<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark Giammalvo specializes in driveability
diagnostics </font><font color="#000000">at his family business,
Sam Giammalvo's Auto Sales & Service, Inc. in New</font>
<font color="#000000">Bedford, MA. </font> </i>
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<i><font
color="#000000">Mark, who has been with the business for
over 20 years, is an ASE Master Technician and Parts Specialist.
He also holds the ASE L1 certification, and has an
associates degree in business</font> <font color="#000000">management.
<br>
Mark is also a writer for Motor Age Magazine and is the past secretary
of the Alliance of Automotive Service Professionals, (AASP).</font></i>
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<big><big><b> Remote And Alternator Woes </b></big></big>
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<p><small><i><font color="#000000">(Printed in the Journal of The Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers, AASP) </font></i></small></p>
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<p> (<small><i>Quite a few of our customers</i> <i>were nice enough
to pass along</i><i> comments to me that they enjoyed my </i><i>style of
writing in several of my last aeticles. </i><i> Well, you asked for
more, so, here it is).</i> <br>
</small> </p>
<p>It all started with a Toyota 4-Runner. One of our customers had
purchased a second key-chain-transmitter from the dealer, for her 4-Runner,
(at a price of $145.00). The customer called us wanting to know if we could
program the transmitter so it would operate her vehicle. The dealer wanted
to charge her $35.00 for this service. Since I had performed the transmitter
"learn routine" on other Toyota products I figured I would give it a try.
Besides, the customer had just purchased the vehicle from us and I did not
feel comfortable charging her for the procedure. How difficult could it be?
Well, I should have bit my tongue! Like other vehicle brands, when you add
additional key- chain-transmitters, the vehicle's on board receiver has to
be programmed to accept the new transmitter as an authorized one. If all
the transmitters operated with the same code, everyone would be opening each
others cars. The procedure makes you do a series of events so the car's onboard
computer will recognize that you want to program transmitters. The
procedure for programming transmitters for the 4-Runner was not in our Alldata
computerized database, so I called Alldata in California and asked them to
send the procedure via fax. Within an hour I had the procedure to program
the transmitters. I was astonished at the steps involved to program a transmitter
for this car. Are you ready? Here it goes: 1) Make sure the driver's door
is open and all other doors are closed. 2) Make sure the key is not in the
ignition. 3) Make sure the drivers door is unlocked. 4) Press the power door
lock switch from lock to unlock 5 times, ending in unlock, and pressing at
1 second intervals. 5) Close the driver's door. 6) Open the driver's door.
7) Again press the power door lock switch from lock to unlock 5 times, ending
in unlock, and pressing at 1 second intervals. 8) Place the key in the ignition
and turn the key from lock to on and back to lock. 9) Remove the key from
the ignition switch 10) Press both the lock and unlock buttons on the new
transmitter for 1.5 seconds. 11) Press any button on the transmitter for
at least 1.5 seconds. 12) The transmitter should now work properly. Well,
the transmitter did not work. Then I went through the procedure again. Still,
a no-go. I went through the procedure a third time, still the transmitter
was inoperative. Well, I sent her back to the dealer where she had purchased
the transmitter. I guess the procedure is worth $35.00. Seems like everything
on cars is getting to be quite the magic act nowadays. I'd like to be a fly
on the wall when their technician goes through the same procedure. I wonder
if he'll be as frustrated as I was after the third time. Well, perhaps the
battery is dead in the new transmitter, perhaps it is not the right transmitter
for this car. Whatever! </p>
<p>While we're were on the subject of transmitters, I'd like to share
another incident with you that centered around a similar problem. A customer
came in this June to request another keyless entry transmitter for her
92 Oldsmobile Cutlas Cieria. I ordered the part, ($99.00, another factory
overpriced part, my opinion of course), and called the customer to come
by so I could program it to the car. The procedure in the 1992 Cieria service
manual is much shorter than the one for the Toyota. That's the good news.
The bad news? The service manual is wrong for the 1992 model year. The
procedure in the 92 Cieria service manual said to: 1) Turn the ignition
off. 2) Jump together terminals A and B of the ALDL (Assembly Line Diagnostic
Link) connector under the left hand dash. 3) Press unlock on one transmitter.
