Central locking packed up..

[ryoc]

The central locking on my 1990 Caravelle has always been a bit iffy.. Could only centrally lock from the passenger door. Now the locking mechanism appears to have packed up altogether. Cannot lock the drivers/side loading door or unlock the passenger door. Is it a DIY job to replace the locking system? Thanks.

[tonytech]

Sorry I cant post much at the moment. It is going home time.
Have a look at....
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... t=+Central
and
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... t=+Central

Search and you shall find.

Tony

[ryoc]

Thanks for the quick response Tony. I will check out the door contacts etc.

[ryoc]

I have removed the push button connectors from the side loading door frame and all seems ok.. The wiring to the flat panel that the springs close on attached the door seems ok too. Is it possible to disable the central locking altogether and just lock up manually? It has never worked properly anyway..

[tonytech]

Just pull the fuse No23 I think. Left most fuse in the horizontal line of fuses at the top of the pannel.

T

[ryoc]

Hi, I pulled all three fuses at the top of the fuse board but still no luck. According to my manual, the fuse for the central locking is 20amp. The middle fuse is 20amp. fuses either side 10amp.
The fuses at the bottom of the board are numbered 1- 22, according to the manual. Is it possible that the central locking mechanism is jammed in some way

[tonytech]

The drivers and passenger doors each have a locking motor, the motors are quite clever (until corrosion Knackers them) containing electrical contacts that relay the lock position to the other doors and once a locking cycle is started will continue untill completely locked.
If corrosion has eaten away at the contacts, it is possible for a motor to continue trying to lock the door well after the lock is in the locked position.
The sliding door and the tailgate do not relay their position to any other doors, but do run untill their internal contacts tell them they are locked.

I'd ignore the sliding door and tailgate.
Can you lift the black locking button on the door? does it feel springy? (if so the motor is probably stuck between locked and unlocked) does it lift then re lock? (then the opposite door motor is telling the door to lock)
Pull the doorcard off and remove the motors (doors will lock and unlock without them)

Open each motor and look for corroded springs and contacts, clean, repair, and give a good talking to.
Replace motors and wait for it all to go wrong again?????

T

[ryoc]

Thanks again Tony. The door buttons are stuck, one up & one down. I can unlock the passenger door if you force the key to almost breaking point. With the door shut, the button pops down again. When the snow melts, I will remove the motors as you suggest (give them a good talking to), and check them out. I will report back in due course. I have had this Caravelle for 7 years now. I did buy one new in 1990 (G373 BOY) and had that one for nearly 10 years. Regretted selling it the day after it was sold and spent the next three years or so finding this one. All the best - Paul

[ryoc]

Have removed drivers door, passenger door & sliding door central locking motors. Manual locking has now been resumed...