Central Locking Issue

[Shanless]

I have a 2005 Grand Voyager 2.8...the Central locking will only work from the fob when the key is in the ignition and turned to the "on" position....I have taken the leads of the battery and waited 10mins before replacing them..no change......I've taken out and replaced the IOD fuse..no change....hopefully someone will have a solution for this....PS.alarm doesn't activate either.

Your expert advise would be very much welcomed.

Thank you.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Shanless

[bignev]

Hi there newbie!!

 

My central locking would reset if I took the IOD fuse out for around half an hour.

 

Shorter and it still held "memory" and still didn't respond to the fob or door switch.

 

Let us know how you go on!

[Shanless]

Hi bignev... I took the fuse out for just over an hour...no change.....puzzled!!!!!!!

[crispinchurch]

Check battery in fob with tester and clean contacts

[andyb2000]

That is really odd, to me it sounds like the keyswitch is totally isolating the ECU and other electronics. Does anything else work when the key is out, radio, interior lights?

 

Also when you've stopped driving, and turn the key off, does the radio stay on until you open the driver door (or a minute or two I think it is) or does everything go off the moment you turn the key off?

 

And has it always done that?

 

My suspicion if it has always done it is somebody has installed a battery isolator and hooked it up to the ignition switch to avoid power drain (which is common). If it's only recently happened then that gets more complicated as it could be related to the ECU/BCM or related electronic controls and will be a pain to diagnose!

[Shanless]

That is really odd, to me it sounds like the keyswitch is totally isolating the ECU and other electronics. Does anything else work when the key is out, radio, interior lights?

 

Also when you've stopped driving, and turn the key off, does the radio stay on until you open the driver door (or a minute or two I think it is) or does everything go off the moment you turn the key off?

 

And has it always done that?

 

My suspicion if it has always done it is somebody has installed a battery isolator and hooked it up to the ignition switch to avoid power drain (which is common). If it's only recently happened then that gets more complicated as it could be related to the ECU/BCM or related electronic controls and will be a pain to diagnose!

[Shanless]

There is a "turn" knob on the battery terminal...the radio doesn't work at all and dash stays lit for a few seconds then go off....I tried to upload a photo but can't. Edited August 30, 2016 by Shanless

[gordy]

Does the car lock via the key in the door. What happens.

[Shanless]

No Gordy..have to central lock it using switch in drivers door panel...then locking drivers door.

[bignev]

So, just a guess, but does NOTHING electrical work when ignition is off, including interior lights?

 

Or if you try to switch on the side lights or headlights you get nothing, when the key is out?

 

The mileage should light up on the dash when any door is open, along with a red door open warning light

[Shanless]

Hi bignev...you are correct....nothing lights up ...including side lights...until I put key in ignition and turn to on....just another thing..the gauges flip when turned to on..don't know if this is related tho. Edited September 4, 2016 by Shanless

[QinteQ]

Battery US, instrument cluster test and re-set, the maybe the BCM.

[bignev]

A wild guess, but can you eliminate the battery red knob "thing" from the wiring?

Somehow the permanent feed has been removed / bypassed to the rest of the electrics for the car.

[Shanless]

Just noticed that the air conditioning pump has been bypassed...not sure if its related to the problem

[Shanless]

Just noticed that the air conditioning pump has been bypassed...not sure if its related to the problem

[Shanless]

I unscrewed the isolation unit...no change...tightened it up again.

[andyb2000]

I reckon there is an isolator circuit has been put in place somewhere along the line on your unit as bignev suspects, so that the key barrel is the master on/off switch for almost all of the car electronics.

 

The thing is, do you want to fix it, or live with it?

Personally I'd want to fix it! BUT if you fix it, you might re-introduce flat battery problems when you leave the car overnight or a couple of days as a lot of these have drain issues where the ECU and related electronics drain so much from the idle battery it struggles to start at next crank.

 

To work it back, I'd start to look for some chunky wires going from the battery terminal into the driver side of the interior. Some photos of the battery and the isolation unit you found would be handy. See, disconnecting the isolator is doing exactly what it's supposed to do! Isolate the power, so you want to find the other wire, at the far end of the isolator and see where it goes. Chances are it's a direct feed through it and you can bypass it.

 

WARNING: Pay attention to polarity and the connections, ideally send us some photos of the battery, isolator and anything you think is relevant as we don't want you to short anything out and cause more of a headache for yourself.

 

(PS, If you're in the UK, where abouts as there might be a kind individual around that can take a quick look for you, if you're North-East I'd be more than happy to have a look under and see what I can find for you)

 

[Shanless]

Hi Guys...sorry I'm only getting back to this now as Iwas in hospital for an operation.... Update as follows

Charged the battery.. Have no dash instrument lights nor instruments working...I've tried two BCM'S..tried another instrument dash..took out fuse box and disconnected all the pugs, cleaned and refitted them...still no dash.

Nothing works until the key is in ignition and turned to the on position ( dash doesn't work at all)... Haven't found any isolator

Thanks