central locking

[happycat]

hi guys pleased with myself today had a look at the heating system pulled some wires off and generally banged and tapped a few things and hey presto hot air coming out of the footwell vents and facia so pleased with that took the dogs for a walk and then take wife out for dinner but now I cant unlock my car!! I can unlock boot with key but cannot unlock either door so its stuck on drive blocking my garage and wifes car,the key will turn in both locks but neither door will unlock! any ideas? Regards Cliff

[davidr]

Very strange as the door locks are mechanical with solenoids attached to "help" with locking. The key should always work. Can't understand why it doesn't for you.
The only suggestion I can think of for you is, if you can get into the boot, try disconnecting the battery in case the locking solenoids are somehow disabling your ability to unlock with the key.
Do you have a remote locking blipper? If so have you tried that?
Hope that helps.
Regards
David

PS if you do solve the issue please let us know what it was - I'm intrigued!

[Brakebuster]

with the key turned to unlock in the drivers door , use your fist to give gentle bangs under the lock , the electric locks have internal micro switches that get ' stuck ' this has been successful for me in the past ,

is there a window open , if so , try and move the lock lever inside ?

BB

[happycat]

well I managed to get in,by removing the door mirror I got a long screwdriver managed to get on back of locking flap and unlock door then I could unluck the other door from inside. I tried banging the locks from outside and turning key at sametime but wouldn't work for, I disconnected and reconnected the battery to no avail! I don't have a remote don't think that was an option on my model year,what I don't understand is if the central locking is faulty surely I should be able to unlock individual doors with the key, I know my car had an alarm fitted sometime in its life which has been disconnected but the wiring is still in place, wonder if there is a bad connection somewhere causing intermittent problems,maybe that's why its not used,its a Clifford alarm so not a cheap make! bit worrying how I broke in though didn't take more than a minute Cheers Cliff

[ng4xjs]

Just hope the low life who smashed the door window to steal my radio read this! Might save someone having to source and install these pieces of quite rare glass.

Happy days
Nick

[happycat]

Well I had the door panels off lubricated every thing and its all been working fine for the last 2weeks, until today once again unable to unlock either door! Luckily the roof was down so I could reach inside and move flap over ,now the passenger door is working intermittently but can unlock drivers door. Now I'm paranoid about locking the car up incase I can't get in! Cliff

[bokapita]

Assuming the facelift door lock mechanisms are the same as the HE (I realise the electrical mechanisms on the CL are not) perhaps you could try this:

Remove door cards;
unclip the rod between the solenoid and the door handle/lock mechanism.
You now should have a manual key activated lock only on that door.
With the door open flick the latch forks back on the door lock external side with a screw driver, so the door mechanism thnks that the door is closed;
Insert key in lock and lock/unlock several times carefully looking for too much 'lost motion' or NO lost motion in the short activating rod from the door handle inside part to the latch mechanism itself on the inside of the door jamb.
This particular rod is adjustable in length, you unclip it and turn the rod holding a little threaded knurled bit still. TOO SHORT gives 'can lock but not unlock' (because the latch mechanism does not clear the lock itself); TOO LONG can give lock but not unlock (because lost motion at the handle end does not give enough movement)!

Once this is certainly OK, use it in manual only mode for a bit to be sure. Then, say a week later, reconnect the solenoid actuating rod and adjust that a bit so the activating rod seems to have equal movement in lock and unlock actions. (Once again in door open mode, flicking the latch forks on the outside of the door jamb after each try, lock/unlock/open door several times). On HEs the solenoid adjustment is done by loosening and moving the position of the solenoid itseIf, you would have to look on yours if it is not the same.

This knowledge has been hard won! I had a similar problem when fitting a replacement door.

[happycat]

Assuming the facelift door lock mechanisms are the same as the HE (I realise the electrical mechanisms on the CL are not) perhaps you could try this:

Remove door cards;
unclip the rod between the solenoid and the door handle/lock mechanism.
You now should have a manual key activated lock only on that door.
With the door open flick the latch forks back on the door lock external side with a screw driver, so the door mechanism thnks that the door is closed;
Insert key in lock and lock/unlock several times carefully looking for too much 'lost motion' or NO lost motion in the short activating rod from the door handle inside part to the latch mechanism itself on the inside of the door jamb.
This particular rod is adjustable in length, you unclip it and turn the rod holding a little threaded knurled bit still. TOO SHORT gives 'can lock but not unlock' (because the latch mechanism does not clear the lock itself); TOO LONG can give lock but not unlock (because lost motion at the handle end does not give enough movement)!

Once this is certainly OK, use it in manual only mode for a bit to be sure. Then, say a week later, reconnect the solenoid actuating rod and adjust that a bit so the activating rod seems to have equal movement in lock and unlock actions. (Once again in door open mode, flicking the latch forks on the outside of the door jamb after each try, lock/unlock/open door several times). On HEs the solenoid adjustment is done by loosening and moving the position of the solenoid itseIf, you would have to look on yours if it is not the same.

This knowledge has been hard won! I had a similar problem when fitting a replacement door.

Hi thanks for advice ill try later if it stops raining! Cheers Cliff