ALDL USB Cable Instructions

ALDL USB Cable Instructions
This package includes an ALDL USB Cable, a

CD ROM with drivers and ALDL software, and
this instruction sheet.. This cable is intended to
be used with cars and trucks using GM
ECM/PCM's originally equipped with 12 pin
ALDL connectors in the 1982 to 1995 era. For
more detailed information on any aspect of this
cable, you can read information from our
website at www.aldlcable.com
Quick Start Instructions:
1. Boot up your PC or Laptop and insert the
provided CD-ROM
2. Plug the ALDL-USB cable into one of the
open USB ports on your PC
3. At this point Windows will detect the new
device and ask you to browse the CD-ROM
drive for the driver. The drivers are located in
the FT232R directory. Choose the correct
operating system folder for your computer
and click OK, then allow the system to
completely install the drivers.
4. After driver installation, open your Windows
System Control Panel and choose the
Hardware Device Manager. Expand the
Ports (COM & LPT) item and look at the
Properties for the USB Serial port and note
which COM port has been assigned to the
unit. You will need to tell the diagnostic
software package you select which COM
port is being used by the ALDL-USB
5. Plug the 12-Pin ALDL cable into your
vehicles ALDL port and turn your ignition
key forward to light up the dash. You are
now ready to collect data.
The COM port used will be the first available
COM port, usually COM3, but occasionally it will
be a COM port above COM4. Some ALDL
Diagnostic programs will not work above COM4,
so you may have to select a diagnostics
software package that allows operation above
COM4. If you need to operate on COM3 or
COM4, uninstall devices that are currently using
COM3 or COM4. Next, uninstall the ALDL-USB
driver that is using a high port number then
reinstall the ALDL USB driver to use COM3 or
COM4
The ALDL connector has 12 pins in it, of which
only 2 are wired for use in this cable. Serial data
only flows through one of these pins from your
ECM/PCM to your PC computer. Generally GM

cars that use pin E are communicating at 160
baud speed, and the cars using pin M are
communicating at 8192 baud. The pin locations
are labeled inside of the 12 pin connector shell.
Pin M and pin E of our cables are jumpered
together inside the connector shell and go to the
same spot in the circuit. Again, you are only
using one of these pins to read data, so only one
of these pin locations will be populated on your
vehicle. We jumper these 2 pins together so
that this cable will work for any 1982 to 1995 era
car, regardless of the pin layout in the car.
IF YOU HAVE some other make of car that uses
a GM ECM/PCM, such as Lotus, that uses a
different connector type or certain mid-80s cars
that use Pin D of the ALDL connector, the pin
location will probably be different (see
http://winaldl.joby.se/aldldata.htm for a list of
vehicles which may use pin D). You should buy
the Bare Pin Cable from our web site so you
could plug it in to one of these different shaped
connectors or the data line on any ALDL
compatible vehicle.
A 10Kohm resistor is included on the circuit
board. This resistor is needed to jumper
between the A and B pin locations for some late
1980's cars in order for the ALDL diagnostic
data to start flowing (see the R3 section at
http://winaldl.joby.se/aldlcable.htm). If you do not
need this resistor for your vehicle, you can leave
it in the normal position as indicated below.
If there is any question of whether or not your

car needs this 10Kohm resistor, try it in the
normal position first to see if data starts flowing.
You can see a list of software packages
available for your diagnostic needs on our home
page at www.aldlcable.com or on the CD-ROM
included in this package
To use this cable, plug the 2 ends in and start up

your laptop and start whatever data collection or
tuning program software you use, and turn the
car key forward ( but car not running ) to light up
the dash, and start the data stream flowing.
Click the record button in the software package
to start logging data. You can then start the car
and drive around logging data. View data later
on to see and review results.
Trouble shooting: If all the cables are
connected properly but you are still not seeing
data, there are a number of things to check.
When testing any cable, simply plug the USB
cable into your Laptop or PC, and then plug the
12-Pin ALDL connector into your vehicle. Start
up the HyperTerminal program (usually under
Start > Programs > Accessories), select the
COM port the USB cable was installed on
(usually COM3, see above), and select a baud
rate close to the ECM's (for either a 160 or 8192
baud, chose either 2400 or 9600, respectively).
As soon as you turn the car key forward to light
up the dash, but car not running, data patterns
start to stream across the HyperTerminal
screen. At that point you know that proper
communication is happening between your
vehicles ECM and your laptop, and any data
logging program should work.
If you are still having problems after this
HyperTerminal test, check under the device
manager of the system control panel on your PC
to make sure your virtual COM port is active and
has not been disabled. If you don't see any
virtual COM ports enabled, or see red Xs or
yellow circles, then you may need to reinstall the
driver. Begin be removing the virtual com port
that is there and also removing the USB device
further down the screen
If you have a 1996 or later vehicle that has a 16
pin connector, it is an OBD2 compliant vehicle
and requires a completely different type of scan
tool and software. Please see
www.obd2allinone.com to purchase.

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ALDL USB Cable Instructions

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ALDL USB Cable Instructions

This package includes an ALDL USB Cable, a

ECM/PCM to your PC computer. Generally GM

If there is any question of whether or not your

To use this cable, plug the 2 ends in and start up

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