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Clifford Alarm. My doors wont unlock

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Security and Convenience
Forum Discription: Car Alarms, Keyless Entries, Remote Starters, Immobilizer Bypasses, Sensors, Door Locks, Window Modules, Heated Mirrors, Heated Seats, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=79716
Printed Date: May 15, 2024 at 10:48 PM


Topic: Clifford Alarm. My doors wont unlock

Posted By: jaguarxj220
Subject: Clifford Alarm. My doors wont unlock
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 11:11 AM

do your door locks move at all? if so then i could be a bad actuator in the door. also you may check the voltage with a multimeter one night after driving it then leave the hood poped overnight and in the morning test the voltage. thats about all i can think of right now



Replies:

Posted By: captainzab
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 11:16 AM
I think its just the remote, i know several people with the LCD remote who has a bad unlock button. Try replacing the battery and stand next to your car and hold down the unlock button for like 3sec to see if it unlock.
There is a slight difference in morning and night, and that would be the light. Your antenna gets some interference in the morning due to it being really bright outside. (this happens to everyone and you lose some distance)




Posted By: captainzab
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 2:37 PM
Maybe the actuators are bad. Open up the door panels to see.




Posted By: Custom_Jim
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 3:07 PM

I wonder if the constant 12 volts or some other constant 12 volt wire is going off after a while. I know I got caught years ago in a Camaro and assumed what tested out at the time to be a constant 12 volts was actually tied into the vehicles computer to where after a certain time frame that wire was no longer a constant 12 volt but went dead. The system would lock and unlock fine but if it sat a while the door locks ceased to work with the remote. On this car the door had to be opened and it "woke up" the battery wire in the door. I've also seen things like this in Fords and could very well be in other makes. The reason some systems are like this is if the car is parked a while someone cannot push the unlock button on the door panel and have the doors unlock. They will only work after the door has been opened then they come back to life.

Try this, arm the system overnight again but leave the window down. Get back to it the next day and reach in and try and operate the door locks with the factory door lock switch. If it doesn't work I kinda think the clifford systems door lock relays may be tied into the wrong constant 12 volt line.

Jim 



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1968 Chevy II Nova Garage Find 2012
1973 Nova Custom
1974 Spirit of America Nova
1973 Nova Pro-Street




Posted By: Custom_Jim
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 10:38 AM

negri2121 wrote:

i understand what you are saying. but tell me why the locks sund like they are trying to open. also, if it wasnt connected to a solid power source, why would i hear the chip sound on the car? I have an 03 escalade if you were wondering.

First I don't know all the particulars of your car but let's say the power wire for the door locks is tied into a constant 12 volts (or actually a timed constant 12 volt) circuit that the body computer turns off after a while. Let's say something else is in this line between this connection at the body computer and the door lock relays like a capacitor. When the body computer has this line powered up the capacitor gets charged and the other items connected to this line work as they should. Now after a while the line becomes disconnected from the battery but the capacitor is in a charged state. Now if a relay is triggered and the line to the battery is disconnected the capacitor is trying to power the circuit but if it is not large enough the relay may click but not have enough power to do anything else.    

I have installed Clifford systems in the past and the siren (chirps and making it sound off in a theft attempt) were on a seperate 5A fuse and the parking lights were on a different 20A fuse. It's possible the door locks are tied into the 20A fuse or on a different line and the reason it was designed that way was if there was a problem with the parking lights or door lock circuits they could blow their fuses but the 5A fuse would allow the main part of the system to work for more security. The convenience aspects could fail but at least the system would still make noise and disable the ignition.

If I were to troubleshoot it I would try hooking up an LED to the door lock relays input power for the Clifford system and see if the line stays powered up when the door locks decide not to work. An LED could stay powered up overnight or a few days and not drain the battery down light a regular test light or light bulb.

Jim



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1968 Chevy II Nova Garage Find 2012
1973 Nova Custom
1974 Spirit of America Nova
1973 Nova Pro-Street




Posted By: Custom_Jim
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 11:13 AM

I just did a quick lookup and it looks like your vehicle requires a door lock adaptor (Peripheral Electronics part # PGMDLBP). I also tried looking up your vehicle on this site's wiring diagram but there was no info.

So, for the door locks to work there has to be an adaptor, not the old school relay systems. I wonder if the adaptor is defective or a wiring problem ?.

Did you do the install or another company ?.

Jim 



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1968 Chevy II Nova Garage Find 2012
1973 Nova Custom
1974 Spirit of America Nova
1973 Nova Pro-Street





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