Central Locking on a 460.
All of a sudden the central locking has ceased to function on my 1988 460. Chassis number as below.
Apart from checking the fuses (but which one?) in front of the driver's right knee, is there anything obvious and simple that I should be looking for, please?
If it can be easily put right that is what I will try for
At the moment.I can lock/unlock the two front doors using the ignition key. The rear door appears to have a different barrel that no key fits. The fuel cap has its own key.
Should fixing the central locking prove to be anything more than obvious and simple I would be prepared to take off the three door handles and fuel cap and post them somewhere (but where?) so that a lock-boffin could do what might be necessary so that ONE key could fire the ignition, manually unlock the three doors and undo the fuel cap.
Does anyone out there know whether this might be possible and, if so, who might be able to do it?
Many thanks for any advice.
Nick.
Gordon can do it !
They are VW locks. I took my handles off, stripped the barrels out, cleaned them up, realised I had different ones for each door. The local VW workshop foreman gave me the right sliders and new springs .. and so it was done for free. I suspect we are talking VW of the same era.
Central locking is driven by drivers door key manually, the rest are slaves and I think daisy chained..
Mgrays is correct ! I have just sorted mine ! The drivers door is the master and the others are slaves. They need be opened up and sync'd
I also removed the barrels and replaced. Just the barrels ! The handles can be kept ! The barrels are held in behind the handle with a circlip !
But if you want the barrels all matched to your existing ignition key then Gordon can take your key and obtain the suite of barrels to fit I believe ?
I would imagine that there are solenoids inside each door that operate the locks. There will also be micro-switches that when one door is locked, they will signal for the other doors to lock too.
usually the micro-switches get dirty and the system stops working. You will probably need to remove the door cards and clean the solenoids and micro-switches.
Many thanks to everyone for your considered thought; I will prod and ponder when I get a chance (probably not very soon) and report back.
I would prefer to have the central locking system working but am prepard to be a pragmatist.
Does any one know which fuse I should wiggle at the beginning of the process, please?
N.
i've only had my 1987 w460 for a few months and learning more every day but how would i know if it had central locking originally? i have my suspicions it did but i guess i can pop off the door panel and have a look - anyone got a pic of what the door panel with central locking looks like? and also how do i take the door panels off?
cheers
t
Hello, Tom.
This 1988 SWB 460 is the newest of three G-Wagens that we have had and it is the first one with central-locking.
Removing the door card is fairly straightforward:
Undo the two big screw bolts that hold on the interior door handle/armrest. Remove the rectangular door locking knob that slides up and down near the lock mechanism. Remove the screws holding the plastic door pocket that runs the bottom length of the door. Pull off the cloth covered hardboard door card, which is retained by plastic pop studs pressed into holes in the metal of the door. These plastic studs can be brittle - especially when old and cold. Once everything is off you should see plastic sheeting that is there to guide away water ingress that should then flow out of the drain holes in the bottom of the door. Behind this plastic sheeting you will see beside the door handle - if indeed your vehicle has central-locking - a couple of matchbox sized plastic items. These will be solenoids, micro-switches and actuators.
I suspect that my problem lies somewhere hereabouts.
However, I know that even apparently sound fuses can cause trouble and I am still trying to discover which particular fuse (under the dash, in front of the driver's right knee) is responsible for the central-locking.
That seems to me to be the beginning of the search for a solution..
All the best to you as you gradually bond with your "new" G-Wagen.
Nick.
How to tell if you had Central locking - on a 1988 it had an extra standalone separate bulb holder on the bottom right of the instrument binnacle that flashed green when the Master i.e. driver's key was turned. Also you will have screws to hold the relays in the door frame - phillips headed, up at the glass level on the back of the door frame over the locks. It is very easy to break that lamp holder.. I have broken 2 and they are not cheap for what they are..
The master connects to the passenger slave.. which then output to the next slave/lock in the chain .. which ends with the back door i.e. daisy chained. So unlike most systems there is no box that everything connects to; the relays are build into the boxes instead of them just being a solenoid and couple of microswitches.
Fuse wise .. it does show up on the wiring diagram but on it's own at the back as it was an option; do not have it with me.
