Was: Re: Another bad starting Vauxhall? Now: Central Locking.

the usual fault is that the microswitches at the drivers door lock give up, other faults can include the module behind the kickpanel. I recently had the misfortune to work on an old cavalier with the same sort of fault: drivers door fine on the key, everything else deadlocked: of course it would not pass the MoT ! I eventually found out which pair of wires at the control unit would undo the deadlocking, then disabled the system and told him he would have to manually lock the doors, as he rarely takes any passengers he did not care (he had been using it for 6 months with the other doors deadlocked)

And are these 'std' jobbies that I might be able to source / replace?

Water ingress possibly (with all this weather we have been having)?

When you say 'fine' do you mean fine but just mechanically (as that is all I have now got (till it does it's own thing as I turn off the ignition etc))?

I think mine (luckily) was mostly behaving at the time of the MOT recently.

That would be better than having it unlock all the doors every time I switch off when there is mainly only one person in the car. ;-(

So, the only downside I guess is that the doors are never deadlocked (as it seems you can't undo them from the inside with the button if they are (is that right))?

Cheers, T i m

many cars unlock the doors if the power goes off (it is a common way of opening cars for thieves) the microswitches do not look standard (quite small) the doors cannot be opened if deadlocked without major work.

Ok, well, it seems to have even stopped doing that now. ;-(

Right, I've got the o/s/f door panel off and have had a poke about and it seems as if the microswitch is ok (certainly with a continuity test buzzer on my DMM).

I've also pulled the big plug in the door hinge and that looks pretty clean and fungus free.

So, after seeing the doors unlock as I turned off the ignition but only with the drivers door ajar, does this point to a broken wire(s) in the lead that goes from the door and into the body and to the central locking module (I believe in the f/o/s kick panel)?

I'd like to think I could pull that wiring section out completely and give it a good check out on the bench?

Cheers, T i m

good luck with pulling it all out, I gave what I could a visual inspection in situ and decided not to bother further. if it seems to operate when a bit ajar it would point at a wire at the hinge point.

Ah. ;-(

Luckily I would be doing this for us so time isn't really an issue (as long as it's doable as such). I've seen Mk4 Astra looms for this section on eBay so I'm hoping it is the same with this. Once out I'm hopeful I could graft new bits of (flexy) wire in as required.

Ok thanks.

Cheers, T i m

After kneeling in the damp road in what felt like an Arctic breeze for a hour or two I'd have to say I agree with you!

I've been checking the wiring diagram and trying to correlate what the microswitch does on the drivers door lock versus the switch in the CL motor and the hinge wiring etc.

Standing there with the door held fully and operating the CL via the key and / or the internal button ... it locks and unlocks for say 16 goes and then just stops for another 10 and then starts again? Move the door and it may or may not restart or stop (so the door movement / position may have nothing to do with it)?

You were right though, getting at any of it (of use) is a right pig (especially under the conditions).

So, it looks like the main CL electric function is done in the o/s/f CL motor and switches (M18) and the deadlocking by the microswitch on the drivers doorlock (S41).

Looking at the wiring in the hinge, whilst one of the bigger brown (earth) wires has some cracks in the insulation, all the rest seem pretty lose and flexible. Unfortunately you can't unplug that part of the loom (like you can on later models) and I haven't tried pushing the rubber elbow and door connector plug, back through the hole in the front pillar to check it all out better.

So, what could cause this intermittency (excluding a fractured cable for now), the CL control module?

Again, looking at the diagram it looks like F1 and F20 power the unit so I got it in the non-deadlocked position and then removed both fuses. At least you can still lock and unlock the car 'old skool' and that is far preferable to what was doing of late (when it seemed pretty random when the passengers could get in or out). Unless I've missed something?

I wonder if it would be worth trying another CL control module (K37)?

Cheers, T i m

on the one I did that was my thoughts, and if it had been mine I would have looked out for another one in a breakers.