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Posted back in March, but unable to link (Tony???)
If your problem is caused by RF interference (always has poor or no range in the same areas, while other areas it works fine) then the issue resolvable by repositioning the receiving antenna.
All Gen I's have antennas internal to the SAM module. 1996 GTS's also have an internal antenna in their EEM, but if the EEM TSB upgrade was performed, an external antenna was taped under the console as part of the upgrade. 1997's have the under console antenna and 1998 on up have external antennas but they are embedded in the instrument panel wiring harness.
If you have the under console antenna, you're in luck (2001's don't). You can remove one screw from the driver side of the console, (by your right hip if you're sitting in the seat) and gently pull the antenna out from underneath. You can easily find the antenna wire if you look under the dash at the EEM (above the gas pedal mounted on the side of the trans tunnel). The antenna is the thickest black wire there. It's thin gauge coax. If you pull this out, you'll find about 32 inches of coax with a 13 or so inch unshielded antenna at the end. If you take the coax, run it up to the drivers "A" pillar, then flat coil the unshielded section only into the top of a 35MM film canister and wedge it down between the windshield and the dash, you have:
200 foot range in non RF interference conditions (versus the stock 23 feet)
2 ~ 3 foot range in severe RF conditions (versus zero)
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The advantage of this antenna layout is the you can almost directly connect the FOB with the EEM by placing the FOB's antenna (which is from the 9 to 12 o'clock position looking at the FOB face) on the windshield directly over the coil. This tends to overpower ambient RF and flood the EEM with your FOB signal. In the normal straight antenna layout, you can not get the weak FOB transmitter close enough to over power the ambient interference.
On 1998+ models, I do have instructions on how to open the EEM connector to add an antenna, but since I don't have one, I can't verify how accurate they are. Either way, at least you have a start on one possible solution.
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