central locking problems

[tassie wombat]

gday,ive been having trouble with the central locking on my '04 wagon,its been taking anywhere from 10 to 30 pushes on the remote button to lock the doors,so thinking it must be dodgy remotes I brought 2 new ones from Nissan at $150 each and another $55 to have them programed to suit the car.seemed ok at first(10 mins) but now its no different to the old remotes,crap,so it obviously isn't the remotes! so does anyone have any other ideas?? any help would be appreciated,thanks.

[Bloodyaussie]

A rooted actuator ???

[tassie wombat]

A rooted actuator ???
where would I find that??

[Bloodyaussie]

I am not sure with your car if the actuator in your door is the control one for all the others?? or if this is at all right?

I would maybe PM Yendor and ask him if he might know....

[Yendor]

Does it only play up when trying to lock the vehicle or does it also play up when trying to unlock the vehicle.

Have you replaced your interior light bulbs with LEDs?

[tassie wombat]

Does it only play up when trying to lock the vehicle or does it also play up when trying to unlock the vehicle.

Have you replaced your interior light bulbs with LEDs?

It is definitely worse when trying to unlock,and yes interior lights have been changed to led,the front is running an outback roof console with the retrofit led's and the rear is one of the led panels that repco sells that just plugs into the old festoon terminals.hope its not a silly question but what would changing the interior lights change in relation to the central locking ?

[Yendor]

Try fitting the original festoon back in the rear and see if it still plays up.

There is an input to the keyless entry module that prevents the remote from locking the vehicle if a door is open. I'm wondering if the LEDs might be sending a mixed signal to the module and this is causing the problem.

[tassie wombat]

Would turning off the rear interior light work as well ? Just to add a bit more into the equation,once it unlocks I can lock and unlock as many times as I want and no worries,but if I then go for a 10 min drive same problem.

[Yendor]

Yes you can try turning off both interior lights.

Another thing is the interior light switch for the driver side door is a dual contact switch. This could be playing up. I would also try unplugging this switch and see if it still plays up.

[Alitis007]

I worked on a commodore last week that had a similar issue. After a bit of mucking around with receiver units and what not, it turned out to be a loose plug on the body control module.

Find it and remove all the plugs then re install them so they make a better contact.

[Yendor]

It also wouldn't hurt to check and clean the main earths.

Has anything electrical been fitted to the vehicle around the same time the problem with the remotes started?

[threedogs]

I have same problem. My interior LEDs are huge and been working fine for year and a half, Its not battery I know that

[tassie wombat]

Well I've rulled out the lights,had them off over night and still had trouble this morning locking doors,will look at the connection on the body control module over weekend,looks like I have to pull dash out to get at it !

[threedogs]

I'd be going down the earth road, I lot of issues occur on Patrols
because of poor earth connection. I found if it didn't work I needed to open and close driver door
Does that help at all with yours. Mine doesn't work at all now, ticked off but wt???

[tassie wombat]

So would you suggest running an extra earth cable from the battery to the chassis?ill try the door tonight.

[Yendor]

I worked on a commodore last week that had a similar issue. After a bit of mucking around with receiver units and what not, it turned out to be a loose plug on the body control module.

Find it and remove all the plugs then re install them so they make a better contact.

Was that an early VR Commodore? they did have problems with voltage spikes causing the BCM to lock up.

[Yendor]

Well I've rulled out the lights,had them off over night and still had trouble this morning locking doors,will look at the connection on the body control module over weekend,looks like I have to pull dash out to get at it !

Well that rules out the easy cause.

[Alitis007]

Was that an early VR Commodore? they did have problems with voltage spikes causing the BCM to lock up.

No mate it was a VT, was working fine then one day it started playing up when the weather got colder. Holden diagnosed it first as the key remote, 2x remotes later still the same fault, then then they said it was the transponder, still the same fault till we started playing with it. The BCM being a key component in the car and its age we had to rule out a dirty connection which seemed to have solved the fault but its quite possible to have a dry soldier connection on its actual mother bored like the TF Magna's security unit suffer from.

[alexx]

gday,ive been having trouble with the central locking on my '04 wagon,its been taking anywhere from 10 to 30 pushes on the remote button to lock the doors,so thinking it must be dodgy remotes I brought 2 new ones from Nissan at $150 each and another $55 to have them programed to suit the car.seemed ok at first(10 mins) but now its no different to the old remotes,crap,so it obviously isn't the remotes! so does anyone have any other ideas?? any help would be appreciated,thanks.

Since when did it start being that way? Did you connect any electrical or electronic gadget lately?

