NOW FIXED - SEE MY 10 January POST BELOW

The car is a 1998 UK 2.0GLS Estate.
The central locking is only either key operated from outside, or triggered by the inside lock on the drivers door.
There is no locking solenoid in the driver's door, just a switch which presumably then triggers the rest of the system somehow.
There is no alarm or keyless remote. There is a factory-fitted immobiliser though.
I have a US version Haynes manual but the wiring diagrams don't seem very relevant to the UK car.

Symptoms:

Ignition Off and unlocked:- Nothing happens, as expected

Ignition off and locked (either from inside or outside as above):-
The driver's door locks (mechanically) and triggers the switch. If any other locks are unlocked they lock immediately, but then continue to receive lock signals at regular approximately 5 second intervals thereafter. This can be heard as a ticking noise and is to all other doors and the tailgate. If I leave the drivers door locked when this is occuring, and then unlock any of the other locks manually, they lock again on the next "pulse". The only way to stop this is to remove the fuse or leave the car unlocked.

I have noticed that the "pulses" seem to occur at the same interval at which the red flashing immobiliser light on the dash comes on.

Ignition on:-
The digital clock often loses illumination when the system is unlocked, but sometimes (intermittently) comes on again when the driver's door is locked. It doesn't look as bright as usual though. The system works when the clock is illuminated, but doesn't when it isn't.

Engine running:-
Rarely, when the clock is not illuminated, there is a two tone beeping sound, apparently from the rear passenger (left) side of the car. This seems to energise the clock and the locking again for a while.

The problem started soon after I replaced the passenger (left) side exterior mirror, which of course involved taking the door trim off. This may be just coincidental?

All the other electrics on the car seem to work OK.


Help required please:-

I guess this may be a grounding problem of some sort? Any pointers please?
What is the source of the two tone beeping sound?
There is supposed to be an ECU and /or a timer unit for the central locking. The only timer module I could find turned out to be for the rear window defogger. Can anyone tell me where to look for these units on this car and which it has?

Thanks in anticipation.

[Edited by 98legacy - 1/10/2004 6:00:55 PM]

 

P.O.P have a look inside the door lock timer it will be full of water or has been at sometime.


It's a common scoob fault I have one sat on my dask as I type then the best bit try and get one from subaru once you get up off the floor after they have given you the price we left ours off.... it's cheaper

It's normally behind the pasangers footwell kick panel, for some reason you get water in there from somewhere?

Huxley

 

Huxley,
I've had a look for the timer but can't find it. What does it look like? (size, colour, number and colour of wires on plug to it?).

Thanks
Steve

 

it's like this

 

Huxley,

Much obliged to you for taking and posting the picture.

Still can't find it unfortunately - might have to ask a dealer exactly where it is on this Legacy. Has it got 6 wires as my US Haynes manual seems to indicate?

Have you ever heard it make a noise? (the 2 tone beep I mentioned earlier). If so I might have a look for it in the rear passenger door.

Regards
Steve

 

THE FIX

I eventually found the central locking module but it was dry and clearly looked OK.

I hadn't noticed before, but the interior lights were also intermittent. When they gave up altogether (as did the clock, radio memory and central locking) that was the clue, as everything with the problem was on the same fuse. That fuse, however, was intact.

The problem was either a broken wire or bad connection, at first intermittent until it gave up altogether, somewhere between fuse 25 (as it's designated in the US Haynes Manual) and the radio memory, clock, central locking module and interior lights.

I think it was a combination of the intermittent fault and the electronics in the central locking module (perhaps a capacitor taking time to charge) that caused the confusing "pulsing".

I have fixed the problem by running a new wire from fuse 25 into the clock.

Incidentally, now I have waded through the wiring diagrams in Haynes they do appear to be applicable to my car. They're incomplete, though.

I think the two tone pulse was the radio searching for a station on the default frequency (because it had lost its memory) and alarming when it couldn't find one. I was hearing the alarm sound from the left rear speaker because that is how I have the fade/balance controls set!

All the messing with the mirror was nothing to do with the problem - just a coincidence.

Hope this helps someone sometime

Regards
Steve



[Edited by 98legacy - 1/10/2004 5:58:20 PM]

[Edited by 98legacy - 1/10/2004 6:02:19 PM]