intermittent fault.How do I prove?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sun 22 Jan 2006 10:08
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond
The people opposite us had her son and daughter-in law staying with them and the daughter-in law kindly drove off their drive and straight into my car...into the drivers door.

My car door has now been fixed (Ford done it). The problem is since the whack (& she did manage it pretty well) I have been having problems with the central locking. It unlocks the drivers door but not the rest. I told my insurance people about this and I told Ford.
Ford took my car away for four days and when it came back I'm still having the same problem. Ford said that when they tried it it worked ok.
Heres my problem at proving there is a fault. Its an intermittent fault.
It did do it when I showed the service guy but when they took it away they said it didn't do it there for there is nothing wrong with the locking.

Do I have any chance of getting this fixed or am I now stuck with central locking that sometimes work and sometimes doesn't?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 23 Jan 2006 16:52
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond
Any help would be much appreciated
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 23 Jan 2006 16:56
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - Happy Blue!
IIRC you can set up the CL system to unlock the drivers door only with the first press of the remote and the others at the second press. Do you think this is the default option after teh work and you may need to reprogramme it?

Adam knows what to do if that is the matter.


--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 23 Jan 2006 17:19
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - rtj70
To check if Espada's suggestions is correct, to unlock the car press the remote's button twice in succession. First press would open drivers door and the other press opens the rest. That's how I configured mine.

If this is the case, to change it to open all doors again you simply press the open and close buttons at the same time until the indicators flash. Repeating the process enables two stage unlocking again.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 23 Jan 2006 18:38
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - Adam {P}
Sorry for missing this thread.

E and rtj are both spot on. It sounds like this could be your problem which would account for Ford not realising there is one and you thinking that it's intermittent!

Please note that rtj's way of switching the unlocking mode is only available on the facelift models. Pre-facelifts have to have this option altered at the dealer using their machine.

Once you get used to it, it's pretty handy to have. No need to have all the doors unlocked when there's just you. Although assuming you do have a facelift model, you may as well activate the autolock feature.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 23 Jan 2006 19:19
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond
Thanks for the help. Its a 1997 face lift Mondeo TD.

I never use the remote fob, this happens when I use the key in the door.

(I don't use the remote because every time I put new quality batteries in it they die after a day or two. Got no idea why this is).
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 23 Jan 2006 19:21
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - Adam {P}
I don't know why but I assumed you had a Focus!

Try giving each door catch a blast of WD40. Other than that I'm afraid I'm stumped!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 24 Jan 2006 07:22
intermittent fault.How do I prove? - L'escargot
Try giving each door catch a blast of WD40.


Good idea, Adamski. My Focus sometimes suffers from sluggish locks, and so did my previous one. On occasions I actually have time to get into the car and close the drivers door before the passengers door unlocks. The problem is worse in winter. A squirt of WD40 into the keyhole usually alleviates the situation.
--
L\'escargot.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide