Remote central locking problem.

[Southernboy]

On Friday morning my remote / key central locking was working perfectly. On Friday afternoon I went to the shops, got out and pushed the key button to lock - nothing. Opened and closed the door - still not working.
Used the key to lock the car went into the shops and when I returned used the key to unlock.
Got into the car and as usual I used my elbow to push the lock button on the door down. I then put the key into the ignition and switched to Position 2. Surprise !!! the doors all unlocked themselves.
I switched off and pushed the door button down again - turned the key and "pop" up they came..
So, started the car, and then pushed the door button down - it stayed down.
Anyhow... I got back home, went in to fetch my spare and went through the key initialising routine...
Close doors etc etc, turn ignition key to position one remove the key, hold unlock button and press lock button 3 times, release all buttons..... locking system should have gone through the lock / unlock sequence - nothing !!!
I tried several times with the same result. And now if I get in, push the door button down and turn the ignition on, the button doesn't pop up anymore....
So........... any smart geek types who understand the system that can help me with sorting this out ???

BTW - I have the EWS3D and the "General Module" setup. The only alarm I am aware of on the car is a motion sensor in side. I once opened the boot when I was sorting the catch position whilst the car was still locked with the remote / key button.
I am aware that the transmitter / receiver Antenna is fitted into the rear view mirror, the EWS is adjacent to the steering column under the dash, and the central locking transmitter / receiver module is under the dash on the passenger side.
My facts may be incorrect because I also seem to recall reading that the "general" module might be the box which controls central locking vs a separate control module...
RealOEM shows a separate transmitter / receiver module PN 61358379502
And the "General Module / EWS 3D" PN 61359395662

Any help appreciated..

 

[NZ00Z3]

Hi

The loom of doom on the boot lid is the usual cause of central locking problems. But before you jump into that job lets do some diagnostics first.

Do you have an Infra red or radio frequency central locking system. The IR system has one extra step when you are synchronising your keys to the car (caught me out a good one). The IR system has a 2 button key with a clear LED and a red clown nose on the bottom of the mirror. The RF system has a 3 button key and a black clown nose. If you have an IR system, I can provide the sychronising steps. You can check the IR key is putting out pulses by looking at it through a digital camera and pressing the key buttons

Hope this helps

Murray

 

[Southernboy]

Hi Murray.
Thank you for your reply.
I have the zke system. I don't have the IR system, and I don't have INPA.
Sounds like I'll have to take it to a buddy who has a diagnostics tool and have him do the monitoring checks to determine the cause.
At this stage the key activates all the actuators via the door lock only.
I've downloaded the 2 PDF's and will have a good read through them. That doesn't mean I'll actually understand them...
Any ideas on the weird phenomena of the key popping the unlock when I went to start the car?? That kinda threw me. I thought I was in for a simple key initialising process... until that happened..

 

[Southernboy]

Maybe a dumb question... if the key will lock all doors from the driver door, doesn't that indicate that all the actuators are working ?
Which then would indicate that the problem is in the receiver / transmitter or the GM module ??
I did take the key to the local locksmith who tested it and he tells me the key is transmitting, so I can rule out that as a source.

 

[Southernboy]

Also... what version of INPA should I get if I decide to get it?
There appears to be quite a variety of options...

 

[NZ00Z3]

..

 

[Southernboy]

Cool !! That's exactly the version I downloaded today... Now have some cables on order to connect up with...
Thanks a mill Murray.

 

[Southernboy]

Quick question - Can you use your key in the boot lock to lock the entire car?
At this point it seems that if I use the key in the driver door it will lock the entire car. From the boot, I can unlock the entire car, but not lock it.
Locking at the boot doesn't activate the doors and definitely doesn't activate the boot actuator.
If it should lock the entire car at the boot, then it appears the fault will be the boot loom.

 

[jonco]

Quick question - Can you use your key in the boot lock to lock the entire car?
.................. then it appears the fault will be the boot loom.

You should be able to lock/unlock from any key point. The symptoms indicate the usual suspect i.e. loom of doom fault but an actuator can throw up problems as well.

 

[Southernboy]

Thanks buddy.... I just spent an hour with a multi meter checking the boot loom - it's all 100%
I removed the actuator and checked it's circuits - also 100%
I put it all back and still no luck.
Then.... what I noticed was that with the key in the driver door lock, it would lock the system very quickly, but the unlock function was a little slow and sometimes required a second twist of the key.
I opened the door and pushed down on the door button. It won't go down with the door open. But when I closed the door and turned the key to lock, it now responded immediately.
I then took the key out the door lock and pressed the unlock remote button which has been working fine, then pushed the remote lock button and voila !! the lock button worked too... so all working again... But at least now I know where to go looking. There's obviously an issue with the driver door lock system where the push button on the door has an effect on something in the operation.
I'll strip it out on the weekend and give it the treatment with switch cleaner etc etc.
Thanks to all for the support and advice etc... truly appreciated.

