Page 1 of 2
Central locking
Posted: 06 Sep 2006, 20:01
by CovKid
I just bought a universal central locking kit. Would anyone be interested if I created a 'how to' page with photos so you can see how I fitted it? If so I'll create one - could be put into WIKI if admin will accept it.

Posted: 06 Sep 2006, 20:07
by geordie skydiver
Yes, I was thinking of doing exactly this (fitting central locking) as I'm sick of unlocking doors individually.
A how to page would be nice!

Posted: 06 Sep 2006, 20:36
by dink
seconded, i've also got a universal central locking kit, and no idea of how to fit it, a how to would be very useful
Posted: 06 Sep 2006, 20:43
by CovKid
Right I'll photograph the whole process. I will try to do all doors (if possible). The tailgate may prove more troublesome but I'm sure I can find a solution to that too. These T25s are a lot bigger to walk round to check for unlocked doors than your average car and central locking has to be worth doing.
Posted: 06 Sep 2006, 21:11
by dink
CovKid wrote:. These T25s are a lot bigger to walk round to check for unlocked doors than your average car and central locking has to be worth doing.
you are not wrong there, going back from a car with central locking is a pain for sure, i have yale deadlock on the cab doors, an if i get in and forget to unlock the other side it' a big time pain
Posted: 07 Sep 2006, 03:26
by irish.david
I've done this recently as well. I found a fairly neat way of doing the sliding door lock and I actually remembered to take a picture of where the mechanicals went this time. I'll try and dig the shot out if you think it'll be useful...
Dave
Posted: 07 Sep 2006, 07:24
by CovKid
PM me if you like Dave. The more contributions the better

Posted: 07 Sep 2006, 08:14
by dink
irish.david wrote:I've done this recently as well. I found a fairly neat way of doing the sliding door lock and I actually remembered to take a picture of where the mechanicals went this time. I'll try and dig the shot out if you think it'll be useful...
Dave
it'd be very usefull

Posted: 07 Sep 2006, 13:30
by Mash
Oh great! I have one of those kits in the garage, it'a been there for ages and Matt has regularly said he's going to fit in Gromit but not got round to it yet
At least it will give me an excuse to annoy him some more
Mrs M
Posted: 08 Sep 2006, 10:10
by CovKid
Just PM'd Dave about this but one problem that does occur to me is that since the sliding door moves around three feet, you have to get power to the central locking mechanism without cable trailing or getting nipped anywhere.
My hunch is that the way to do this is with door contacts so the central locking has power when the door is actually shut. I did find this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SLIDING-VAN-CARGO ... dZViewItem
Anyone suggest any other sources for these?
Posted: 08 Sep 2006, 12:09
by tonytech
My Caravelle has CL as standard. It uses a contact plate with 4 spring loaded contacts (though only 3 are used)
My MK1 polo used similar contacts for heated rear window and wash wipe. (beats the wires routed through tailgate hinge area, that fray and break)
T
Posted: 10 Sep 2006, 00:06
by vanjam
we've had some discussion on this before, I posted something i know but i can't find a link to it. I used a maplins kit (cheap but functional-strange how few letters you have to change to transform cheap to crap).
You need to use any suitable vehicle's sprung connector/contactor unit to provide power to the sliding door. I got one from a scrap escort hatch, I imagine many things with a silding door or large tailgate with electricals in it will be a good option( I know those suzuki rascals have them) .
You do have to carefully carve out a suitable orifice in the door post and door and ensuring accuracy is quite hard due to the combination of angles and movement of the sliding door. It's worth using paint/tippex to identify where male contacts will sit before carving out. It's alos necessary in the sliding door to use a good stiff piece of wire (coathanger type) to increase the reach of the linkage supplied by dear old maplins and you have to tease all the various gubbins around and be quite disciplined in terms of space to make sure everything operates without interfering with everything else.
Rear gate is a different story, the lock mechanism is entirely different in principle from the other doors and it requres much more re-engineering (in my view) to get it to work. It's entirely feasible but so far, I have just run the control wire to the tailgate, but haven't yet got grips with the it. It's a separate task. I think.
Cheers
Jim
Posted: 12 Sep 2006, 22:58
by lhd
I know the old escorts mk Iv,V,VI used the same sort of conectors for the rear lights and ancilleries......ie same sort as the t25 c/l slide door ...
lhd.........................
Posted: 13 Sep 2006, 08:18
by tonytech
Late model Caravelles had C L to rear gate. They have the larger diameter lock.
When the key is vertical the gate is locked, key at 1 O'clock gate unlocked, key horizontal locked or unlocked dependant on C L.
Try one of the breakers for the part.
T
Posted: 22 Sep 2006, 07:58
by vanjam
ta tony, I'll follow that up
jim