Car alarms and remote central locking...

Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

I bought a van last week (finally, wooo) nice little Fiat Scudo 2ltr JTD.. nice van, but from the day I picked it up the alarm and RCL has become fucked up.. I'm not /that/ pissed off as from experience, alarms etc are more hassle than they are worth so I didn't really expect any less! Laughing

Firstly, it's got a cobra alarm and I assume the central locking is done via the cobra alarm as its all on the same key fob. It was PROFESSIONALLY fitted so I expect its all done properly, before anyone suspects a bodge job.. but it was done when new in 2001.

Right, basically.... if I lock it, the doors lock then immediately unlock again (like when you leave a door open....) having looked at all the door locks (not taken anything apart yet) the passenger door seems to be faulty which I'm suspecting is the problem... it doesn't unlock on the RCL and the lock plunger thing on the door card doesn't seem to move manually either. So I'm guessing the door solenoid thingy could be broken and could be making the system *think* the door is unlocked, so it prevents the other doors from locking?

I'm guessing this is causing the problems with the alarm, because im locking the van but the doors are popping back open but leaving the alarm on so when I open doors the alarm goes off yadda yadda...

So what I'm after is a good resource for learning about how central locking works so I can get a basic understanding before I rip it apart tomorow (with view to replacining passenger side solenoid)

I am an electrician so I'm alright with wiring and I'm fine with most motorcycle wiring... but cars I've never touched before.. so I'm not a total n00b, just would prefer to have an idea of what im up against! but cant find fuck all on google on how to learn about how these systems work and the cobra site is useless.
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Walloper · Super Spammer Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Karma :

I think a lot of cars have only one soleniod to open close by key. The passenger door will not operate C/locking.
The alarm remote could be gubbed possibly not permitting a lock if not enough power to open.
I am scatching now.
I just resolved a problem with an OEM imobiliser loose wire wa sthe problem three months to fix. Bliddy Professionals. I got dun up the Gary by them.

No help sorry.

You could try cobra. Or another alarm company but they will probably try to sell you a new system 200/300 nicker.
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Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

i believe for remote it requires solenoid on both front doors? I've done a bit of reading but nothing all that helpful, just picking bits out of random forum posts on car forums.
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Drew · Banned Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Karma :

Phoenix · Twisted Firestarter Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Karma :

Depends entirely on the vehicle whether or not the key will activate the central locking from both door locks or just the one. But in order for it to activate from both locks, both locks must be fitted with door lock actuators (solenoids) to engage the lock, these can easily be fitted aftermarket, and with a RCL system both locks must have solenoids, so they should be there.

When you press the lock button on your keyfob, the alarm unit will send a pulse to the "lock" wire on the harness which will engage both solenoids. When you press unlock it pulses the "unlock" wire. If when you press lock they pop back up again, it's possible that the passenger door locking sticking open is constantly sending an unlock signal back to the central locking circuit hence it popping back up.

Unlock the car, then try to lock the passenger door but leave the driver door unlocked, now press the lock button on the keyfob and it should lock the drivers door and stay locked, if not there's a bad connection somewhere i'd say, as a poor connection may mean not enough power getting to the solenoids to engage the locks (requires less power to unlock usually). Pull the doorcard off and you can fix the malfunctioning door lock easily enough.

Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

Drew · Banned Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Karma :

open door
pull up outside handle
push down pin, and keep the handle pulled up
close the door
release handle
door will stay locked.

It works on vauxhalls and toyotas that I know, unsure about fiats

Dischord · World Chat Champion Joined: 08 May 2005 Karma :

I have a Cobra alarm on my car, after around 5 minutes of it being armed it goes off everytime without warning. I'm not sure if it's the sensors or if they're just crap alarms in general!

One good thing is that it has a test button which plays all kinds of weird noises really loud so sometimes I like to pretend I've stolen it and drive erratically with the alarm blarring - the looks are priceless Laughing

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Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

Right, I've had the van apart today and believe I have fixed it!

Firstly,

the door pin on the passenger side is a thin metal rod which goes down to the lock mechanism... the solenoid for the remote locking works fine itself, it has a small metal rod coming out the top which was joined to the door pin rod with a little connector thingy.... that connector thingy had come loose and the metal rod for the solenoid was not moving the door pin properly which made the solenoid get stuck between lock and unlock, hence the alarm going off and door not opening and RCL not working...........

realigned it and connected it up properly, now the door pin moves freely, doesn't get stuck and works on the remote! (which is good cos all the lock barrels are fucked!)

AS for the side loading doors... well I've looked at them a bit, and I can't see how they can physically be on the RCL??? surely the solenoids for the doors would be hard-wired, and theres no way you can get cables down to the sliding doors..... so they can't possibly be on the RCL! the barrels are fucked so I will have to lock them from the inside for the time being until I can get them deadlocked, then I'll leave them unlocked (the stock ones) and just use the deadlocks to secure them...

back door is on RCL and works fine Smile

alarm was only going off i think because of the passenger door solenoid problem.. all *seems* okay now but i'll give it a few days before getting too excited Laughing

thanks for advice everyone, especially Phoe Smile

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