Club 80-90 Forums

hi all,i was driving along the other day when all of a sudden the central locking/actuators just started going up and down,i could also hear the sliding door and rear tailgate going as well,i pulled over but couldn't stop them so I pulled fuses till I got to the right one to stop them,now when I put the fuse in they all start going up and down again,ive taken the door card off drivers side and every thing looks good,also looked at the tailgate lock,this was ok too,though im no expert so I might have missed something,dont think its a solenoid as the actuators are still working?,any ideas please,help much appreciated,thanks laurence .

You'll have to take the actuators apart and have a look inside, they sometimes leak water and things start going mad. Also when I had problems with mine, it turned out to be a broken wire in the door shut.

Start by disconnecting the drivers door actuator and see if that stops it. I believe most T3 central locking systems only have the fourth control wire on the drivers side so it is likely to be that one. The control wire is the bit that makes all doors unlock when you unlock one door. (Sorry to be vague as my experience comes from a South African system which has a few differences).

I'm not 100% but it's both the front doors that have four wires going to them, the extra cable is the live feed.

Hi
The images on my photo sharing site might help.
http://www.pbase.com/tonytech/central_locking_images
Or
http://www.pbase.com/tonytech/image/84733738
http://www.pbase.com/tonytech/image/84733739
On My Caravelle both front doors have active actuators,( ie they will lock and unlock the other doors) while the tailgate and sliding door have passive actuators

The sliding contact bridges contacts on the side of the actuator which supplys a signal to the other doors.
The large toothed wheel has a series of electrical contacts that provide power to continue the locking action once the initial locking signal has been recieved.

When the sliding contact becomes worn (sometimes the springs die) the locks can refuse to lock or cycle.

T

hi guys thanks for replies, pics were really helpful tonytech, took off all actuators and they all looked good inside, all springs were ok, BUT when I put the fuse back in they all still go up and down, the back of the fuse has got one red wire going in and one coming out, front door actuators have brown yellow white and red wires and slider and tailgate just the brown yellow white, theres also a toad alarm which works alongside the central locking,not sure what to do know,what to look for?,any help/ideas much appreciated people,thanks Laurence.

Red is 12V supply
Brown is negative (chassis)
Yellow and White are the lock and unlock signal wires (I dont remember which is which)
It sounds like the system is getting a "lock" signal, but one or other of the front locking motors is failing to complete the operation.
When you had the locking motors out , did you notice if the doors locked OK using the mechanical buttons?

I'd start by disconnecting the red wires to the front locking actuators in turn.

If it still cycles with both disconnected, I'd be looking at your Alarm.
My CL is also connected to an alarm, and will relock the van if I dont open a door or start the engine within 60S of disarming.
It wont cycle the locks though.

T

ok folks still no go,getting to me now,alarm works fine,but actuators don't close when the alarm is set,if I put the fuse in for the actuators they still keep going up and down,this fuse has a red wire going in and another coming out at the back,live feed?,seems like the central locking and the alarm have separated?,not working in tandem,is there a relay with the central locking?,or maybe a control unit9 I should be looking at?,sorry bout all the questions but my mind is buzzin at the moment with all these possibles,(I wish it was SIMPLES haha),thanks Laurence.

Is the CL original? The only fuse I have is on the Fuseboard in the glovebox.
I'd hazard a guess that the alarm has failed and is constantly trying to unlock the doors.
There isnt a control box for the CL or a relay everything happens in the motors themselves.
T

hi tony,with the alarm off and doors open or closed and the fuse in I still get the actuators going up/down,is the alarm still in control even if its not activated by the key fob, Laurence.

The alarm is still powered even when not armed, I dont know enough about your model to say what signals it is sending to the CL.
It is possible that the alarm is sending confusing signals to the CL, I'd try disconnecting the alarm from the CL.
Have you tried disconnecting the positive feed to each door motor?
With the doors open the motors will try to lock the doors, but fail (thanks to VWs "anti locking your keys in the van system" This puts a fair bit of strain on the motor mechanisms and isnt recommended.

T

Following on from Tony's info.
The CL locks will keep cycling if one (any one) does not reach its end position.

I had the same problem and one of the CL actuators had moved position and so reach the lock position, it was only a small distance.