doors lock and unlock while driving

I had a Skytek Galaxy 5100 installed "professionally".  After a few weeks I noticed the doors locking and unlocking sporadically while driving down the road. 

Someone at work said it was due to the cold temps of the winter causing the relays to freak out.  I was thinking it was more likely a short. 

I do not want to take my car back to the chop-shop that installed it because of the damage they have already done to my dash.  Where should I start?

Thanks

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2004 Monte Carlo
Skytek Galaxy 5100

Probably a bad ground or power connection. See if T-Taps were used for high current connections. If so remove and solder wires instead. If ground is not on solid metal move to a factory ground point. Thats where I would start then work my way out to the connections made further away.

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The wire I'm test'n isn't doin' what it's supposed to be doin'... I am so glad I printed that tech sheet, with the wrong info.
Do it right the first time... or I might have to fix it for ya

Is your unit programmed to automatically lock the doors when you turn on the ignition, and unlock when you turn the ignition off?

If so, I'd suspect that the ignition wire from the unit to the car has a poor connection. Every time the connection breaks and re-makes, the unit thinks you're turning the ignition on and off.

You could go into programming and disable the auto lock/unlock feature, but that would only be a temporary fix.......soon, as the connection gets worse, the remote start will begin to not work properly.

I would go about it like this:

--As bad as the shop you used seems to be, the system was initially working correctly when you left, right? So probably, the installer chose the correct wires in the car, but just did sloppy work.

--I would take down the driver's dash panel, and have a look at all the connections made to the ignition wiring, which (depending on the car) are most likely either in the harness coming down the steering column, or at the ignition switch itself.

--Untape the connections (one at a time, so you don't get them mixed up), and see what your opinion is of how well spliced the wires are.

--Redo the connections as best you can. (I'm not sure what your skill level is, but try to improve on what was there before.)

--You want to use good quality electrical tape. The 50-cent stuff from the hardware or auto parts store tends to come undone.

Anything with the 3M name on it is good........Home Depot has the Super 33+ which is more than $3/roll, but if you can find the Temflex 1710 or Tartan 1700, it should be around $1/roll or less, and the quality is still quite good.

Thanks for the advise.  I will tear it down in the morning and check connections.  I have done a lot of work with car stereos but always on older vehicles...remote starts and alarms are new to me.

I will let you know what I find.

Thanks again!

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2004 Monte Carlo
Skytek Galaxy 5100

nope not a problem. the unit defaults ignition controlled unlocking, you can always go to programming and change this. If your doors are unlocked and you drive on the highway or wherever, when your RPM reaches about 3500, the tach signal senses that your hitting high speeds, and the unit will automatically lock the doors for you. you can even try it if you wish, disconnect your tach and see if your doors will lock when you drive.

My fiance has the same exact alarm in her 04 cavalier and has the same problem. The alarm is programed for ignition locking and unlocking. When you turn the car off, the doors unlock like they are supposed to. When you start the car, the doors wont lock. You will be driving down the road and they will all of a sudden lock. Sometimes they will lock 3 minutes into the drive. Sometimes they will lock an hour into the drive. Even sometimes, the doors wont lock. Now I went and bought an asianwolf 8000RS which is the same as the scytek 5100RS and I installed it the same way as hers is because I have an 02 cavalier. My doors like and unlock perfectly.

The cold weather finally let up enough for me to check my wires.  I wiggled the wires until I found one that caused made the locks freak out.  The installer used those clamp on slicing things that are suppose to cut through the sleave on the wire and make connection.  Apparently it didn't cut through the wire enough to make a good connection. 

So that part is working good now. 

My next problem is the door sensors keep setting off the alarm about 10 to 15 minutes after I arm it.  Probably another bad connetion.

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2004 Monte Carlo
Skytek Galaxy 5100

what year/make/model of vehicle? some cars the bcm will cause false alarms

2004 Chevy Monte Carlo LS

What's the BCM?

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2004 Monte Carlo
Skytek Galaxy 5100

The BCM or Body Control Module is an electronic hub through which many vehicle functions are controlled. To add to what another-kelly said, this module may be checking the status of your doors 10 to 15 minutes after shutdown. After market alarms typically see this as an intrusion, even though there is no door open and no one around the vehicle. It is definitely installer error however that is leading to this problem.

The wires that should be connected to your Door Pin Input from the alarm can be found at the BCM, they are Dark Blue and Dark Blue/White. The BCM is under the driver side dash, above the parking brake lever. These two wires require the use of two diodes and an additional two diodes to isolate the BCM from the triggers, otherwise false alarms will occur.

Could be a positioning fault in the (factory) lock motors. Lck using the key and wait. If after an hour or so the locks pop, that's the answer. Also check alarm wiring to drivers door contact, check the switch itself and check (voltage test across) power and ground.