Remote Central Locking Solenoid vs Key Locking

Morning all,

Apparently my Galant started making ‘alarm like noises’ according to the Mrs.. so I went and checked it out. Sure enough, the front passenger door could be opened despite the car being ‘locked’, and without triggering the alarm too.

When I use the key to manually lock the front passenger door (after the remote central locking secures the rest of the car) it renders it unopenable as it should be.

I am assuming the remote operated lock solenoid is linked to the mechanism that the key operates?

Next question, are remote lock solenoids easy to obtain if that is the cause of the fault?

My drivers door is doing this occasionally but I haven't yet investigated. I suspect it is a bit of gunk somewhere preventing smooth operation so the solenoid doesn't quite have enough force to operate the mechanism. It could well be a dodgy solenoid though. If I get to it in the next few weeks I'll let you know what I find.

If the door opening doesn't activate your alarm and it should, I'd see if it is operating your interior light. It could be that the door switch needs a clean.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nick Mann

My drivers door is doing this occasionally but I haven't yet investigated. I suspect it is a bit of gunk somewhere preventing smooth operation so the solenoid doesn't quite have enough force to operate the mechanism. It could well be a dodgy solenoid though. If I get to it in the next few weeks I'll let you know what I find.

If the door opening doesn't activate your alarm and it should, I'd see if it is operating your interior light. It could be that the door switch needs a clean.

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That was my diagnosis too, the solenoid is struggling to overcome the mechanical resistance to operate the lock. It seems to 'unlock' without as much difficulty. I’m hopeful it’s debris that’s the problem and not a wire breaking down on the ‘lock’ side.

I manually worked the rogue door lock with the key many times to see if it would free itself up and it seems to have done the trick for now, it now locks with the remote. Next job will be a toothbrush and grease to clean out the motor mechanism and lubricate it.

The door switch is certainly why the alarm didn't go off now you mention it. Sometimes the interior light is slow due to the door switch not making when the door opens and I've had to manually move the switch to coax it into life. I've had one in bits (driver side) and they can be temperamental if the moving contact surface isn't pristine and the contact spring force isn't optimal. On that one, a previous owner had already rotated the moving contact 90 degrees to prolong its life on fresh metal due to scorching, but replacing the switches would be much easier (if available).

Good to know - I am making a list of things I need to sort on my car and will update if I solve it.

Just had a quick look and the part number for the door switch is MB698713. Google brings up several results but I didn't get any further. From memory the door switches to ground and just tightening the retaining screw can make a difference, but don't quote me on that, I may be remembering a different car!

@Nick Mann you are correct, they ground out via the screw. I've found that taking them off, giving them a good squirt with some electrical contact cleaner, and working them manually a few hundred times will get them going for another couple of years!

I’ve ordered two replacement door switches under that part number, surprisingly it’s still in stock at Mitsubishi. They were just under £19 each, bargain considering the peace of mind of not worrying about the longevity of the temporary repair.

i had the same issue today, with te door locks.
i oiled all slide mechs up and moved everything manually but this did not help. i think the solenoid making the lock release leaver move is very weak.

i had a spare solenoid/lock mechanism so i swapped it out.
i will have a go at fixing the failed one when i get a chance but not yet.

the remote solenoid and lock are part of a single unit.
to replace the unit you have to
remove door card.
remove the plastic vapour sheet
remove the two sound deadening plastic baffle parts, one above and one below the main central bar. this is just so you can see what you are doing and get hand access to the unit.
remove the two rods from the door handle to the unit, these just clip into the unit. unclip the green part and rotate out of the way and then the rod will pop out sideways .
remove the two rods going up to the door handle at the handle, they have the same style clips. uncip and rotate out of the way then rod slides out sideways.
unbolt the bottom of the window track so the track can be moved out of the way of the unit.remove the 3 screws holding the lock/solenoid unit in place.
allow the unit to fall to the bottom of the door and it will be able to come out of the bottom hole in the door with a bit of twisting.

fitting is the reverse of removal.


the only thing i found a little odd after fitting the replacement solenoid/lock unit was when the engine is off everything works as expected , but when the engine is running when i lock the doors with the button on the electric window switch panel the door lock and then immediately unlock as if locking the door while driving is not allowed to happen.
I did suffer from a flat battery yesterday so i charged it over night and fitted it this morning so all the unplugging and plugging in of the door locking modules when the ignition was on might have confused the cars systems so i will disconnect the battery tomorrow and reconnect it then go for a drive and see what happens when i try and lock the door on the move.

Could it be current sensing on the solenoid circuit? If the solenoid won't move then the mechanism is not in the right place, which will lead to a higher current through the coil. Maybe the replacement coil has a lower resistance?

Thank you for the helpful insights @Davezj. When I did my initial fault finding, I didn't need to remove as much as you did. I had decent access to the motor/lock assembly and the wire connector after removing the door card and (making an a**e of) peeling back the moisture seal:

Attachment 82845
Attachment 82847

If I need to replace the motor in future, an option might be removing the whole door handle using the two inboard screws if the door cavity is too fiddly get the lock rod off by hand or with gripping tools.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jsa274

Thank you for the helpful insights @Davezj. When I did my initial fault finding, I didn't need to remove as much as you did. I had decent access to the motor/lock assembly and the wire connector after removing the door card and (making an a**e of) peeling back the moisture seal:

Attachment 82845
Attachment 82847

If I need to replace the motor in future, an option might be removing the whole door handle using the two inboard screws if the door cavity is too fiddly get the lock rod off by hand or with gripping tools.

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ah i see in your picture the clip is orange and you push the clip away from the open part of the clip by rotating it clockwise and it will pop off the rod and the rod will pull out forwards.

i took the car out for drive yesterday and the central locking now works perfectly.
i did not remove battery connection, maybe it just needed a little time to sync with the ETCS system or whatever that cream coloured box is down by your right foot in the drivers footwell.
in my case it was the failing actuator in the driver door lock.
so it need replacing.

it now has a really strong lock unlock motion, one might say it is a tad violent now.
but that is because i had every door card off and oiled up every moving part in all four door locks so they moved very freely.
before it was a lacklustre slowish motion due to the friction in the door mechanisms and a slow actuator.