 

[jonco]

........There's obviously an issue with the driver door lock system where the push button on the door has an effect on something in the operation.

Barry - The push button is a mechanical linkage to actuator with a hook insert - if you look on real.oem you can see layout . This is a typical (passenger side) but not same model as yours.

 

[Southernboy]

Cheers mate... I'll just pull the whole thing out and give it a service. If it's working now, it's probably a connectivity issue then.

 

[Pingu]

You should be able to test all your actuators by locking/unlocking the driver's door, then locking/unlocking the boot. All the actuators should work on both tests.

If the manual key test works, the problem is either electrical or electronic and lies between the key button and the connection to the master actuator.

 

[Southernboy]

Thanks mate - The "master actuator" being in the driver door appears to be where the fault lies. If that isn't making the connection with the remote, then as you suggest it's electrical or electronic. I find that when I give the driver door a good bang on closing, then the system works, everywhere with the remote. However, it's obviously a connectivity issue because it will stop working the next time I close the driver door and that then prevents the boot actuator from working with either the remote or manually with the key.
I was looking at the possibility of the GM IV module being at fault with one of the 3 relays in it which are responsible for the central locking, but as I said, a solid slam of the driver door gets the system working for a bit.

 

[Southernboy]

Now for seriously weird.... I can have full remote or manual functions on one condition - the driver window is fully lowered !
Perhaps the window is interfering with some wiring in the door, or the window lift mechanism has chaffed through a wire and is now creating a short to ground when raised... whatever it's going to require a full driver side strip out and check everything if it isn't blatantly apparent when I take the door card off.

 

[jonco]

OBD ouija maybe?

 

[Southernboy]

Got stuck in to the driver door this afternoon...
Door card, airbag, main window glass and small window glass removed.
Outer door handle and latch removed.
Inner door latch removed and then finally the actuator / door to body latch unit removed.
I saw absolutely nothing which would suggest an obvious cause of the malfunction.
I did check the wiring loom and it was like new other than a little dust. The actuator body lock unit was filthy so used some brake cleaner and switch cleaner then gave everything a good dose of lube (Q20).
Before re-fitting anything, I re-connected the actuator to it's power, held the little micro-switch depressed in the door frame part of the latch and used the key fob to activate.. It jumped about on the end on the loom like a freshly caught fish... While I had everything out, I discovered the little micro-switch for the automatic remote window closing hanging about inside the door. Not being familiar with this, I did a quick google and read, then refitted it to the outer door handle component where it has a small 2 pin housing. It had lost it's OEM clip, so I used some epoxy to lock it onto it's housing.
Refitted everything and then came the moment of truth... window fully closed - remote lock / unlock / lock etc etc... all working 100% again.
So the diagnosis is simply 20 plus years of filth which needed cleaning out...
Thanks to all for your kind advice and insights.

 

[Clockwatcher]

Southernboy,

Cracking write up. That would cause most people to perform lots of headscratching in trying to figure out what was wrong.

 

[Southernboy]

I did lots of head scratching and with the input from other members here, I had lots more to think about...
Ultimately it would seem it was gunge in the mechanism which was likely jamming the full and correct movement of the drivers door lock mechanism...

 

[Southernboy]

As a closing observation whilst doing this job, I noticed that the micro switch on the door striker has worn by about 1mm over the years.
There is a distinct observable "step" between the original size and the area where the door lock butt against it.
This switch determines the on / off interior dome light function, but also informs the electronics systems that the door is closed or open.
As a consequence, any lack of sound pressure / contact by the micro switch will have an effect on the alarm functioning correctly. The potential exists for the alarm to go off unexpectedly, or not even arm if the signal from that switch is still "door open".
Another possible effect will be that the door locking mechanism may arbitrarily unlock since it is receiving an open door signal from the central locking control.
In any event, it is worth examining and easily correctable even without the expense of a replacement part. A small 6mm x 4 mm x 1mm flat piece of plastic glued onto the worn face, or even 2 layers of duck tape will suffice to provide adequate compensation for the wear.
One word of caution in attempting to remove the striker unit - the plate it bolts onto is not a fixed plate, and will fall into the body cavity if steps are not taken to prevent that. Removing one screw and somewhat loosening the 2nd screw will allow sufficient access through the body wall and through the threaded hole of the plate to insert a stout wire "hook" which will prevent the plate dropping down. The 2nd screw can then be removed which will allow an extra 40mm of loom which can be turned etc to allow easier access whilst doing a repair on the worn micro switch face.
Replace a screw into the "vacant" threaded hole before removing the wire hook !!
The above is still a temporary fix, and will only last as long as the material used to "patch" the wear, but still considerably cheaper than the $55 plus for a new replacement part,