4) Press unlock on the second transmitter. 5) Disconnect
the jumper wire. Well, let me tell you, I must have done this procedure
about six times. The new transmitter would never work. (I was ready to strangle
either the transmitter or the car). Fortunately, this customer was also
very patient. I decided to return to our in-shop library and pull the service
manual for a year older car, a 1991 Cieria. The procedure for the 1991
was totally different. That procedure said to 1) Access the remote entry
connector, (green in color), in the trunk under the left rear wheelhouse
trim. 2) Put a screwdriver between the two terminals in the connector to
join them together. 3) Push any button on the first transmitter. 4) Push
any button on the second transmitter. 5) Remove the screwdriver and reseat
the trunk trim. It worked! But why did I have to use a 1991 procedure on
a 1992 car? Why did the 1992 procedure not work? Alas, it brings back memories
of one of my General Motors instructors. In the past, a GM instructor told
us in class that the acceptable error in a service manual for any car is
20%. Meaning that, if a typical service manual for one car is about 1,000
pages long, in that manual, it is acceptable to have a maximum of 200 incorrect
pages. According to him, the manual has to be at the dealership by the time
the first new car is. Due to that rush on engineering and publishing, this
20% margin of error is considered acceptable. I think that this error rate
is way too high! No wonder technicians spend a portion of their day trying
to figure these cars out. Even the factory service manuals are wrong!
Remember, the repair work we do can only be as good as the printed service
manual. If the reference information from the factory is incorrect, how
good will a repair be based on flawed instructions? Who has to take the
blame when something goes wrong? And, how does that end up being the technician's
fault? Don't make me go there! </p>
<p>Then there was a recent little situation with my car, a 1997 Nissan.
Several weeks ago the alternator started making a whining sound. Not really
new to me as I have recently seen a pattern of 1997 Nissans needing alternators
at low mileage. All replacement alternators today are rebuilt, whether you
purchase them from the dealer or from an aftermarket source. Both the dealer
part and the aftermarket part come with the same 12 month / 12,000 mile
warranty. In addition, the aftermarket part has a considerably lower cost.
With the lower cost combined with the same warranty, we normally suggest
our customers use the aftermarket part. I figured I would be special and
opt for the genuine Nissan alternator. Well, try putting it in. First you
have to either pull the radiator completely out, or, if your brave, pull
the right front wheel off, remove the air conditioner compressor, swing
it aside, then pull the alternator. Although I'm only 34, its getting tiring
working on cars during the day only to go home at night and work on your
own car. (One of the reasons I bought an Asian car. Less repairs, or so
I thought). Anyway, I opted to have our brave staff replace the alternator.
Nelson was the lucky one to get stuck with such a fun job. After pulling
the wheel and air compressor, the old alternator came out relatively easily.
Now try putting in the new one. Well, it has to be the same size as the one
that came out. Oh, really? Not! The Nissan replacement alternator has a larger
bracket than the original alternator's design. Like most things in automotive,
manufactures seem to have a strange mentality. "Design the new one so it
will also barely fit the older models, so that we only have to make one type."
Well, I'm getting sick and tired of that rationale. The replacement Nissan,
or shall I call it "fits all" alternator has a wider yoke bracket than the
original. As a result, the alternator bolt just barely catches two or three
threads. This did not seem right to me. Especially where I bought the genuine
Nissan replacement. I called a friend at the Nissan dealer. He told me that
it was the correct one and, yes, the mounting bolt will hold it, but just
barely. Thinking back to last month, we had another 97 Nissan that needed
an alternator, yet we did not have this trouble. How come? On that car,
we elected to use the aftermarket alternator. In that case, the alternator
rebuilder rebuilds the old unit so you get an alternator back with the same
case and bracket. Serves me right for trying to be different. Well, my car's
on the road again. I hope those two or three bolt threads that are holding
it in will not give way on our local bumpy roads. If you see an alternator
lying somewhere in the street, please pick it up, it might be mine.
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