Reversing the Central Locking light logic 87

01sport · 07:38 PM

I don't lock my doors when I'm in the car because of the annoying bright light from the Central Locking switch. Has anyone reversed the logic so that the light is on/bright when the doors are unlocked and off/dim when locked?

Thanks,
Jeff

mtbguy · 01-03-2008, 07:19 PM

Hi Jeff- I have only had my 87 model a year and don't know what previous owners may have done, but it is bright if they are unlocked and if I lock them it goes out (or very dim).

I lock them to get the light to go out. - I wonder if the switch has leads that can be reversed accidentally/on purpose like some others in the car?

01sport · 01-03-2008, 07:28 PM

Perhaps we should trade cars. lol.

Super_Dave_D · Super_Dave_D's Garage

What - the central locking button lights up???? Great, something else to fix!! Learn something new every day!

MT930 · 01-03-2008, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbguy

Hi Jeff- I have only had my 87 model a year and don't know what previous owners may have done, but it is bright if they are unlocked and if I lock them it goes out (or very dim).

I lock them to get the light to go out. - I wonder if the switch has leads that can be reversed accidentally/on purpose like some others in the car?

Same thing mine goes dim locked. Bright Unlocked.

01sport · 01-03-2008, 09:17 PM

Good news! I guess my car has been broken for the last 18 years. What I need is repair, not modification. I am looking in my Bentley and perhaps the YELLOW and BLUE wires are reversed to the Central Locking switch. Are there numbers on the switch (11, 12) that indicate where the wires go. Any advise/write up on how to remove the switch panel? Wheres the CL ECU located? Guess I'll do some searches.

Thanks,
Jeff

charleskieffner · 01-04-2008, 03:32 AM

have you ever seen what happens to doors on a car that is doing endos or a singular/multiple rollover???

lock yer doors and put some black electrical tape over it!

01sport · 01-07-2008, 08:18 PM

The switch in my center console measures good. I took apart the Central Locking ECU and the wires are hooked up like the bentley says. I guess I'll open up the doors next to see if I can find the problem. Anyone have a CL ECU part# 91161811301 they don't need?
Jeff

vreference · 04-01-2008, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

have you ever seen what happens to doors on a car that is doing endos or a singular/multiple rollover???

lock yer doors and put some black electrical tape over it!

I've always heard that reasoning but I don't know that most crashes would actuate the door handle side of the latch mechanism. I don't believe "locking" the mechanism changes the force it is able to hold before it is defeated. It may be good practice to help avoid car jackings at least?

stevemfr · 04-01-2008, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

have you ever seen what happens to doors on a car that is doing endos or a singular/multiple rollover???

lock yer doors and put some black electrical tape over it!

Wholly Bejeez! Multiple endos

I was thinkin' electrical tape myself - but not for that reason! Must be the fear of people driving at high rate o speeds in them AZ deserts!

dshepp806 · dshepp806's Garage

That light beeping sound drives me NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tkosier · 04-01-2008, 01:44 PM

Jeff, did have you figured it out yet? My 88 does the bright light when locked, light off when unlocked too!

aj88cab · aj88cab's Garage

Well here's a little April Fool's joke from our friends at Porsche. If the lamp is not working you are SOL. It is soldered in place. Curiousity got the best of me, and like Super_Dave_D said, I just had to fix it. I took the cover off and this is what it looks like. As you can see the lamp isn't going anywhere unless you've got better soldering skills than me (which is very little). The non-working lamp hasn't been an issue until now, so I will just button it up and fugetaboutit.

Notice from the pictures that the little white "reflector" around the bulb is removable. Leave it off or hit it with a black permanent marker and the brightness will be reduced. Maybe it won't be so noticable if it is less bright.

dshepp806 · dshepp806's Garage

...or, remove the bulb...

you'll probably still hear that annoying beeping tone....(if it's like an '89) The beeping tone is, by far, more annoying than the light (for me)..

rcaradimos · 04-01-2008, 04:45 PM

My 87 has no audio sound, when locked it gets bright... dim when unlocked. Last year I installed a key-less remote that works great, auto locking doors at start-up and unlocking on shut down.

01sport · 04-02-2008, 06:39 PM

tkosier,

Nope, never did figure it out. It's good to hear that I am not the only one with "bright light when locked ". Gives me new hope that someone out there knows how to fix this problem.

Jeff

terryb · 04-02-2008, 07:41 PM

01sport,

I had the same issue in my '88--bright when locked, dim when unlocked--extremely annoying. There was an aftermarket alarm installed in the car by the PO. I removed it and the behavior reversed--dim when locked, bright when unlocked.

Do you have an aftermarket alarm?

01sport · 04-03-2008, 06:23 PM

Terry,

As a matter of fact I do have an after market alarm. It is a Hofco that was installed in 1987 in beautiful Culver City California. This alarm has been disabled since the early 90's. I took out the "top down motion sensors" a few years ago. Perhaps it is time I removed the rest of the stuff. Thanks for the tip Terry.

Jeff