vp commodore central locking issues

[sawychri06]

my vp commodore has been through 3 central locking key tags now, i got a new one about a year ago because the auto elec said it was stuffed now this new one has gone. i took the old one apart and found that if i touch it the doors will unlock and the imboliser will turn off????? and it only happens when i touch it.
i have checked the batterys on all and still nothing. it seems to be a transmitter problem. has anybody had this problem or anything like it. at $150 a tag its expensive.

also what price is an after market central locking setup because that might be the next option

[antelopeslr5000]

When you say you touch it, what is it you are actually touching? The microswitch in the remote?

[sawychri06]

It's a little blue bit at the top if I touch that and push the button it unlocks. It's strange it's like it needs my body to transmit ?

[antelopeslr5000]

Cool, now I'm with you.

That blue bit is a trim pot. The trim pot is used to tune the remote key.

You can try this and see if it works. You'll need a non-metallic screwdriver to adjust the trim pot thought as any metal will effect the tuning frequency of the remote key.

1. Sit in the car & while holding down the the remote button, very slowly turn the trim pot through 360 degrees in either direction (just remember to take note of the starting point of the trim pot).

2. If the central locking works, then increase you distance from the car and try again. If there is no response at a greater distance, then you may have to repeat the above step. Usually around the 5 metre mark from the car should be an adequate distance to tune the remote.

[sawychri06]

Thanks 4 that I will give it a shot. I hope this doesn't sound dumb but what exactly is a non metallic screwdriver and where do I get 1

[antelopeslr5000]

A plastic screw driver, try Dick Smiths or Jaycar. Basically whatever you use it has to be non conductive.

[sawychri06]

thanks so much for that mate worked as told over the moon about it. how does it all of a sudden just change the settings ??

[antelopeslr5000]

Over a period of time, components in the circuit (such as resistors, capacitors etc...) age and may degrade having a impact on circuit resistance. The degradation can be rather slow, taking years or it can happen pretty much instantly.

What you have done is effectively change the circuit resistance of the remote by tuning it with the trim pot (a trim pot is an adjustable variable resistor).

Glad to hear that you got the remote going again.

[Warranty Void]

Once it's going go to jaycar and buy a learning fob for about $40, this tunes digitally and won't drift out of range.

[dlucre]

Had this problem with my VP today. I have the old Mongoose 1-button style remote. The light was flashing, but the car was simply doing nothing. Was a bit worried the BCM might have gone (being a 20 year old car), but it turned out it was just the frequency from the remote.

I used a small screwdriver and adjusted the blue trim pot slightly clockwise, small adjustment, removed the screwdriver and pressed the button. All good now, very happy.

Now that I think of it, the same thing happened to my garage remote control once, and the same trick worked. Must be a fairly common fault with this style of remote.