Strange car problem..

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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 9:03 am

Tonight, when I got home from my sister's, my car would not let me out. The front side locks are supposed to lock/unlock all the doors when the lock thingies are pulled up or pushed down. They do unlock, but then all the doors lock immediately. Could not even get the driver's side to open, door handle not working, either.. Finally got out of the passenger side door but I had to time it just right. It's below freezing and the door worked fine when I left for my sister's and when I left to go back home. I can't even get the key to work in the driver's side without all the doors locking again... Shocked

Help?

Anybody have a clue as to what happened to my locks?

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:22 am

Possibly a short circuit or broken wire in the locking mechanism

If the car is in a garage for the night, try in the morning once it's warmed up (temperature) it may be the cold has affected the mechanism

Master Baiter Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 130

Sounds like a BMW....?

anyway, most likely there is moisture and/or water accumulated in the lock relay which has turned to ice with the colder temps.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:28 am

^^ Sounds about right. Either way, it's really a job for a proper auto electrician.

I'm too poor to afford a car with electric locking doors, my old Fiat has the good old mechanical ones that just freeze up! WD40 is wonderful stuff.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:38 am

flushmynutz wrote:

Sounds like a BMW....?

It's a Kia... "Pre-Owned" when I bought it... Confused

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:43 pm

On the Kia Problem forum, http://www.kia-forums.com/kia-carens-rondo-forum/27265-central-locking-problem.html a couple of suggestions are,

edit to add: http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question?qid=20070319160123AAiUVfw

1/ if you have the remote locking fob, take the battery out and clean the terminals

2/ it is probably a faulty solenoid or switch in one of the doors,

3/ It could be iced over/water on the contacts in the door or water on the alarm system solenoid.

It seems to be a common fault in Kia over 2 yrs old, as above WD40 is like Holy Water

Master Baiter Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 130

Quote:

WD40 is like Holy Water

amen!

- big fan of St Duct Tape too!

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:16 pm

Your fellow baiters have come to your troubleshooting rescue. Now to get one to come over and do it and your joy will be complete. Yesterdays "Car Talk" on NPR had a lady with exactly the same problem. Frozen door locks. You will have to drive the rest of the winter with your windows down for safety. They suggested taking the car to a body shop to have the driver's door panel removed, warmed and dried and then WD-40'ed. I would suggest the same. If you are handy with a screwdriver you might do it yourself. The door panels remove from the bottom and lift off. At the top of the door where the glass meets, they panel has to be raised. Be careful of the wiring looms that connect the controls for windows and door locks. There is a lock position switch that tells the car that you have moved the key to the lock position to engage the central locking. I would warm it with a hair dryer and nail it with WD-40.

If this is beyond you, you may consider taking the fuse out of the door lock circuit until it warms up again. It may be connected to the power window circuit also. Look for a 4 inch by 6 inch black cover around the footwells inside the car. Take the cover off and read the inside of the cover for the fuse that controls the locks or locks and windows. Remove gently.

I had some sucker attempt to drill out my passenger side door lock at the gym. The drill bit hit the anti-tamper circuit on Toyotas and Lexi and set off the airhorns. That must have made him crap in his pants as he broke off his drill bit and the car went into a constant door lock mode just like yours. Instead of paying my deductible or the $680 repair bill out of pocket, I removed it all, machined a brass bolt, painted it to match with touchup paint, sprayed it with 5 coats of clear and epoxied it into the keyhole. The hardest part was convincing the car electrically that everything was OK so that it would remotely lock and arm the alarm. Most new cars don't even have door locks on the passenger side anyway.

Good luck and stay warm.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:09 pm

419weasel wrote:

It's a Kia... "Pre-Owned" when I bought it... Confused

"pre-owned" ???

The current term is "pre-enjoyed" puke

Trophy Videos · Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:32 pm

Weasel,
Some good advice from the grease monkeys ih here. Now, if we could only stop the snow and freezing rain...it sucks don't it. My mother is leaving her old Caddie unlocked, cause the door locks keep freezing up. It's not in a garage. Thank you Old Man Winter.
Good luck with your car, and have a nice Holiday. Very Happy

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:42 pm

Connie, I adore Car Talk! I'll have to find the audio online and listen to that show. Very Happy

Funny thing.. There has been no rain or snow recently. that would still be hanging out like that. Dry as a bone for a few days now. I checked the car just now after it has been sitting in direct sun all day and it's still doing the same thing. The door handle is acting like the door is still locked.. I would love more than anything to take the panel off, but since I am not able to physically open that door. It's impossible.

There's also no garage I can put it in, I live in an apartment with no amenities like that.

Argh...

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:51 pm

ok, I'd say it is your fob key that is needing help, take the battery out, clean the terminals, bend them in so they make hard contact, then try

if not that, then check the alarm system and the fuses,, you may have a faulty fuse

If not that, then find a Kia agent, it may be in the door mechanism itself

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:57 pm

I don't have a remote. Never did.

Trophy Videos · Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:38 pm

Weasel- Have you looked for a fuse for the locks, like Connie suggested, and pulled it out, then tried to unlock them manually? If you can unlock them manually with the fuse out, you might have a bad wiring harness somewhere. Then, all you have to do is sweet-talk a grease monkey neighbor to hang upside down inside your car in freezing weather, pull your doors apart, and find the problem for you. You've convinced perfect strangers in Africa to do things for you, so with your charm, it shouldn't be too difficult. hehehe Very Happy

Hell, I'd even come over, if you weren't so far away! (and it wasn't the Holidays....)

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:56 pm

I pulled the fuse. The driver side door is still unable to open, but at least the power locks don't work anymore. Now I don't have to race the locks to open the passenger door. Laughing

Trophy Videos · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:52 am

That's a bit better, Weasel. Now put your valuables in the trunk, and just leave the darn thing unlocked. Would anyone steal a five year old KIA?
You probably have some mechanical breakage of a rod, or plastic joint going to the door lock on the driver's side too. Maybe it's also messing with the electrical part of the locks, too?? Just a guess, mind you. Can you open the driver's side from the inside??

And where is that nice grease monkey coming to help a poor Weasel in distress??

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:53 am

I cannot open the driver's side from inside or outside. I can use the passenger side door and lock/unlock with key. That's it.. So, no need to leave the thing unlocked. I'll just have to find a slimjim to try unlatching the door.

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:27 am

A simple reason could be that you have been opening the doors to get things in or out of the car two three four times or more without actually running the engine. Easy enough to do if you have loads of shopping to unload and it is raining or snowing, don't want to spoil the interior, I expect we have all done this at one time or another.
This happens to other central locking device cars (happens to my Jag) specifically those which employ some sort of hydraulics or air pressure to control the door locks. As a test without looking into electrical problems or similar complications, give it a good run first. Then try the doors. Eliminate the obvious first of all.

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:41 am

The answer Wink

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:45 am

^^ Aaaah but you have to have $$ for that. Wink

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:53 am

^^ Aaaah but this is going to cost you anyway you go about it.

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:56 am

OMG.. please just lock this thread..