Key buzzer/ Location????

[6caddy2]

Caddy in question, one 1981 CDV, doing the final little sorting out of this car, it dawn on me, "NO BUZZER" sound for when key is left in ignition and drivers door is open, did it make the sound when I brought the car home?, did it work at the time of purchase and inspection of car, at 55 I've hit the turn around place in life for the "CRS" syndrome, therefore I hit the books hard and I studied the wiring schematic, hoping that "CRS" wouldn't set in by the time I hit the garage to sort this out, upon researching this, I have come to learn that this "buzzer" was notorious for being very annoying to some owners and therefore was removed and or the wires where cut??? .

So after reading in the SM for trouble shooting it states where the buzzer "switch" is, up inside the steering wheel, ummm, not wanting to tear into that just yet if it can be helped,(all original 44,000 miles car)so I thought look for the dang buzzer itself and work back from there, well with the time that I (we) have on hand I went completely through every dang thing related to that buzzer, "SM" and schematic's and NO where does it state and or shows where that dang buzzer is actually located at!! , if I can lay eyes on it, test it, if its bad hopefully I can find a replacement, if its good then I'll have to start with the hard part of wire tracing, pulling harness's apart, testing leads etc... and then finally up to the steering wheel for its removal and checking of said "buzzer" switch as instructed in the service manual, it also has occurred to me while typing this out, what if it has been removed, then all the taking apart of parts would really be in vain as there is NO buzzer "box" thing to make the noise in the first place, maybe I'm up in the middle of the night and lost it, everything in the car works as it did when it left the factory except for this, I would really like to have it work, its been my luck that I take everything apart to just find out it was something as simple as a fuse, and yes I did check every fuse and there all good, it also mentioned and shows it is wired through the horn relay as well and it works as intended, I do own an "OHM's meter and love it almost as much as my caddy's, almost, so one thing I have learned here is, ask the dumb question, so as not to dive deep into this problem, that might be solved by simply asking" where is it, which I might be able to avoid taking things apart, and as we all know taking things apart sometimes is well... "the can of worms" problems that we all hate to run across from time to time with our cars and the up keep of them!
Maybe this was a gremlin of sorts for this year and or make for Cadillac and so the key buzzer not working as it should was disabled at some point during its 1st ownership as I'm the 2nd caretaker and still learning about this model year, but I gotta say she's a awesome piece of machinery and runs like nobody's business and the ride, well... you all own caddys here, what can I say, it is also an absolutely well engineered machine and yes she  is "digital" in her workings, and I'll bet 1/3 of her curb weight is in cooper wiring  !

Any advice and or info I would greatly appreciate on this!! Thanks, Joe

[TJ Hopland]

I have not been able to lay my hands on my 80 or 81 manuals for some reason but for that era I believe the buzzer is in the relay block which is above the fuse box which would be above your left foot if you were seated in the driver seat.   I would say it looks like a relay which doesn't help much since at that time it seemed like GM had at least 20 completely different looking relays.

I have not studied the circuits for an 81 but in the earlier to mid 70's the same buzzer was doing at least 3 different functions which required some creative solutions since it wasn't as simple as a line of programming in the body control module.   It was tied to the seat belts as well as the key in which was tied to the doors.   For the seat belts it had to run through the park neutral switch as well as a pressure sensor in the seats.  Just for fun the also decided the same buzzer should sound for the 'stop engine temp' light too. 

The main reason people messed with it was related to the seat belts.   I had understood and fixed the system on one car so when someone else asked me to help them I figured it would be easy because GM usually did things the same but found out quick that at least with those systems early on they seemed to be different every year.   Some years you could simply pull the buzzer but other years doing that would kill something you usually wanted.   Same with the seat belts and sensors sometimes you could unplug them but other years you had to jumper them.   The differences and then general quality of modifications and hackery plus age tend to make a big mess out of these systems. 

You could find the same thing on your 8-6-4 system.   Lots of people did lots of things trying to disable the system.   Easiest and best way was since the system was only allowed to operate when the trans was in 3rd gear was to interrupt that signal.  If it didn't think you were in 3rd it would just keep everything set for 8 and be fine.    Problem with other methods is usually the computer didn't know what was going on so it may have been trying to fuel and time for 4 cylinders when it was running on 8.   I have not worked on a ton of those especially real recently but I saw some pretty creative disasters on those.   Be careful around the valve covers,  20 years ago when I was messing with them they were getting brittle and hard to find so I imagine today they could be worse.   

[TJ Hopland]

Oh ya and I forgot to say sounds like a cool car and the only way it could be better is if it was a Fleetwood Coupe. 

Where are the photos?

[bcroe]

My own approach was to unwire the buzzer from 12V and connect
its power to parking light instead.  I also shorted together the wires
coming from the column key switch.  Now opening the driver door
tells me if the lights are left on.  This is controlled by a second wire
to the drivers door switch, other doors only had a single wire, for
interior lights.  This conversion was so popular at my house, I was
instructed to install a driver type switch in the passenger door too. 

Just pulling that switch wire off killed mine, maybe yours too.  There
was some kind of factory lights buzzer in one car, but my sequence
of pulling key/opening door was so fast it did not work.  Bruce Roe

[6caddy2]

Thanks TJ and Bruce for the info!

