what am I doing wrong? I made the cable as per schematics. I'm not new with electronics at all. I triple checked the resistor that it was the right way. All parts are brand new. I tried it with the #4 pin as the 12v source, and then tried an outside battery 12v source (from the cigarette adapter) and neither worked. There are no shorts in the cable. Am I just using WinALDL wrong? I selected the proper ECM but still got no readout.

 

Is your cable wired to get signal data readings from pin "E" & "M" of the ALDL. I think that pin "E" is for 160 data and pin "M" is for 8192 data.

 

I have no idea what you just said... lmfao
I only know the basics of ALDL (ie the schematics lol)

 

I searched the archives and a lot of people are having ALDL cable problems when they do it themselves. What gives?

 

this is the schematic i have followed:

 

Here is a link to a post on the DIY PROM forum that might help you Token. I wasn't trying to confuse you and glad you got a good laugh out of it.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=226589

P.S. Glad to see you finally got the problem solved with your beastie and it is running again.

 

oh, so instead of using A I'd use M?

I broke one of the leads off the transistor so I have to go all the way back to radioshack soon.

 

No, you would still have to use pin "A" since that is the ground for the ECM. They are talking about using pin "M" instead of pin "E" although you can use both pins if you would like.

 

I need to know how to identify an NPN transistor, that way I can fix my cable and test it again tomorrow evening!

 

You can check the transistor E-B junction with an ohmmeter (2K or higher scale only!) and observe the forward polarity, just like checking a diode.

You could check the device number against any of numerous cross references, like NTE, ECG/Sylvania, Motorola, etc. Here's an easy one: http://nte01.nteinc.com/nte/NTExRefSemiProd.nsf/$$Search?OpenForm

You could also just run to you local supplier and get any small NPN (silicon only) switching transistor (small like a TO92 case) and get on with it.

 

it's not a big deal, I can get a new transistor for pennies. I was just wondering because I wanted to get readings ASAP. I'm only a few miles from RadioShack.