It is possible that the main actuator (installed in the driver's door) could be malfunctioning? Or the control unit of the remote have been misinstalled in a way that a wire is connected or tapped to a negative line instead of a positive line and the actuators were connected in reverse. At the start the connection would work okay but sooner or later it will go bad but when you install a new gadget you will soon experience the "no no".

I suggest you call an electronic technician.

[mudski]

This is a common problem on the U's. Scrap the POS Ni$$an locking system and put an aftermarket one in. Thats what I did and is all good now.

[tassie wombat]

No new electronics installed lately,what is an aftermarket unit worth ?.

[mudski]

No new electronics installed lately,what is an aftermarket unit worth ?.
Warlock KG-400 system is under $100 from JB's.

[rochjas]

Warlock KG-400 system is under $100 from JB's.

Does this use the factory Actuators ??? I am too over the whole bloody central locking thing.... I also have just recently change to LED Lights inside the car....

[mudski]

Does this use the factory Actuators ??? I am too over the whole bloody central locking thing.... I also have just recently change to LED Lights inside the car....
Yeah mate. Just wire it in where the original control box is.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?12608-A-Guide-on-installing-your-own-remote-central-locking-in-under-20-minutes

[Yendor]

That's interesting another one that's playing up that's had LEDs fitted.......

Contrary to what some people are saying the genuine Nissan central locking, keyless entry and immobiliser system that is fitted to the GUs is good quality. Much better quality then the aftermarket kits. Yes some people have had problems, but when compared to the amount of vehicles that have been sold, I think you will find that percentages is very low. There is also a good chance these problems are caused by mods that have been done to the vehicle.

Most people also believe the remotes are the problem tassie wombat this is clearly not the case with your vehicle.

It's up to you if you want to put the time in and try and diagnose the problem (and possible expense) with the genuine system or you just want to throw an aftermarket remote and receive in it. Just don't think it's the magic pill, more then likely this system will give you trouble as well in the near future.

Understanding how the genuine system works will help you diagnose it. I recommend you have a read of the workshop manual.

If you had a problem with one of the door lock actuator the indicator lights will still flash and the rest of the doors should still lock. So I don't think your problem is here.

We know your remotes are OK so we a left with the remote receiver or one of it's inputs. As George said above it's possible a bad connection in the connector at the receiver or possibly a fault within the receive. Due to the erratic nature of your problem I still think it's a problem with the one of the inputs. This could be a voltage drop, bad earth or one of the inputs reading incorrectly.

Do you have the connector for the key left in ignition buzzer disconnected?

[tassie wombat]

Do you have the connector for the key left in ignition buzzer disconnected?
Not sure,how do I check ?

[threedogs]

@ Yendor I have led internal Lights Every globe, worked fine until recently
First remote got wet. I don't think Roofy has LED being Old school and pretty
Sure his has failed to. I'll check my main earth tomorrow.
Does the Patrol have different earths for each section on Body??

[Yendor]

Not sure,how do I check ?

If you turn the ignition off but leave the key in the ignition and open the drive side door does a warning buzzer go off?

[Yendor]

@ Yendor I have led internal Lights Every globe, worked fine until recently
First remote got wet. I don't think Roofy has LED being Old school and pretty
Sure his has failed to. I'll check my main earth tomorrow.
Does the Patrol have different earths for each section on Body??

I'm not talking about if one remote works fine and another remote doesn't work.

Electrical problems can sometimes raise their heads months later.

I'm not saying the LEDs are the problem I'm just thinking out load and giving possible causes/things to check.

The main earths to check are the ones on the driver side of the engine inlet manifold, the main body earth connected to the inner guard below the battery and the earth wire connected to the body of the alternator.

Do you still have one remote working correctly? have you tried the wd40 trick?

[Alitis007]

Tasiewombat apart from removing the LED interior light globes what have you checked ??

I just remembered a Kia i worked had a broken wire going from the master lock switch on the door that controlled the central locking mechanism.

Does your trol have a lock/unlock button ?? If it does when you press it do all the doors lock ??

You need to start a process of elimination so start with what Rodney has stated with the earths, remove and clean them and try again. Next try the door switch and then go to the connectors on the body control module and or the central locking control unit ( they could be one and the same )

Start with those and get back to us other wise we're going around in circles and confusing the situation further.

[Alitis007]

Also have s look to see if there is a relay for the central locking..

