Central Locking - I Can't Lock The Car

[georged]

Hello,

I'm hoping for some help and advice in diagnosing a problem with the central locking on my Fiesta

First things first - the car:

The Fiesta is a 57 plate Style with climate pack. I believe this makes it Mk6

The problem:

When I try to lock the car, either using the buttons on the key fob or the key in the lock, I hear the mechanism working, the interior door handle leavers appear to go in, but then spring back out again and the car is left unlocked.

The workaround:

The only way I have found to lock the car is by removing a fuse from the fuse box in the passenger side glove box. I have removed the fuse with the padlock icon. This disables the central locking, but has the strange side effect of making the indicators work at double speed

Other Symptoms

When driving the car, the dashboard light indicating an open door stays on. Also the interior light may stay on when the switch is in the central position (but I need to double check that)

So I believe the problem with the locking could be related to the door open light and that fixing the problem with the light will fix the problem with the locking

The last thing that I've tried is removing the boot lock (to do the door locks looks like I would have to take a panel off). I found what I think is a microswitch. I removed it and tried pressing down on the switch. I had hoped this would put the dashboard door open light out - but it did not

so - am I looking in the right place, could the problem a faulty microswitch, if not what do I try next?

any ideas please get back to me

George

[hubby1959]

You sound to be on the right track with the door open light being the problem,

The way I see it, (And someone will correct me if i'm wrong), is that there is a fault in one of the door switches, which is leading the car to believe that a door is open all the time, which in turn won't allow it to lock.

You never said if it was the 3 door or the 5 door, but that shouldn't make much difference as the most common cause of the locks bouncing back open will be on the front doors, at a guess the drivers door as that will get the most use.

So the first port of call is to identify the door switch in the drivers door and disconnect it to see if the door open light is extinguished, if it does try locking the car with the remote, if that works then you have found your fault, if not repeat with the front passenger door.

[PRT]

I have the same car and the same problem. I have discovered that the sensor located on the driver side is slightly loose and when moved into a different position can stop the open door light from showing on the dashboard display and therefore allowing the car to be locked. Did you find the same cause? I would like to know how to replace this little sensor so that the problem is fully resolved. Please let me know if you have found a way?

[Fadedford]

Hi I have slight issues with central locking it opens but have to lock manually ,this is not a permanent fix but might get  you out if your car suits , I’m not positive if yours is the right car but to the right of the steering wheel and down there’s a small cubby  / pull it open then pull it up to take it off . Are there five square plugs there ? If so choose the second from left and pop up the black tab on top . Then pull little yellow handle towards you , leave plug out and close up , you will have manual locking but little red light will remain on dash , it’s not a fix I know but thought I’d throw it out there 

[Elle4439]

I’m having the same sort of problem I can lock my Ford Fiesta mk6 perfectly fine with the key that has the buttons on it but when I try and manually lock my car with my backup key I can never lock the car door any advice?

[Paulkp]

Can you manually lock the car with your remote key ?

You can usually lock the car manually with any of the Ford Keys, (but don't try with the correct keys in the car !) I can lock my 2007 Fiesta and 2010 Fusion with an old Sierra key.

[Terry-Mc]

I have exactly the same issue as the first with my 3 door 2003 Fiesta. The Open Door light stays on and the doors will not lock with the remote or the key. They bounce back unlocked immediately on locking. I take it as a common fault as found this forum quickly on entering the issue online.
It's not a good idea to leave the car unlocked in my area and would probably make the insurance void if anything happens to the car!

Has there been any definitive answer to get this fixed ?

[Paulkp]

There a number of topics in both Fiesta, and Fusion sections, (keep searching).  Fault can be micro switch in door lock, poor connection in connector behind the A post, poor connection at the GEM, defect on the GEM, or a broken wire.

Most likely it will be the door switch, which is both expensive, and a right palaver to remove and replace.  But check the door connector for any corrosion on the contacts, and the connector on the GEM.  You might also try disconnecting the battery, and operating the door repeatedly to make and break the microswitch mutiple times, and this might clean the contacts of the microswitch.

To lock the car, you could try just disconnecting the door lock connector at the GEM, then you should be able to lock the car manually.  I believe the same effect can be achieved by removing the doorlocking fuse, but I have not tried either of these methods.  There is also a suggestion that by holding the door key in the lock position for a few seconds will lock all the doors, but again I have not tried this.

Solutions have been suggested on this Forum which involve finding the cores to the door switch, and shorting them together

 

The micro switch is in the doorlock itself.....

and as you can work out, this is an image of the one I removed from my Fusion front passenger door.  With a meter, the switch always works....

(My theory is that the pull up resistor in the GEM is a too high resistance, and does not allow sufficient current to flow through the contacts.  I have seen something similar in electronic equipment where a switch rated at 250V was used for 5V)

 

[Paulkp]

On my three door with a "door open" on the passenger door, if I then manually lock the passenger door, then I can also lock the driver's door by using the key in the lock, but not by using the button as a remote.....

This may also work for the five door