Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 00:24:33 +0200
Reply-To: Robert Steven Fish <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Robert Steven Fish <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Subject: Re: questions about electric locks
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
There are a few things that generally go bonkers with the electro-locks. In
your situation, my first guess is that it is NOT electrical, but rather
mechanical (the motor is corrroded and the contacts are not functional to
complete a curcuit).
As I mentioned previously, the lock actuators (motors) are positioned such
that the water drips down the window, and as the boots rot out in a few
years, water runs in collects and rusts the hell out of all the little tiny
moving parts.
In my experience, when one actuator is siezed... it simply does not move,
when the others do.... what I mean, is that your locks may all be ok...
except for the one that does not move, but since you are completing hte
electrical circuit when you push the lock on the functioning passenger
door... it also locks the rear and side doors (these do not generally
corrode to push, as their is no water pouring in on them ever.
You can continue to use the door that works, to lock up the whole car...
what is most likely happening is that the spring is dust (in the broken
motor), which pushes the small electrical contact plate up, so that it can
make contact as a switch when the lock is opened or closed. basically, this
is no big deal.... but does require at some point a new actuator motor or an
overhaul of the existing one.
The other common occurance is that the wire will break at the joint where
the door opens and closes. In that black rubber tube, which protects the
wires, as they go from the fusebox area, to the inside of the drivers door
(happens on both sides), the bending will cause the wires eventually to
fatigue and snap. Mine did, and it was a ROYAL pain in the butt to feed a
new wire through.
The way I tested to see if the motors worked was to run an "always hot" test
lead off of my fusebox... and then go to each lock actuator, and touch your
hot lead (with power) to the correct terminal (cannot remember right now
which one it is... but you can see the brown ground wire I think, and it is
then relatively obvious which it is... my Vanagon is not here at present).
I found that when I completed the circuit at the rear and side doors... they
would both lock (no fronts). Then at the passenger side, I completed the
circuit, and once again the rear and back locked... no fronts... so the
circuit was intact.
Then I tried the drivers side, and nothing happened... leading me to believe
that there was a break in the circuit which I then found at the door hinge
area.
Good luck troubleshooting. The power locks are ultra-convienient... and it
is definately worth it to fix them, as it is not really such a difficult
project (if you like to pull things apart).
RSF
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<º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{
Robert S. Fish
Salzburg, Austria
1987 Wolfsburg Vanagon 2.1 GL Weekender
1987 Golf Cabriolet
1991 Golf
AOL IM = robertstevenfish
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Barrett" <dan@offthehill.org>
To: <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 8:45 PM
Subject: FISH: questions about electric locks
> Robert,
> Since you're der elektrischelockmeister, I've got a question: my
driver's
> side lock doesn't seem to send its status to the rest of the system --
i.e.
> if I lock the driver's side door, nothing happens to the rest of the
door
> locks. If, on the other hand, I lock the passenger's side door, all
doors
> including the driver's side, lock. Can you tell me which wire is
responsible for sending to the other units?
> I've got the Bentley, but I'm not sure which wire I should be checking
for
> what.
> Many thanks,
> d.
> 1990 GL -- "Mudskipper"
>
>
>