[cruizerbitz]

hi ya tassie wombat (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/member.php?8360-tassie-wombat) my solution was ( This may help this may not ) :)


right gear
Key-less entry system
part # A1-450
$91.95
I just changed out key-less entry system under dash once you take out the glovebox
Worked for me

Comes with 2 remotes (4x actuators still in box) and the key-less unit
I too have all led lights every where. hehe

[tassie wombat]

thanks for all the replies fellas,ill have another look tomorrow,see if I can get at the bcm to check the plug etc,also the earth leads and door switches, oh and there doesn't appear to be any buzzer that goes off if I leave the key in the ignition and open the door(there is on that comes on if the lights are on whilst can isn't running though).

[threedogs]

Fixed my remote, first I put a "new" battery in from post office, Thinking these have a shelf life I ordered 10 off CR1620
to suit my remote. They just arrived, changed batteries and remote now works like a new one.
This may disclaim the LED theory as that's all I have, Led or HID. Happy camper again.
@ Roofy was a pain using Key all the time, cant see how you can do it.

just cause battery is new don't count on it, buy a few they are cheap ,I ended getting 10 from Ebay for $1
with free post.

[tassie wombat]

Ok,I pulled out the plug on the bcm,cleaned with contact cleaner,did the same thing with all the door light switches,and also the plug on the actuator in the drivers side door,sprayed wd40 on all locks ,locked and unlocked probably 50 times with no problems,then drove to work this morning,which is only 5-6 k's,took 7-8 pushes on the button to lock,Bugger,back to the drawing board,ill try the earth leads this weekend.

[Alitis007]

But it worked after you disturbed the wiring harness on the bcm, see if you can put more pressure on plug with cable ties. You can even try wiggle the wires when it plays up aswell to see if it starts working.

The fact it worked untill you drove the car tells me that the fault is in either a wire, the plug and its pins or the bcm itself coz it breaks the connection after you have shaken the car around a bit driving over bumps.

[tassie wombat]

another thing I noticed today was if I used the key to lock it,the remote would then work no problems.

[mudski]

another thing I noticed today was if I used the key to lock it,the remote would then work no problems.
Too just unlock it? Or unlock then lock?

[threedogs]

Yeah you're pretty close but no cigar.
If you open and close Drivers door only after it fails, will it work then??

[Yendor]

It's a long shot but try waiting for your electric aerial to fully go down and the motor to stop before trying to lock the vehicle with the remote.

[threedogs]

Seems like its not in the remote itself but in the wiring.
good to see your nearly on top of it.

[tassie wombat]

It's a long shot but try waiting for your electric aerial to fully go down and the motor to stop before trying to lock the vehicle with the remote.
You beat me to it,I've tried it the last 2 days ,turned off radio, switch off ignition (runs for 1 min with turbo timer ) and Walla ! It locks! So now I've just gotta work out what I can do so I havnt got to turn off radio each time ??

[Yendor]

You beat me to it,I've tried it the last 2 days ,turned off radio, switch off ignition (runs for 1 min with turbo timer ) and Walla ! It locks! So now I've just gotta work out what I can do so I havnt got to turn off radio each time ??

Are you still running the original head unit or and aftermarket one?

How long has the shut down timer been installed for?

Is your electric aerial still original and functioning correctly?

[tassie wombat]

IT'S an aftermarket unit with GPS,antenna is original I think and works ok,timer has been in for about 1 month,but problem was there before fitting (maybe not as bad though ? )

[Yendor]

Try shutting down the engine manually (without using the shut down timer) with the radio on does the remote work?

If it doesn't, try fitting a blocking diode on the accessory feed to the head unit.

[tassie wombat]

Tried that,and won't lock until radio off / antenna down

[Yendor]

Tried that,and won't lock until radio off / antenna down

What did you try? the blocking diode in the accessory feed to the head unit?

Do you have an amp fitted?

While the head unit is out try running a temporary earth wire from the head unit to the negative of the battery.

[tassie wombat]

What did you try? the blocking diode in the accessory feed to the head unit?

Do you have an amp fitted?

While the head unit is out try running a temporary earth wire from the head unit to the negative of the battery.
Sorry,no havnt tried that yet,have tried shutting down engine manually with stereo still going and won't lock.

[tassie wombat]

Ok,I picked up some diodes from jaycar today,so I put one in the power wire from ignition to the stereo?

[Yendor]

Yep, the one that has power when the ignition key is turned on.

Then keep your fingers crossed and hope it fixes the problem.

[tassie wombat]

I'll report back tommorow night.

