Car Won't Lock

[mikejungle]

Hey guys, my car won't lock anymore. It came with an Auto-Mate remote and starting yesterday, it wouldn't lock or unlock the car. And when I lock it manually with the car, it unlocks immediately. I checked all the doors to make sure they're closed and tried again but nothing.

The only thing I can think is that maybe the remote lock is stuck on an "open" signal? Does that sound likely? And where would it be located?

I searched, but it was pretty cursory because i thought it'd be quicker to ask...i'm sure you guys can relate that leaving the car unlocked can be quite unnerving.

Thanks,
Mike

[UNHCLL]

It is more likely that one of the lock actuators in the doors has failed in the "unlocked" position.
They can force the system to unlock after trying to lock the doors.

Pull the door panels off, unplug each one individually, and see if the lock system works. Make sure you have at least 1 window rolled down.

[E30M3383]

^^^^^ what he said.... ;D aftermarket units have a tendency to fail......

[mikejungle]

oi...what's the actuator look like? do you think that jiggling the knobs up and down might solve my problem?

man, i'm not looking forward to broken door card clips.
thanks for the input.

[UNHCLL]

oi...what's the actuator look like? do you think that jiggling the knobs up and down might solve my problem?

man, i'm not looking forward to broken door card clips.
thanks for the input.

No. Jiggling the locks wont solve it if it's the actuators.
They should be either red or white, in the shape of an "L" inside the door.
Door panel clips shouldn't break if you use a thin screwdriver (or proper clip tool) to separate them from the door.

They are the factory OEM actuators, not aftermarket. All your aftermarket alarm should do is send the signal to actual actuate them.

[mikejungle]

so when you say unplug, do you mean unplug whatever cable it is that leads to the door lock?

is the actuator easy to spot inside the door and is it easy to jiggle back into position?

Thanks.

[UNHCLL]

You can start by unplugging the electrical connector to the actuator.

[mikejungle]

So I pulled out all 3 actuators and even replaced them with the ones from my eta to see if they'd work, but there's nothing wrong at all with the actuators.

What else can it be? My roommate says that it's probably the security system.

So to recap, my remote entry doesn't work at all: the unlock/lock button does nothing to the doors anymore.
I found a viper classic 650 box under my dash right above my feet and next to the ecu. there's a bunch of unplugged plugs and taped wires down there so it looks very concerning.

My friend suggested that i buy an intact electrical harness and redo the whole car. Is that a feasible solution? How long will it take?

Please tell me how else I might be able to fix this solution...i hate not being able to lock my car :(

[L James]

Mike,

You may want to try to change out your central locking module. It's located behind the speaker panel on the driver's side. When they go bad, it will not allow the car to lock similar to what you've described. The module is a one time use. It has a trigger in it, that if the car is flips over it will automatically unlock the car so that one is not trapped inside.

Here's where it's located on REAL OEM.... It's part #17
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...1&fg=50&hl=263

If you have another E30, you can most likely swap it in and check. When you remove it, don't turn it over or upside down. It may make the switch go bad.

HTH

[mikejungle]

sweet. thanks for giving me something else to try. i'd really like to exhaust all the simple possibilities before going for the hardest.

is it possible to "refresh" the existing central locking module?

and is there any way to unplug and diffuse the viper 650 classic box that i have in my car without affecting the car's functionality?

thanks.

[jibbajabba]

99% of the time, it's the damn aftermarket alarm/lock. Remove it.

They are easy to find as the wiring and box just doesn't look factory. Check under the dash on both sides and in the trunk behind the carpet by the tail lights.

E30 control lock modules RARELY go bad.

[mikejungle]

so if i unplug the alarm system, there's no chance that it'll affect the starting of the car or something? i mean, so far, i haven't seen anything out of it (the viper classic 650), that indicates it works.

If it doesn't affect anything else, i don't want it in there so i'd be more than happy to unplug and discard it. I don't know if that's the same module that the keyless entry responds to. i don't think so, because the remote says "auto-mate" on it, and i think they're two different brands.

[jibbajabba]

You may have both...

If you unplug the Viper, the car may or may not start, but why just unplug it? Remove it all together. Once you get in there you will see that it's not a very complicated task. Just locate the module and start pulling it out and following the wires. Should be a 30 minute job start to finish.

The Auto Mate remote may be a replacement for the Viper or like you said, an additional module. Still easy to remove. Once you locate it ( I see a lot of them in the trunk between the tail lights) just follow the wires.

Or just go to a car stereo shop (not best buy etc etc, an actual car stereo shop) and tell them to remove all that crap. Nothing worst then old aftermarket electonics causing unnecessary problems.

[mikejungle]

thanks for the guidelines.
so if i remove the viper by pulling off the wires that it's spliced to won't be the same as just unplugging it? I haven't done it yet because i was scared that disconnecting it would be the same as unplugging it.

I didn't see anything in between the taillights when i pulled out the carpet to remove the actuator, so maybe the automate is just a replacement remote.

On top of all this, the control for my side view mirrors has stopped working, so i think some of my problems may be all the kicking and moving of wires that's occurring with the kick panel removed.

[jibbajabba]

I may or may not, depends on the alarm and how it was installed...

Where are you located?