Drv. Door not remote un/locking?

[zeratul]

Hi - Last night my drivers door would not lock with the remote but would manually with the key. The other door and boot locks as normal, but the alarm does not set (no indicator signal) and drivers door would open as normal.

If I manually lock the drivers door and use the remote the alarm will set so it seems that it may just be the lock in the drivers doors and not anything too serious!

I was going to disconnect the battery tonight to reset the electrics to see if that would solve it noway!

Does anyone know of this being a simple thing to resolve or what I can look for if I take the inner door panel off?

 

[madba]

Hi zeratul, mine does exactly the same intermitantly. Managed to trace it to a broken wire in the rubber tubing between the body and the door. Keep meaning to fix it but it usually starts working after a quick wiggle. Other associated symptoms are that the ecu doesnt realise that the door is open so headlight warning buzzer doesnt work.

 

[zeratul]

Sounds plausible - I'll check the loom asap

 

[chasdrury]

Agreed - when you turn your lights on look if the window switch lights don't work and the light behind the handle - the mirrors will probably not work either.

As Madba said it's a broken wire. Mine was a broken earth, a fairly common problem from what I understand.

Chas

 

[zeratul]

I've messed with the wire loom at the hinge and its still the same. The window switches are still lit with the lights on etc ... and I can still see myself in the mirrors!

 

[zeratul]

When I'm in the car and press the 'lock doors' button next to the handle - the drivers door doesn't lock. What is the mechanism I need to check that you can hear in the other door that makes the locking sound! or will it be obvious once i've got the trim off?

 

[ScottyP45]

its an electric bolt, called a solenoid or actuator that does the operating of the lock, usually a cylinder affair wi a rubber boot on the end with the moving bar that can slide in or out from a half-way position. There will likely be at least 3 wires to it, ground, 12v "lock" and 12v "unlock" - if it nether locks nor unlocks then the ground wire could be broken, or no 12v to the switch (theres one behind the lock inside the door that triggers the solenoids when you turn the key)

Or the solenoid itself could be busted.

 

[zeratul]

Supurb! Many thanks

 

[ScottyP45]

np mate hope that helps

 

[zeratul]

Finally managed to source the problem and as you can see it is more likely to be the above broken wire located (as suggested) in the wire loom between the door and body.

Its just too damn cold to mess around outside to mend it at the moment!!! Will hopefully sort it this weekend.

Thought I'd post a pic as there's not been any image reference to it in the past as far as I could tell.

Anyone know if its posible to unplug the black plug off wires from the yellow socket on the body. (I know if you slide the red clip to wards you it allows the yellow socket to be released into the bodywork, which is no help at all!)

 

[dansansome]

there should be an easy way to unplug the connector, as it seems the only place to allow the wiring to be disconnected to allow door removal!

there is likely to be some kind of catch mechanism on the plug, i'll try and have a look at the maintenance software i have when i get in to see if it sheds any light.

 

[zeratul]

I managed to unplug the connector! Theres simply a release lever the side you can't see that just needs pressing while you pill out.

Anyway, found out there were two wires that had broken.

Once the wire loom was unplugged I was able to release some more wire from the door and hold it all out the way with a grip whilst soldering the broken wires.

Used heat shrink sleeves to hide my dodgy soldering
All works now

Thanks Madba for your winning suggestion and everybody elses.

 

[JimLoskot]

My passenger door is now intermittantly locking/not locking and there is no other way of locking it as there is no key.
Anyway, I tried to get the rubber off to look at the wire but I only managed to get the larger one off.
How do you get the smaller one off?
I was pulling and prizing with a screwdriver but it wouldn't come off and I didn't want to break it.
Thanks

 

[zeratul]

Hi jim. On the otherside of the connector there's a clip to push in while you pull it. See pic below - this should show you what your feeling for!

 

[JimLoskot]

now my passenger door is locked and can't open it.
I did have a quick look at the wiring but it was too cold/diy on the house/kids etc... and the problem seemed to go away but has now returned to bite me on the bum!
Anyone know how I can get the passenger door open to look at the wiring?

 

[JimLoskot]

well luckily the door opened today!
managed to get the plug out but can't see any broken wires, however the plug was wet and had some corrosion on it so i presume this must be causing the fault.
going to give it a good clean and try and get at the female bit of the plug to clean that out as well.
anyone know now how do I get the trim off in the footwell so can pull the plug through.
thanks

 

[zeratul]

Hi Jim. Glad you managed to get the door open in the end without any hassle Sorry - can't help you with the footwell trim, but shouldn't be too difficult. Probably a good idea to grease it up once all back together?

 

[JimLoskot]

Thanks everyone for all the help, spent a few hours yesterday stripping it all down, took all the glove box out and the trim round the bottom of the door frame just pulls away(start from the back).
Got both the female and male parts of the plug exposed and gave them a good clean with some electrical solvent cleaner and put it all back together with a nice big blob of grease smeared over the top of it to prevent any other water getting in.
Checked all the wires and couldn't find anything broken and it all seems to work well again so I'm pleased. Just a shame the washing machine needs a new door seal as well.
Job's a good 'un

 

[martin9k]

i also have this problem i shall try what you have done later