Central locking posessed!

[PeterH]

Hello, just got myself a 2001 HSE 4.6 Rangie, it's awesome!
Experiencing a weird problem though, the door locks are locking and unlocking on their own while driving, has anyone had this happen before?
Thanks, Pete.

[PaulP38a]

Nice choice Pete - we need pics!! :)

Someone had a similar problem here a while ago with their central locking... don't remember the solution... was something like dirty contacts perhaps?... do a search on this forum and/or over at rangerovers.net and you should get lucky.

Cheers, Paul.

[PeterH]

Thanks Paul, yes I'm pretty stoked at the moment, just picked it up tonight it drives and runs like a dream.
I'll post pics tomorrow!
Cheers, Pete.

[willem]

Hello, just got myself a 2001 HSE 4.6 Rangie, it's awesome!
Experiencing a weird problem though, the door locks are locking and unlocking on their own while driving, has anyone had this happen before?
Thanks, Pete.

Great choice of car! Remember the pics, tho!

My 99 4.0 does exactly the same thing. Has done ever since we have had it. so if you find a solution, please let us know.

As a temporary solution, we just lock the doors from the inside while driving. That shuts them up! And we never ever leave the keys in when we get out of the car!

Willem

[Aussie]

I had a similar problem where the CL wouldn't unlock occaisionally. It was the Fuse box that was causing all my problems.

[PeterH]

I found the following on rangerovers.net:

A related problem is when the doors randomly lock and unlock for no apparent reason. Nathan Bailey had this problem: "Most often it happens when the car is sitting in a parking lot or our driveway, but it has even occured when we are driving. If you lock the doors either with the remote or from inside the car with the button this stops the problem. The dealer thought it was a bad door lock, but was hesitant to replace one when they were not able to duplicate the problem while the car was in for one of its many service visits. The dealer finally figured out the issue -- it was the driver's side door latch. Once they replaced the item ($600.00 parts and labor, thankfully I purchased an extended warranty) the problem was solved. Since the latch has been replaced we have had no occurance of the issue."

So I might go hunting there for a start, hopefully it does not require a new latch.

[Hoges]

Search the P38 forum on RR.net for door lock...there are several excellent references to this issue with lotza pics ... and some nifty DIY fixes

[PeterH]

Ok, a good story for you here...
Just got the vehicle, first day, went to start it and no joy, it just made that pathetic clicking noise as the starter tried to turn over.
I was also getting weird error messages, lost traction, gear box fault, you could imagine my face, not happy Jan!
It's hard with a brand new (to me) vehicle to even guess what the hell is going on...anyway my basic logic told me to start simple...check the battery.
I worked out how to get the battery cover off and what do you know, the positive terminal is surrounded by a small mountain of that blue battery terminal corrosion.
Cleaned both terminals up, tried to start, STILL no joy.
OK, my 89 Range Rover just happens to be sitting right there, so I took the fairly new heavy duty battery out of that and swapped them over.
Turned the key and it was purring like a kitten, very happy!
Since then the door locks are behaving as they should and not an error message to be seen.
P38 lesson number one completed!
I'm glad that's all it was.
Thanks for all the replies fellas.
Cheers, Pete.

[Hoges]

re. the battery swap...Well done!!:clap2::clap2:always pays to try the simple fixes first... A near flat battery causes all sorts of schizophrenic reactions in the P38 :twisted:
thnx for the reminder! :D

[PeterH]

Here is a pic of the new beast as promised, it's a big step up from my '89 Rangie...although I'm still working out what all the buttons do!
http://www.phpainting.com/2001HSE.html

[Aussie]

Cant see the pic?

[51jay]

Hello, just got myself a 2001 HSE 4.6 Rangie, it's awesome!
Experiencing a weird problem though, the door locks are locking and unlocking on their own while driving, has anyone had this happen before?
Thanks, Pete.

If cleaning the contact points doesn't work try fresh garlic in the bottom of the doors...replace every 3 weeks :p

[RoverHse]

I was almost stranded on a dune in Lancelin in December when my P38 decided to activate the "auto-lock" problem while I was outside my car and the keys were INSIDE!!. If your locks are playing up always keep a window open while jumping in & out on the track.

On batteries I have found that the error messages do tend to be more frequent when the battery is not up to scratch, especially EAS, TC, etc. These were popping up and staying on all too often. Closer inspection revealed that the battery that had been installed by the previous owner was of a lower (cheaper) CCA than specified. After fitting the higher powered battery the electronics have been operating smoothly. (Sorry I can't remember the rating of the battery required)

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Yes, mine does this lock unlock thing too. My mates have affectionately dubbed it "The Rape Lock". I just leave a window open or don't leave my keys in the car.

I heard rumours it was something to do with the frequency that the central locking works on. It crosses over with some of the other twenty million radio signals getting around and in a "perfect storm" will cause the car to unlock or lock. I find it always happens around the same sort of areas which gives a little credence to the claim but I'm still not sure.

I just put it down to another one of the P38's quirks..

Cheers,
Keels.