Black/Red Brianmoooore central locking thread is gone...

[RotE30]

I have searched, i have waded, but to no avail, anyone got any links to the original how to guide?

To those dying to post 'just cut the red and black wire' that's not helpful, but thanks.

Cheers,

[daimlerman]

What do you need to know?

[RotE30]

Hi Daimler, just a simple guide to follow... my C/l has packed in

[daimlerman]

Righto!

Red/black wire mod to central locking.

Why do we do it?
BMW use a logical wiring system where all red wires are constantly live.
The red/black wire makes a loop into,and out of,the driver's door via the A pillar socket.This is known to cause corrosion and general mayham both within the socket and to other wiring in the area.

The fix is to eliminate the live loop through the door.

How?

Remove battery earth lead.
Remove the driver's side kick panel/speaker cover.(one screw)
Remove the speaker(three more screws)
Reach into the hole and pull the hank of harness going to the A pillar socket into view(try not to pull the socket out if possible)
Locate and cut the red/black wires,saloons have two,cabbies have three.
Solder and heatshrink the harness ends together,insulate the ends going to the socket.
Replace speaker and cover.
Re-connect battery.

[RotE30]

Amazing, thank you Dailerman

[daimlerman]

If you still get problems,post up with the symptoms....

[RotE30]

OK, I have completed the red/black mod. No better.

History;
I had a bad fuel leak from perished rubber fuel hoses in the engine bay
Once parked up i left the glove box open accidentally prior to fixing it.
When i went to disconnect the battery to renew the hoses (i depressurised the system by removing the fuel pump fuse and cranking) I assumed the battery was a bit flat as the central locking didnt work and i had left the glovebox open.
However, now i have renewed the fuel lines and taken it for a drive, the central locking still doesnt work??

I have just compeleted the red/black mod as described above (thanks again daimlerman) and it still does not work

(incidentally my speaker opening in the fascia still had the sound insulation in it blocking the speaker grill - now its cleared it sounds loads better!... Also i found a brown wire & spade connection that had fallen apart - i cordialy reconnected- no idea what it does?).

When i turn the key in the locks, i can clearly hear the relay clicking in the drivers footwell.
Non of the fuses in the engine bay have blown.
The OEM BMW alarm has always been turned off (with the alarm key in the engine bay.)
It should not be the lock's microswitch as non of the doors activate the central locking...Anything else i can try?

[DaveD]

see if this helps

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... g_problems

[RotE30]

Thanks, but it doesnt apply as i can hear the relay operating... it says to jump to point 15 which is corroded pins in the door connector, which i assume i have bypassed with the red/black mod.

[RotE30]

The central locking system uses air right? or is it a solenoid? either way can I check the motor is getting 12v?

[James325]

No air. All solenoids..

[RotE30]

if one went, would they all stop? - its weird how all locks no longer activate c/locking

[daimlerman]

System works by turning a key in a lock and manualy pulling the solenoid,that solenoid then triggers the others to work....

Ergo,if the central relay is working properly,the system should trigger from any lock,if it is not doing so,you have a break in the feed to or from the c/l relay.
So if,say,the driver's door does not trigger the system,but the boot does,the fault is narrowed down to a front door.

[RotE30]

and if no locks work?

cheers for the help

[daimlerman]

When I had this fault,the wife brought a car in and just told me that only the driver's door would lock...
No click from the locking ECU.I opened it up and re-soldered the fuseable link and it still works today!

But your relay(ECU) is clicking,this leads me to think you have a break in the triggering circuit,somewhere.
Have a check through some other threads on this subject,in a recent one Brian gave the wire colours to jump at the relay to test the solenoids.

[RotE30]

I will, thanks again. getting sick of my car man, its just one thing after another lately.

[Brianmoooore]

It's all easy to sort out! Just needs patience and logic.
Connect a 12 volt bulb of at least 21W across the red/black and brown wires at the ECU plug to check that power is reaching the system, then momentarily connect the wire links Daimlerman refers to to check the operation of the lock motors.
The actuators are motors with a pinion gear against a short rack, like a miniature steering rack, rather than conventional solenoids, and the dead locks (not fitted to driver's door or fuel flap) are a second motor that swings a tap into a notch in the rack to jam it.

[RotE30]

OK, thanks.... patience, anyone got a 'how to' on that one?

update; the central locking control unit only 'clicks' when i lock the drivers door - but as i say the central locking funtionality is dead.
only clicking on the drivers door lock action - does that shed any light?

[Brianmoooore]

Don't worry about the control system just yet. Get the lock motors working first.

[DaveD]

It's all easy to sort out! Just needs patience and logic.
Connect a 12 volt bulb of at least 21W across the red/black and brown wires at the ECU plug to check that power is reaching the system, then momentarily connect the wire links Daimlerman refers to to check the operation of the lock motors.
The actuators are motors with a pinion gear against a short rack, like a miniature steering rack, rather than conventional solenoids, and the dead locks (not fitted to driver's door or fuel flap) are a second motor that swings a tap into a notch in the rack to jam it.

can i add this to the wiki as it is or could you flesh it out a bit Bran

[daimlerman]

Wire colours refered to are here;

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=192964

[RotE30]

what is this brown connector it is not connected
what is the black box connector? I cannot find the male connector

The CLCU did have water damage, i cleaned it up and resoldered the thermal fuse.

Now I do not have any clicking from this unit at all.How do i manually test the motors, overriding this CLCU?

Cheers.

[Brianmoooore]

There are plenty of unused connectors all over E30 wiring looms. Don't worry about them.
For instance, the black one you have illustrated is for an interior light switch off delay module.
It's important that you did not add fresh solder when you resolder the thermal fuse, as the original is a special low melting point version. If you added conventional solder, especially the lead free rubbish around these days, then the ECU is unsafe.
The water damage (how did it get wet?) and the blown fuse suggest that it's very likely the lock motors have been fried. To test them fit temporary wire links between the red/black and white or blue wires on the ECU plug, and another link MOMENTARILY between the brown wire and the white or blue wire. One way around should set the locks, and the other unlock them.

[RotE30]

Hi Brian,

I didnt add any solder at all for that reason, just heated and reused the old solder, there was plenty on there.
The unit wasn’t dripping wet, it was moist and it had a thick furry coating of the verde green patina on the circuit board typical of slow decay on electrical boards.

Thanks for the info regarding the light delay module connector ”“ if I source one, should this work ”“ I would love that for winter.

”aTo test them fit temporary wire links between

red/black and white or blue wires on the ECU plug, - I know I am not defusing a bomb here but is it white or blue?
and another link MOMENTARILY between the brown wire and the white or blue wire.

One way around should set the locks, and the other unlock them.”a

Thanks for the method”¦

Another quick one ”“ do you know what the brown spade connector is? It looks to have just fallen apart, but was definitely disconnected behind the panel.

[RotE30]

Great, thanks for all your help, I tested the circuit, the motors all worked perfectly. I reassembled everything behind the panel and now it randomly works perfectly - even better than before!
I guess if it goes again, I will be replacing the CLCU, but for now, all is well!!
Thanks again to daimler, brian and Willnz.