How hard is it to make manual locks electronic?

[bubbagumper6]

Just wondering...I know it has something to do with an actuator or something and I think the only part of the lock I need to be able to get to is the cable inside the door (which I can already find easily. So how hard is it to convert and how much will it cost?

[azbass]

if the manual locks are driven by a metal rod, its easy to add an door lock actuator to it. then wire them using a 5 wire relay method to your alarm/keyless

if the door locks are driven by a cable. well its harder, they make adapter kits.

[dkmesa]

http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/Autol...ducts_CL.lasso

[bubbagumper6]

It's a cable, I've seen it

[shortyg83]

Ive never seen the cable type I know the metal bar ones are easy because i have it in my car. But I assume its just a different type of actuator

[bubbagumper6]

they have door actuators on parts express for like 10$

I don't need any kind or remote or even a control module because I'm going to wire it directly to my alarm. Don't even need a switch for it inside the car though I might invest in one...just need the actuator with the + and - I believe...the alarm will do the rest

[azbass]

um,. no you will probably need relays

[azbass]

remember to make the actuators work it needs to reverse polarity.

[azbass]

Ive never seen the cable type I know the metal bar ones are easy because i have it in my car. But I assume its just a different type of actuator

smae type of actuator. there is just a metal clip you screw to the door that "holds" teh cable. then the actuator rod clips to the cable

[azbass]

Ive never seen the cable type I know the metal bar ones are easy because i have it in my car. But I assume its just a different type of actuator

smae type of actuator. there is just a metal bracket you screw to the door that "holds" the cable inplace. then the actuator rod clips to the cable with another bracket.

[regal8r]

why not just get the electric lock setup out of the same model of car as yours?

[Ferendon]

You'll need to find the exposed end of the wire, usually near the latch, after the grommet on the end of the housing. There's 3 positions, lock, unlock, and open, and they're in that order. You need to pull the inside door handle all the way open, so that the least amount of cable possible, is exposed. That's all you have to work with. Once the actuator is mounted and connected, release the handle, and check for clearance issues. Make sure you get the actuator and cable as parallel as possible. If this is your first set of lock actuators, you've picked the worst car in the world to start with. I dunno what car it is, but it's got cable locks... I wouldn't recommend doing, as you'll have the door panel off, repairing them in probably 6 months or so.

Also, they won't wire directly to many alarms, and about the only ones I know of that will wire up directly, are Code Systems alarms, and even then it still has 2 wire you have to ground to make it work. You'll need 2 relays, 1 for lock, 1 for unlock...


85 - Output from alarm, presumably (-) either lock or unlock
86 - Fused +12v, or ground, what ever is opposite of pin 85
30 - One of the actuator wires, either one will do for now...
87 - Fused +12v, usually looped off of the wire to pin 86
87a - Chassis ground

Do this for both the lock and unlock wires from the alarm. If the locks are functioning backwards, then switch the wires from the alarm around. Pins 85 and 86 are for the control circuit, so they only control the armature in the relay, so you can switch those backwards without a problem. I can e-mail you a .pdf of the wiring diagram if you need it, just shoot me a PM.

[Ferendon]

why not just get the electric lock setup out of the same model of car as yours?

Because that's a REAL pain in the ***. Even if it IS a Type-A 5 wire system, it would still be a pain. Any other type of lock system would require a different BCM.

[bubbagumper6]

You'll need to find the exposed end of the wire, usually near the latch, after the grommet on the end of the housing. There's 3 positions, lock, unlock, and open, and they're in that order. You need to pull the inside door handle all the way open, so that the least amount of cable possible, is exposed. That's all you have to work with. Once the actuator is mounted and connected, release the handle, and check for clearance issues. Make sure you get the actuator and cable as parallel as possible. If this is your first set of lock actuators, you've picked the worst car in the world to start with. I dunno what car it is, but it's got cable locks... I wouldn't recommend doing, as you'll have the door panel off, repairing them in probably 6 months or so.

Also, they won't wire directly to many alarms, and about the only ones I know of that will wire up directly, are Code Systems alarms, and even then it still has 2 wire you have to ground to make it work. You'll need 2 relays, 1 for lock, 1 for unlock...


85 - Output from alarm, presumably (-) either lock or unlock
86 - Fused +12v, or ground, what ever is opposite of pin 85
30 - One of the actuator wires, either one will do for now...
87 - Fused +12v, usually looped off of the wire to pin 86
87a - Chassis ground

Do this for both the lock and unlock wires from the alarm. If the locks are functioning backwards, then switch the wires from the alarm around. Pins 85 and 86 are for the control circuit, so they only control the armature in the relay, so you can switch those backwards without a problem. I can e-mail you a .pdf of the wiring diagram if you need it, just shoot me a PM.

if its going to be extremely hard then I'm not going to do it. I thought that hey I could just spend like 20$ on a couple of actuators and have electric locks! But if isn't meant to be then I'm fine with that I can keep living without them. Thanks for the help

[Ferendon]

You'd be 100% correct with rod-driven locks, but those cable locks are a pain lol. I've only done it a couple times, and I'll never do it again. Not without proper compensation at least...