Car Wont Open/Close Via Remote! Help

[happytodd]

Yeah I had a problem once also with my car, my ICC unit kept changing radio stations randomly in my car, and the volume etc. Took it to Fords, they did a computer scan and said there was no faults. They said they even took my car for a drive and nothing happened. Its stopped now thank god. Must have been a faulty connection or something!

I went out surprisingly enough today, my dad said I could use my key to lock my car for now. So that's what I did when I went out. Returned to my car and it was open again. So I tested it with my key, and it opened up approximately 10 seconds after I locked it. So then I thought it was the Central locking system. So as I was driving home and thrashing my car, got $40 of fuel etc as I hadn't gotten fuel in like a month and old fuel is ikky..

Got home used my central locking as a habbit and it locked :S Wtf... now I wonder how long it'll stay locked for. Perhaps my car just needed a good charge with the batteries? I don't know :S

[happytodd]

My dad just spoke to Fords about it, They said the Central Locking could be to tight in the drivers door. Which makes it think it must be open when it shouldn't. They even said it would cost $300 to untighten this thing. Just to take off the damn door panel with a couple of bolts? Lol!!!

[keaton185]

Strange question but when you're sitting in the car with the door closed, if you push down the silver knob thing on the drivers door, does it go below the trim or does it sit flush with the trim? If it sits below it, yes the cable inside may be damaged or jarred.

It's very easy to take off the door trim, using a small flat blade and a long phillips head. There's a few little panels that come off which are hiding the screws. One behind the door open pully thing. Two in the strip of plastic on the door handle. And two down the bottom of the door. There's also one screw up the top just behind the mirror switch on the side of the door, basically where the front of it meets the body. Pull all that off and you'll see it there.

[happytodd]

Cheers for the instructions there Keaton, yeah the silver knob sits flush with the trim and doesn't go any lower. Then randomly pops up again. However after my drive today - Approximately 100km drive, my keypad and keys work fine and the car has remained locked since. My car has a 3 year Warranty since I've purchased it, but I wouldn't even bother getting it covered by warranty because they still expect me to pay around $20 for them to inspect my vehicle to see that there is something actually wrong with it. No point when I could potentially fix it myself.

[Rudiger]

This may be totally off the point but I had a differnt but surpisingly similar situation.

On a recent cruise, I got out to say hi to everyone at the meet point, left the daughter in the car (shes 17 by the way) and the kesy in the ignition. She got out of the car and it locks itself. This problem beag to get worse and around 5 to 6 minutes after locking the car with the remote, the alarm would go off.

Then one day the car wouldn't start. Dead. Unless I put the headlighhts on and she would start no problem.

Ok. This is crap me thinks.

Turned out the neg terminal on the battery was extremely loose. I have a dry cell battery relocated to the passenger side and the terminals are difficult to reach so I couldnt really check them.

But since I tightend it, not a problem.

Now this is probably not related to your problem of it unlocking but you never know your lick in a big city.

[happytodd]

Naww my terminals ain't loose at all, but cheers for the heads up, because you posted a reply you reminded me to try to open/lock my car again today. Its mucking up again Gah!!! The worst thing is that you try get an opinion from Ford and they instantly involve a few hundred dollars in the equation. They don't even know why its happening, fml. This is my first car and what an experiance I've had with it so far. Next time I'm going to get a Volvo its crazy lol. Its a nice powerful vehicle. Just all the small things just seem to break without warning.

With technology these days they make cars run by computers, why not go back the way it was a good 20-30 years ago. Simple engine and steering wheel and that's it... lol

By the way Rudiger how did you manage to get back in your car when your car locked at this cruise with your daughter? =]

[keaton185]

Have you tried resetting the car by taking the terminals off the battery for an hour and then putting them back on? It will reset the ecu, I don't know how the computer works in relation to the doors etc but it may have an effect and it's not too hard to do either.

I'm assuming you're a young dude like me because you've got an n/a like me haha. With any place who has given me either dodgy service or a dodgy product, I've found being a c*nt about it will generally work in your favour. I'm not saying go in there all guns blazing looking like rambo but go in there and say you're not leaving till they fix the problem. You've paid them for a service which they haven't completed, you've still got the issue. If anything else, say you'll go to head office or department of fair trading. You've gotta jump up and down about this otherwise you're never gonna have it resolved and you'll regret it.

I had a similar situation where my car was hit by a drunk driver, they damaged the door and front bar. The repair shop never fixed the front bar, simply popped it back in when it had actually damaged the support frame, they also mismatched the paint on my car, average joe won't notice it unless pointed out but I notice it. Biggest thing I regret is not going back and demanding my car fixed (they took 1 month to fix the fcker and I had enough at that point).

Anyway, just my 2c.

[happytodd]

Hey there mate,

That would seriously upset me if some drunk driver hit me and my car wasn't fully repaired again, God damn it!!!Atleast its fixed now though.

I am a young dude, my 19th Birthday in 4 days time.

I shall try taking the terminals off of the battery, however I did read somewhere that if the battery is off for a long period of time. The ICC or something will reset and I won't be able to start my car unless I take it to Fords. Again I could be wrong, perhaps leaving the battery disconnected for an hour is fine.

Last time I got my car serviced I was abit of a c*nt about it. Didn't go overboard like I can really do. They charged me $750 for service, $300 in parts and $450 in labour and GST. So I kept asking if they accept student cards etc lol. My parents absolutely hate me being a c*nt doing stuff like that, they are usually with me when I get my car serviced because they also end up getting there BA Ford Falcon XT to get it serviced also.

I appreciate your reply though Keaton, you sound like an awesome guy!! :D

[keaton185]

Well happy birthday for 4 days time.

750 for a service? f*ck. What'd they do polish the block or something?

It's probably bad for resale value but I've always serviced my car myself ever since I took it to ford. At least I know it's done properly. Apart from machining the brakes they didn't do a whole lot, didn't even change the radiator coolant which I would expect would be a standard item.

Anyway, I would say it's in your best interests to contact Ford about it. Speak to a service manager or something, they'll more than likely do something about it. I would hope.

I had my car off the road for a week or so with no battery in it (took it out for my skyrine) and didn't have any issues with starting it after I'd put the battery back in.

I'll ask a few people who aren't on here if they know what a fix would be for your issue. Good luck.

[happytodd]

Thanks again there mate,

Yeah $750 for a service is ridiculous. I don't even have a job currently, living on Job Seeker centrelink allowance, $248.10 a fortnight, which means that service is well over a month with my income. Had to borrow money from my parents.

They told my parents the next time they take there Ford Falcon in, they would be charged approximately $2,500. As the Power steering etc is faulty or something. They said its more worth while for them to sell there car... What kind of Service centre would say something like that? Lol.

that's fair enough with you having the battery out for a whole week. I might aswell give it a shot. Not like I can "Safely" leave the house with my car knowing that it won't lock.

I was thinking a few days ago, the local Ford guy said it was the central locking system being to tight. However when I use the remote, not even the lights flash. So its not the central locking. I'm thinking its more of the actual ICC unit. So definitely going to unplug the battery.

I'll appreciate it alot if you can ask some of your friends if they know of a fix for me. Thanks again, can't thankyou enough!!! :D