car does not unlock. help

[peytonracer4]

'91 318is
when i turn my key to the right in the drivers side door both doors lock. but when i turn it to the left they do not unlock or make any noise.
anyone know why this is and how i can fix it? thanks

[devon.818]

are you locked out?
if so, try the trunk and passenger.

mine is like this. has to do with the central locking system not being engaged when you go to unlock it. as for why? its old.

[StereoInstaller1]

The contacts in the drivers door are likely the culprit. Replace the actuator and it might work. You could test it too, only takes a few minutes with a testlight.

[peytonracer4]

no i'm not locked out. i'm lucky enough to not have locked it with the windows up.
and what do you mean by the leads in the door? i have no opened the door yet, i probably will tomorrow. do these leads need to be re-soldered? and will they be obvious? like hanging down?

[StereoInstaller1]

ah, forgot the word "actuator".

The drivers door lock actuator sends the signal to unlock the car. Same signal from the trunk or passenger door.

[peytonracer4]

ah, forgot the word "actuator".

The drivers door lock actuator sends the signal to unlock the car. Same signal from the trunk or passenger door.

does the actuator not control locking too? because locking works fine.

[StereoInstaller1]

correct, it does, thus the likelihood of the "unlock" contact being shot.

Do you have a testlight? This could be nothing but a dirty connection on the door jam.

[peytonracer4]

correct, it does, thus the likelihood of the "unlock" contact being shot.

Do you have a testlight? This could be nothing but a dirty connection on the door jam.

i'm not sure i know what you mean by "testlight"

[StereoInstaller1]

i'm not sure i know what you mean by "testlight"

[peytonracer4]

no i don't have one of those. i opened up the door today and i didn't see anything obvious

[BMMal]

What happens when you turn your driver door lock counter clockwise after the door is locked? If it seems to bind or just turn freely it may be that the second lock on the cylinder is worn out. The driver lock cylinder has a mechanism (double lock) that mechanically locks the cylinder when you pull the key out while it is turned 90 degrees clockwise which also flips a latch inside all the actuators and does not allow the lock pull to move so that no one can jimmy bar your doors open.

If the driver lock cylinder is not causing this it could be that your problem is electrical and/or related to the little latch inside the actuators not disengaging properly.

When I first got my car I could not pull the passenger side lock pull because the actuator was stuck locked due to a poor electrical connection which would not disengage the latch inside it. My driver side lock cylinder was also worn and would not even keep the door locked at all no matter if I double or single locked it.

The solution to my problem was to fix my poor connection in the central locking system and replace my driver side door cylinder. One or both of these may be the solution to your problem.

[peytonracer4]

the drivers door feels the same as the passengers door when i turn it counter clockwise. the passengers side works and the drivers doesn't. they both feel the same though so it doesn't turn freely as you described.
so that said, it must be an electrical connection. how do i go about fixing this? is there going to be a wire hanging obviously that i need to solder or what?

[BMMal]

Problems are usually caused by bad pins/sockets where the harness connects in the door jam or the central locking control module is bad.

The module is in the driver kick panel, I believe you have to remove the speaker also to access it as it is below the speaker. There is a small fuse in the module which sometimes gets burned out. It is not a traditional fuse more just a wire with some solder connecting it, make sure this is connected. If it is not it is likely there is a short somewhere and you should not re-solder this until it is found. Also the solder used for this is not ordinary solder, I believe it is a low temp solder so it melts when a short is encountered.


To check the wiring harness:
The plug comes out by uncliping the two tabs by pushing them toward each other and then pulling. You can remove the socket from the door frame by removing the kick panel inside the car and then unclping it from the frame. Mine was very difficult to separate and required a good amount of force but also be careful as the plastic is somewhat brittle. When putting it back together do not force it together as a pin may not be lining up well with its corresponding socket and you will end up with more messed up pins. Sometimes the pins will not be corroded badly but aren't making good contact, you can just slightly tweak the sockets smaller so they fit tighter on the pins.

Here is a guide to some in-depth diagnosis: http://www.mesaperformance.com/faqs/centlock.html

This is also a good write up that someone did to repair their system: http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/i...cking_problems

Best of luck to you, I know this can be a pain. Even after I fixed mine it one day would not keep the doors locked because my passenger door actuator got jammed.

[peytonracer4]

thanks for your help. that first guide (skimming it) looks very good. i'll try to tackle it this weekend. wish me luck, looks like i'll need it.