Problem with locking my doors!

[Thatch]

Please help; I have a problem locking my 1991 Griff. Symptoms:
- If the car is not on level ground when locking, the doors immediately lock then un-lock but leaves the alarm active.
- When driving, if I activate the lock door button on the dashboard (green LED illuminates), and either go over a bump, or lean on drivers door, the lock and LED de-activate.
- When driving on uneven surfaces I can here a relay ‘chattering’ – I assume related to the locking solenoid.

I have had a look behind the driver’s door, and when locked, the solenoid moves out of (locked) position by just blowing on it!! – Can that be right?

Any help gratefully received.

[IPAddis]

Check the door switch sensors in the door sills. Sounds as if one is loose, not making contact with the door, shorting, not shorting or generally not doing what it's supposed to.

Ian A.

[steve-v8s]

I have the same problem with my 97 car. On mine it is not the switches, they were faulty but that is now fixed. They are quite easy to remove, examine and clean. The intermal light shows if the switch has opperated when closing the door. I think my problem is a mechanical one with the lock but I have to remove the roll bar to get at it. There is a black plastic bit in the door that pushes the switch that tends to fall off.

[cess]

Hi Thatch

Mine's just started doing EXACTLY the same - I was about to post a "help!" too - if you find out what it is, can you let us know?

Cheers

[dougal]

steve-v8s said:

There is a black plastic bit in the door that pushes the switch that tends to fall off.

When mine did this it was the above.

[Ballistic Banana]

Apart from Making sure, as said before the sensor at the bottom is making full contact with the door, It may also be worth cleaning the contacts in the door pillar to the solinoid as these can corrode.

BB

[angusfaldo]

Ballistic Banana said:

Apart from Making sure, as said before the sensor at the bottom is making full contact with the door, It may also be worth cleaning the contacts in the door pillar to the solinoid as these can corrode. BB

I agree with BB. My last griff used to unlock itself if I reversed at an angle across the downslope of my drive onto the road. turned out that the slight flexing of the door in relation to the rest of the bodywork was enough to unseat the sensor. Had the door realigned and the problem went away.

Griff doors do seem to be in the habit of dropping.

[Thatch]

Typical – got home last night eager to fix the problem, and it had sorted itself!!

However, tinkered around with the switch and I think this was the source of the problem.

So thanks to everyone who pointed me in the right direction – much appreciated.