[threedogs]

problem I've found my remote failed again, WT, so changed the battery ,,,,,,,,,again,,,,,,,,,,,,, and all is good.
when I throw my keys onto my chair they get caught down the side jamming in on and flattening the battery.
Could never figure out why patrol was open most mornings,,,,,,,,,,,,,,now I do,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. line of sight
so leave keys on bench top, problem fixed

[Yendor]

I'll report back tommorow night.

It will be interesting to hear how you get on.

I still have a feeling it's due to your shut down timer, it's just strange that you turn the radio off and it works.

What brand of timer is it? is it a plug and play? or one of the 3 wire units?

[tassie wombat]

Arb/ bogaard plug and play.

[Yendor]

You could also try disconnecting it then.

[tassie wombat]

Early update,diode didn't fix the problem,also tried disconnecting the timer for 10 mins,didn't work either,back to the drawing board !

[tassie wombat]

I wonder if I could get the plug and play wiring changed so that when key is turned off it only powers the injector pump and nothing else??

[Yendor]

Early update,diode didn't fix the problem,also tried disconnecting the timer for 10 mins,didn't work either,back to the drawing board !

Bugger, your troll's not playing nice.

Did you try the earth to the head unit?

[Yendor]

I wonder if I could get the plug and play wiring changed so that when key is turned off it only powers the injector pump and nothing else??

It will cause problems with the fuel sub tank circuit.

[tassie wombat]

well, run a separate earth wire straight from the battery to the earth on the stereo,and still no go,back to the drawing board,might just have to get used to turning off the stereo before jumping out of the car ??

[Mikees]

Check the battery. Had some issues with mine and the battery number didn't match that for my model. Replaced the battery with the right one and all was well again.

[rochjas]

Well Someone talked about buying the batteries from ebay and replacing again... I did this and guess what... It's working again. So for now I am happy.... purchased 5 cr1620 Lithium for $5 delivered. A happy camper here

[TimE]

Just to add another thought from left field. Microwave/radio wave interference. Mine was playing up when I went to the Post Office close by, a daily job. Needed to be right on top of the car to get it to work. Also had the problem when trying to lock it in the garage.

Penny finally dropped, the Post Office has microwave transmitters on a tower right next door and I had put a wireless phone into the garage a while back. Turned off the wireless phone and garage issue went away.

Works fine when no where near microwaves or wireless transmitters, now all I have to do is find places that don't suffer from these issues. Was in the Simpson desert last month, worked fine there :D

[Yendor]

Yeah it seems like the OP issue may also be caused by RFI.

I was hoping that a comms guru would come up with a solution.

[rochjas]

Ok I think I have mine sorted.... I have purchased lithium batteries from fleabay and seem to work for a while.... I was cleaning the interior of the car on the weekend and wanted to charge my mobile while the car was off.... Now stick with me here please.....

I have a GU IV and the 12v outlet near the cigarette lighter does not stay on once the ignition is turned off.... but my cigarette lighter does.... my keys are in the house... so I plugged in my phone charger into the cigarette lighter and continued on cleaning....while my phone charged up.. After cleaning a closed all the doors up and forgot about my phone on charge.... I went inside and got the remote fob to lock the Patrol... guess what... The bloody thing wouldn't lock.... I was pissed big time....
Then I thought hang about.... it worked last night... then I remembered that my phone on charge..... So I took the charger out of the cigarette light and guess what... The remote started working again....
I then placed the charger back into the lighter and the patrol wouldn't lock again....via the remote.... took the charger out again and patrol would lock again..... So must be if there is a power draw somewhere the patrol remotes will not lock...

Sorry for the long post

[Yendor]

rochjas, Thank you for your post.

It highlights how making changes (no matter how minor) to the vehicle's electrical system can affect other electrical systems.

[mudski]

rochjas, Thank you for your post.

It highlights how making changes (no matter how minor) to the vehicle's electrical system can affect other electrical systems.
Totally agree with you there Rodney. I removed my Projector lights today to send them back and put my old lights back in, turned the lights on and my horn went off....
Then I realised I plugged in a power wire for the Devils eyes directly to the horn. I near shat myself!
Now back on topic. I see the op wants to get the OEM unit working but, ahem! Ditch the garbage and just put in an aftermarket unit. It will cost you less than one remote from Ni$$an. I had all the same issues with mine OEM jobbie. Had. Good to see your persistent though.

[tassie wombat]

Thanks fellas,the genuine setup works fine once the stereo is off and the antenna has powered down,still a pita!

[mudski]

I reckon...
Have you tried supplying the control module power directly from the battery? Sounds like a tiny voltage drop caused from the radio or antenna is just enough to not let the remote work.