biglg

LMAO, I am patient guys. I have waited 10 minutes b4. It isnt me!

As for the antenna. I cant imagine that makes it double the distance. However, I guess I have to take your word!

ZX1100F1

It is you Landon! And quit asking everyone to repeat what they already wrote once.
Maybe it's time for you to upgrade that Commodore 64 huh?

TMW597

I'm looking for a little clarity on this.

First off is the remote start module and antenna assembly on the driver side or the passenger side of the vehicle? ZX1100F1 says "right rear corner" yet, jlenkows says, "...poked about 2 inches of it out of the trim at the d/s rear window." So again just looking for a definitive on which side this is located. Also what exactly does the part look like, color, shape, size?

I totally understand you on the range though jlenkows. I had a 2003 Ford Expedition with remote start and I was able to get about 3 and a half city blocks out of it. I'd say at least 4 football field lengths.

I also found and ordered this: Crime Guard AUANT Dipole Extended Range Antenna. Crime Guard's AUANT range-extension antenna can be used to increase the remote control range of any car alarm with an external antenna.

Overview: This antenna can be used to help extend the remote control range of any car alarm with an external, single wire antenna. The antenna is constructed with a 2 conductor cable, and the ends of the leads are bare wire. One lead has clear insulation and the other has black insulation; the clear wire connects to your alarm's existing antenna lead, and the black wire should be connected to the ground wire of the alarm. There is double-sided tape at the point where the cable attaches to the dipole antenna elements, so the dipole portion of the antenna can be easily attached to your vehicle.

Found it here at Crutchfield.

I plan on installing it next week once I find out exactly where to track down the antenna wire.

jlenkows

Sorry for the confusion.... When looking head-on at the vehicle, the Right side is the driver's side. If you remove the D pillar trim (the rear with the speaker in it) in the only bunch of wires following the pillar from top to bottom, you'll see a copper wire with clear insulation. That is the antenna wire. Just pull the end of the wire out of the bunch and that's it. If you have the side-curtain airbag option, BE CAREFUL!!!! The deployment system is under this trim as well!!


Let me know how this thing works - I'm beyond interested in it. In my 04 Avalanche, I had a Viper remote starter installed and was able to hit it from an incredible distance away. Being in NY, when it's snowing or really cold out, you really want to get the truck started BEFORE going outside. Where I work, I usually park in no-man's land (to avoid the dings) and I was able to start the AV from inside the building 5 minutes before walking outside to go home. If I can get that kind of range with the Tahoe, I would be ecstatic.

TMW597

Thanks jlenkows!

Just to be sure we're talking the pillar that is above the rear driver side door window, or is it the far back pillar above the driver side cargo window? (I'm thinkin' headliner here by the way running horizontally.)

OR

Are we talking the thin, vertical panel that is in between the front and back door on the driver side, or the somewhat thin, vertical panel in between the rear door and the cargo area window on the driver side. I'm only asking this because of the speaker reference. My furtherest rear speak is in the back foo-

I actually stopped in the middle of writing the above, went outside and looked in my truck. Disregard the above questions. I left them in though for others that might not be clear down the road. I now see exactly where this pillar is, as I wasn't even aware that grill in the very back was even a speaker. (Hey, I never sit back there, I'm always driving! Ha, ha.)

So for those in the future that are confused like me this panel that we're talking about, to find your antenna for the RKE, is the vertical panel in the far back corner driver side of the vehicle, in between the back tailgate door, and the cargo area window. See pictures.

Hope that helps on that! (And I hope that I'm accurate.)

As far as the external antenna, I should have that in by week's end. I'll come back and give you a progress report on it. I plan on mounting it on the back cargo area window, driver side.

Cool.

[IMG]local://upfiles/5036/4CA04E3E86024740BD774E17DED7FB9D.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/5036/A0F0A4890AFE47B0B4704D2C4FCC3C64.jpg[/IMG]

jlenkows

You got it right on the money.

I went to Crutchfield and chatted with their on-line techs. I asked if the antenna can just be grounded to a regular grounding point instead of to the RKE/security device and they told me that it can be, but it's recommended to be grounded at the device itself. If you locate where the RKE/Security system is, please let me know.

ALSO.... different topic...

I noticed in one of your pictures that you have the cargo cover. Did you get that with the truck, from the dealer, or 3rd party??? I've been wondering about it for the past couple of weeks (give or take) as I want to be able to keep things in the back but not in the public's view.

TMW597

Ha, ha. Good eye there catching the cargo cover. I honestly don't really need it as my windows are pretty much painted black with tint, but it's just a little more neat and tidy, so that's why I use it. As far as obtaining it. The day I took delivery of my vehicle, I walked right into the GMC parts department and asked them to order a cargo shade for the Yukon XL. It came 2 days later. For those that have the Yukon XL's or the Suburban there are two notches on the sides of the cargo area so you can adjust the shade to cover the area if you have the 3rd row seats in or out. Pretty nice. It was like $120 or somethin' like that. I'm sure you can find it cheaper on a GM Parts website. It will probably only be by a few bucks though.

Now back to the RKE unit. Has no one been able to find the actual "box"? I have schematics for the entire RKE. I can email them if you want to take a look. I really want to find that box since I'm going to have my truck all torn apart next week doing audio/video installs.

jlenkows

I'll see what I can find online for the cargo cover. Thanks for the info.

I PM'd you about the schematics.

The only person that could help us here would be ZX... Unless you really feel like tearing the thing apart and tracing the antenna back to the source...

ZX1100F1

The Remote Control Door Lock Receiver (RCDLR) is located back underneath the rear d-pillar molding, the wire antenna is plugged into the unit, it's data-linked via GMLAN L/S 33.33 Kb/s with the Body Control Module (BCM).

jlenkows

Is it floor mounted on mounted to the pillar?? I presume it's on the driver's side as well??? Does the RCDLR get powered at that location or from elsewhere in the vehicle??

Thanks for the info....