Central Locking Issues - Beware!

LScorpex on 19/04/2017 - 14:10

Cautionary tale for Ozbargainers! My partner and I were away in a different town over Easter. We approached my Subaru Outback 2004-ish on Saturday evening and I unlocked it via the central locking button on the key, but my partner had already opened the passenger door before I pushed the button. I didn't think too much of it apart from making a mental note to check it out.

Next morning, we found that the car ashtrays had all been pulled out, glovebox was open….someone had gone through the car while it was parked in front of our Air BnB. The only thing missing was some wine we had bought on special the night before. Fortunately, there were no other readily negotiable items or cash in the car.

So - the front passenger door has a central locking fault but the key buttons continue to work as usual. Can't say how long it has been like that. The door is now manually locked until I figure out if it is worth having it fixed (or if I can fix it myself).

Moral of the story - don't always assume that the central locking locks every door on your car! Before this incident I had no reason to doubt that it did. I'm wiser now.

Automotive

Comments

  • scrambledeggs on 19/04/2017 - 14:29
    +1

    My second (spare) key requires me to push "lock" twice to lock all doors (and vice versa to open them). First click only affects driver's door. Check your other key, or try pressing your existing key twice.

    • Scorpex on 19/04/2017 - 14:48

      Thanks for the suggestions - tried them to no avail. The door is also not locking with the power lock switch on the inside of the driver's door that normally locks all doors at once. There must be a connection or servo fault with the lock circuit for that door.

  • Wills7 on 19/04/2017 - 15:08

    My old Honda has the same problem with the front door central locking, mine is due to faulty actuator.

  • supnigs super skids on 19/04/2017 - 16:16
    +3

    It's not centraln locking in general. It's your car

    • Scorpex on 19/04/2017 - 16:35

      I agree. However, how often do you check that all doors are locked when you use the remote button (and the car beeps/flashes as it should)? It had never crossed my mind.

      • nafe on 19/04/2017 - 16:58

        I always check at least one of the doors when locking our cars, force of habit after having dodgey central locking systems many moons ago. Just have to remember to check the back door on one of them due to the keyless entry system….

  • Poolprouk on 19/04/2017 - 17:16

    I have this issue in my 323 astina, first the drivers door central locking stopped working, then it worked it way back to the drivers side rear door, and then around to the passengers side rear door, only the boot and passenger front door now work off the key fob.

    As mentioned by others, it's the actuator that goes and is not a simple nor cheap as chips fix. Probably not worth the effort of getting it fixed.

    I just treat my car like a pre-central locking era car now and do everything manually. First world problem.

  • Domingo on 19/04/2017 - 17:19

    I had this issue with my Audi A4, one of the older models that uses a central air pump for the actuators. The air pump had an internal mechanical failure, which resulted in all of the usual things happening (indicators flash, windows would roll up when holding the button etc), but the actual locks weren't engaging.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2017 - 21:22

    Had similar problem where it wouldn't lock passenger door occasionally. At least in my car (Toyota), it would beep to let me know it didn't lock properly.

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