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MG MGF Technical - Yet another locking problem

Hi All,

You know sometimes a tiny little problem makes you end up wasting a day on it? I've done that today!

I've got a 2001 MGF, and the central locking didn't work when I bought it. The remote fob still makes the immobiliser function as expected, so you have to unlock remotely and then unlock in the door to get in and be able to drive.

When the button on the fob is pressed, or when one of the door pins is lifted up or down I can hear the clicking of a relay in the alarm ECU. When clicking the fob twice (a 'superlock'?) the relay clicks away for a little longer.

In the drivers door the wiring seems a little odd. From the locking mechanism there are two connectors, one with two wires and one with six wires. The side of these which feeds back to the car has three wires and two wires, so it appears that three wires from the locking mechanism don't connect to anything?

Any suggestions/guesses as to why the doors arn't actuating? Perhaps someone familiar with the wiring could let me know if there should be six wires going back to the car as I would expect?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks for your time,

Murray
D.M. MacPherson

Hi,

.... familiar with webhosting _only_;)
Sounds 4me like rotten switches inside the lock, but I'm not sure.
May be this helps as first step.
http://www.mgfcar.de/door_lock/index.htm
http://www.mgfcar.de/schedules/alarm_ecu_door_lock.gif
http://www.mgfcar.de/schedules/
Dieter

<< .... familiar with webhosting _only_;) >>

ROFLMAO in sympathy ;o)

Murray, does the passenger door unlock when you unlock the drivers door with the key?

A breakage or a short circuit in the bunch of cables going to the bootlid can produce odd symptoms, worth checking they are all intact.
Mike Hankin

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the responses...

The passenger door doesn't unlock when you use the key - I've never had either of the motors going.

Is it possible that the cables to the bootlid could be damaged even when the outer casing is intact? I'll have a further look at this tomorrow. (Not all day!)

Thanks for the weblinks! mgfcar.de has been a great resource in my attempts at a diagnosis so far...

Kind regards,

Murray
D.M. MacPherson

Apology, above wiring link is LHD
This one reffers to a RHD car
http://www.mgfcar.de/schedules/sb18.jpg
Dieter

Both times I've had to solder in repair sections to the cable bunch running to the bootlid, the outer wrap of the cable bunch has shown no visible damage, so yes, very possible...
Does your boot light work? If not, that's usually one of the first cables to break. The high-level brake light is another likely casualty. Due to the tension the cables are under (MGR fitted them a little too tightly IMHO) the broken ends will recede into the bunch and you'll probably have to strip off most of the wrap to find them.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.
Mike Hankin

Mike, Dieter et al,

I don't think any of us would have figured this one out!

I did a good thorough check on the bootlid wiring and everything seemed fine, so I took up Dieter's suggestion of having a look at the switches. When I opened up the door catch module I was more than surprised to see that the electric motor simply isn't there! Everything else is there, gears, wiring, switches etc, just no motor.

Am I right in thinking that central locking was standard? If so, does anyone have a central locking motor going spare?

Are the three unused wires on the connector described in my earlier post standard? If so, I'm assuming that substituting in lock modules with motors should just get it working.

I'm going to have a look in the passenger door, but I suspect that it will be the same. Odd!

I'll let you know if I figure out any reasons for mine being the only non-central-locking MGF!

Cheers,

Murray
Murray MacPherson

Interesting domain name ;o)

AFAIK central locking was standard on everything bar the race cars. My money's on you finding a motor in the other door, which suggests the AWOL one was removed but never replaced. Possible that removing the drivers side one isolates the passenger door too? The door lock issue is the one thing I've not had arise... yet...
Mike Hankin

"Interesting domain name ;o)"

Ok, fess up everyone who has had a look!!

ROFL
Tony

I'm sure that anyone who's had a look will see that it's perfectly innocent :p We often have elderly ladies who buy from us at local farmers' markets worrying about what their husbands will think when they read the chequebook!

Well I stripped the passenger door, and there's no motor in there either! This is an odd one, why would anyone remove central locking from a car?

Do you think that fitting a standard set of mechanisms will work?

Cheers,

Murray
Murray MacPherson

Is your car a 1.6?
The MGF 1.6i was launched in May 2001 without central locking.
Look at model history on the following link.

http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/


Steve
S J Savill

Muuhhuhaa ;)
I think that's it.
1.6 MGF without locking motors ?

Cheers
Dieter
PS. great shorts http://www.wellhungandtender.co.uk/acatalog/boxers.jpg
Dieter

Shipping boxer shorts to Germany is no problem if you fancy a pair!

Arrrrgghhhh, why, why, why fit everything but the motor and three wires? Yes, I do feel very, very drumb having now stripped and rebuilt both doors in search of central locking that was never there!

To add insult to my injury my passanger door has now decided to be stuck shut. I guess I haven't reassembled it's locking mech. properly so the next job to try to get that open and fixed up again. Until then, nobody gets a lift!

Thanks for all the advice, and feel free to have a good laugh at my misfortune/stupidity, I know I am!

Cheers,

Murray
Murray MacPherson

This thread was discussed between 04/04/2007 and 09/04/2007

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