I would start by pulling driver's door card and looking at the 6 way connector that you will find near the hinge area.. check for earth, 12V and then changing wire as you turn the key. Could be the physical link rod between the relay box and the lock.. then you have to pull the handle and lock to get the relay out (it is tucked up in rear frame of door above the lock (which is very tight to get out)). I pulled mine to bits (have to cut the plastic rivets) and corrosion had killed the printed circuit board. I fitted a Slave so that I could (one day) fit wireless remote/alarm key fob .. and I got a slave cheap whereas the master is close to £200. Looking at it Masters use 6 wires whereas Slaves only use 4 wires in the same 6 way connector.
My info I have;
http://www.mb4x4.co.za/forum/content.php/54-W460-230GE-Gelandewagen-Central-Locking-Repaired
A003 820 3242 = Slave/passenger central locking actuator = 73 Euro
A003 820 4910 = switch/driver central locking actuator = 180 Euro
A 001 545 35 15 ANZEIGELEUCHTE 8,79 € 10,20 € central locking lamp holder on dash
How to tell if you had Central locking - on a 1988 it had an extra standalone separate bulb holder on the bottom right of the instrument binnacle that flashed green when the Master i.e. driver's key was turned. Also you will have screws to hold the relays in the door frame - phillips headed, up at the glass level on the back of the door frame over the locks. It is very easy to break that lamp holder.. I have broken 2 and they are not cheap for what they are..
The master connects to the passenger slave.. which then output to the next slave/lock in the chain .. which ends with the back door i.e. daisy chained. So unlike most systems there is no box that everything connects to; the relays are build into the boxes instead of them just being a solenoid and couple of microswitches.
Fuse wise .. it does show up on the wiring diagram but on it's own at the back as it was an option; do not have it with me.
I would start by pulling driver's door card and looking at the 6 way connector that you will find near the hinge area.. check for earth, 12V and then changing wire as you turn the key. Could be the physical link rod between the relay box and the lock.. then you have to pull the handle and lock to get the relay out (it is tucked up in rear frame of door above the lock (which is very tight to get out)). I pulled mine to bits (have to cut the plastic rivets) and corrosion had killed the printed circuit board. I fitted a Slave so that I could (one day) fit wireless remote/alarm key fob .. and I got a slave cheap whereas the master is close to £200. Looking at it Masters use 6 wires whereas Slaves only use 4 wires in the same 6 way connector.
My info I have;
http://www.mb4x4.co.za/forum/content.php/54-W460-230GE-Gelandewagen-Central-Locking-Repaired
A003 820 3242 = Slave/passenger central locking actuator = 73 Euro
A003 820 4910 = switch/driver central locking actuator = 180 Euro
A 001 545 35 15 ANZEIGELEUCHTE 8,79 € 10,20 € central locking lamp holder on dash
A003 820 4910 = switch/driver central locking actuator = 180 Euro was not available from MB uk or Germany just bought one from http://www. Teile - Profis . de Adrian also has them in stock at 300.00 euros
Fuse 7 I think
It'll be something simple Nick !
I had trouble with mine and always people condemn it and tell ya it's dead ! Mine turned out that the rear door connection block had come unattached and therefore breaking the circuit. I plugged it all together and bobs your uncle.
Crack on buddy and may the force be wiv ya
Ah, my '87 has central locking. Never worked!?! Alhough to be fair I have not spent much time looking for the issue. So will this thread inspire me. Hmmmmm. If solve for free, maybe...
neilmarton: You are a living genius!
For several consecutive minutes the rain eased today so, with a trip to the Big City due, I took a look at the lock.
Yes, it is fuse 7. That was fine, in fact. However, when I removed the door card it was immediately obvious that a multi-block connector had come adrift. I plugged that back together, secured it and sprayed the (sticking) solenoid with WD40 and Hey! Presto! the central-locking has returned to life.
Sheffield Stew: why not have a prod at yours? Good luck with it. May it be as simple and successful.
Many thanks to everyone who pondered and responded to help with this.
You are all much appreciated.
Nick.
Well done Nick !
Keep on trucking buddy 
Sounds like a bleedin' challenge! Righto, when builders move all their crap out of my garage I might just have a look see. Oh to be as simple as a dodgy connector block. But unless I look...
Well done on solving the issue, good job!
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Yep! I pretty much reckon he can. He did get the bodgewin untangled and sorted.
However, he is 333 miles away and before I remove the three door handles and post all the gubbins away somewhere I wondered whether there was anything simple enough for me to tackle to try to resurrect the central locking so that it works as it did a few days ago...