I ended up founding out where that dang buzzer is located at, just to the right of the main fuse box!!  I discovered that the slot for it is empty, went to my 79 Fleetwood that I knew  also has the key buzzer and that it works, it's a plastic box with 2 metal flat style pins protruding out from 1 side of it, pushed this into the slot in the 81 and low and behold, annoying key buzzer sound, looked online and found it at Lectric Limited, got one on its way.

Oh yeah TJ, here's the 81 CDV

[TJ Hopland]

Interesting.  Now I want a photo of it out in the sun to get a better idea what that two tone color really looks like.  I don't think I have seen that before.   Anyone know what those colors are called?     Looks like a white interior?  Leather?   And a slick top just to add another twist.   

[6caddy2]

TJ here you go, outside photo of her. She's covered in a Dark waxberry poly, over a light waxberry, light waxberry  leather seats and seat belts with a dark green dash steering wheel and a medium green carpet.

Powered by a 368ci digital fuel injectioned big block, and every inch a Cadillac engine!
Heated mirrors, rear window defroster, twilight sentinel lights, tilt/telescope , cruise, and yes it's a slick top to boot, and yes everything  works with the exception of the key buzzer and that is in the mail as they say., it is however missing the factory floor mats that I'm still looking for, but I've come to the conclusion that I'd stand a better chance at finding a golden hen's tooth, so I'm down to some suggestions as to who or where I should purchase floor mats from!
Hope you like the photos and that everybody who looks at this post is doing well and staying healthy!!!
                         Joe

[TJ Hopland]

Nice. Thanks for posting.   I normally don't like anything green except maybe money but something about it on that car I really like.

[billmorrow]

Caddy in question, one 1981 CDV, doing the final little sorting out of this car, it dawn on me, "NO BUZZER" sound for when key is left in ignition and drivers door is open, did it make the sound when I brought the car home?, did it work at the time of purchase and inspection of car, at 55 I've hit the turn around place in life for the "CRS" syndrome, therefore I hit the books hard and I studied the wiring schematic, hoping that "CRS" wouldn't set in by the time I hit the garage to sort this out, upon researching this, I have come to learn that this "buzzer" was notorious for being very annoying to some owners and therefore was removed and or the wires where cut??? .

*** SNIPPAGE HERE ***

ok, first, WHY would anyone want that damn buzzer.. i ALWAYS yanked them out, root and branch, when i had those cars in that time period..
it was an automatic action, much like breathing, when parking my cars anywhere.. curb the front wheels, take keys, get out and lock the doors..

next, "CRS"..??
is this something i missed while passing through my 50's, 60's and 70's..?

[TJ Hopland]

I still find myself staring at the pictures.   One thing I just noticed is the way the two tone follows the virtual body line and curves along the rear quarter.    I didn't really notice that the first hundred times I was looking.   I'm pretty sure on the cars that late there is no body line there but what the paint did was follow that style that was real strong in the 70's.   It really showed on cars like the Eldorado and say a Monte Carlo.   

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

If memory serves 1981 was the final year a "buzzer" was used in a Cadillac for the key-in-ignition warning reminder. In 1982 they went to an electronic tone generator that was far more pleasant sounding. Personally I'd be tempted to swap in the later tone generator. There are probably not a handful of people on the planet who would ever know the difference.

[bcroe]

ok, first, WHY would anyone want that damn buzzer.. i ALWAYS yanked them out,

The only buzzer I ever hear, is if I start to exit the car with the
lights still on.   I think there was some kind of auto light control
in my 79 (that I never used), but one night it turned my lights
on and left me with a dead battery.  Its gone now.  Bruce Roe

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I still find myself staring at the pictures.   One thing I just noticed is the way the two tone follows the virtual body line and curves along the rear quarter.    I didn't really notice that the first hundred times I was looking.   I'm pretty sure on the cars that late there is no body line there but what the paint did was follow that style that was real strong in the 70's.

A special multi-band pinstripe decal was used on two tone cars to make the break between the colors. I'd hate to imagine having to replicate it now. 

[6caddy2]

Great food for thought on the key "buzzer" sound and going to the "tone" sound Eric! Thanks

TJ, I have countless hours just staring at the way the paint "scheme" was done, and you are correct the body line just disappears right off the back of the door. The more time that goes by as its' care taker the more I love the color and the car, it also happens to be the color of my wife's eyes ! The upper green color that is!

Yes Eric, that multi-band pinstripe took me over 40hrs to replicate, thank goodness it was only for the rear fillers,( I really can't imagine doing the whole car) !! I did not want to replace them, but time was not on my side as with the "arid" conditions here, I wanted them to survive so badly, but that just didn't happen, and I haven't forgotten about full interior photos and high lights of the chrome for you, I saw in an other post that "blue 80 CDV" you sold, WOW!!! what a car that was, that photo gives me drive to get this one there!

Bill, I was taught the same thing as you stated, wheels to the curb, keys in pocket, lock the doors.. I just want everything to work on this car as it did when it left the dealership, I remember these cars of the 80's era very well, wishing I could own one, just 8 months after this car rolled off the factory line,  my skinny rear end rolled off the USMC assembly line and headed straight for some destination only GOD knew where it was, but just thinking about cruising in a "caddy" like this one... well it made me get through "over there" and get my rear end back over here, and look at what I have to take care of today, not to mention cruising in it ! Yeah its the cool factor for sure, key buzzer and all.