Please help -- keyless entry door lock actuator (vrg3?)

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:06 pm

I got an Audiovox keyless entry system and am trying to install an actuator that I purchased to get the system to control the power locks. I cannot for the life of me get the actuator mounted in a place that doesn't rub against something or cause the door card to not go on or impede the function of the locking mechanism or all three. Can somebody take a picture of a location they've installed theirs in and/or give me advice on location/mounting hardware/mounting techniques?

TIA -- this is annoying the hell out of me!

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:15 pm

I was willing to help you but since your requesting Vikash I wont

Actually I'm just kidding. I havent done one in my legacy yet, but I will next weekend when I install my alarm. What I can tell you is that you will probably have to cut some of the door skin to get it to fit in a good location. Use tin snips and file down the sharp edges. You should be able to get it to fit at like a 30° angle/ parallell along the rod that connects the door lock lever/switch to the lock mechanism. If you can wait a week I'll have pics.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:20 pm

So, are you trying to mount an actuator on the driver's side door to control the driver's side lock?

You know you need one of those since the driver's side door doesn't have an actuator.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:29 pm

Mine doesn't fit quite perfectly, but I didn't cut anything (other than drilling the two holes for the sheetmetal screws). I just stuck it in the most obvious spot.

I'll see if I can get pictures too when I do my speaker installation. Mike's installation will probably be a lot better to emulate than mine though.

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:32 pm

How do I mount it afterwards? i've been using existing holes in the door... will I have to drill another hole/holes? (I don't have a power drill -- although I can get access to one starting Monday.)

Also, I have a couple of photos of the general mounting area for your edification and amusement. Any specific suggestions as to where to cut? I also have one picture of the actuator/bracket in case you need that to give me suggestions about mounting after I've cut the metal.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... CT0094.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... CT0096.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... CT0097.jpg

Thanks for your help. I've read a few other threads in which you helped other people -- those answered many other questions that I had.

EDIT -- the rod for the locks is the bottom one. I did manage to figure that much out!

Binford · Post by **Binford** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:15 pm

I just so happen to have my door panel off at the moment. I'll snap some pics for you.

Binford · Post by **Binford** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:41 pm

Here you go......

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e174/ ... 000211.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e174/ ... 000210.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e174/ ... 000209.jpg

Thawa's gallery seems to be down, so I had to figure out photobucket.

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 10:54 pm

Sweet, thanks. I will mount mine there once I can get access to a power drill (on Monday).

I managed to splice the ignition harness wires and the car still starts up, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing something right.

Pain i the ass to reach up under there, though... hopefully some of the others will be easier. (I'm anticipating a really tough time getting the horn wire spliced in -- anybody know if there's anywhere besides the steering column that I can get to it? Maybe at the fusebox?)

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:26 am

Okay... for anyone who did an install, where did you splice into the horn wire? I had a lot of trouble trying to splice into the parking light wire in the kick panel (cut two green wires and had to just put them back together... I think I'll use vrg3's parking light method), so I unplugged both connectors with green/red wires underneath, but when I honked the horn, it still worked. Any ideas?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:55 am

I mounted my actuator inside that little cavity you see there. The rod is mostly parallel to the existing rod. I had to modify one of the white clips that retains the rods.

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:59 am

vrg3, do you have an answer to the horn wire question? Where is the easiest place to reach it and splice in the keyless entry wire?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:17 am

Hmm, well, looking at the wiring diagram for 92 models, it looks like there should be an 11-pin connector with a black housing down there coming out of the steering column. It looks something like this:

Code: Select all

 _________   _______
| 1  2  3 |_| 4  5  |
| 6  7  8  9  10 11 |
|___________________|

The horn wire (which is indeed red with a green stripe) is connected to pin 5.

You could also try getting to the wire at the horn relay. It looks like the relay is tucked away near the interior fuse box. It has a 3-pin black connector, with the pins arranged kinda like this:

Code: Select all

   ___
 _|_1_|_ 
| 2 | 3 |
|___|___|

The right wire is at pin 1. Red with a green stripe, again.

It's possible that on your car the connector housings might not be black, but the wire colors and pinouts should match.

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:44 pm

Okay, vrg's instructions weren't quite right for either the parking lights or the horn. I think they changed some stuff around for the 92 model year (mine is a 90 and all of vrg's instructions came from a facelifted car). I'm going to post some info here for posterity.

Parking lights: There is a black connector with a red label on it around where all the other steering column wires are. There are two red wires on it, one of which has white sections every so often. Don't cut either. The one you sre looking for is a red/green wire on the very end. That one controls the parking lights.

Horn: There isn't any connector similar ot the one that vrg was talking about. Instead, there is a 2x3 connector way up behind the other connectors for the steering column. This has three wires going through it, one of which is green/red. That's the horn wire.

A tip for anyone who isn't sure about whether they've got the right wire: disconnect the connector and try the function (i.e. parking lights, door supervision, horn). If it doesn't work, you're golden and the wire is somewhere in that bundle. If it does work, obviously you can move on. It may seem pretty obvious, but to took me a while to figure it out... d'oh!

I tested out the system without the locking function or the dome supervision, and when I lock it, it beeps and flashes the parking lights; when I unlock, it beeps twice and flashes the parking lights twice. So it seems to be working properly. Thanks for everyone's help!

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:43 pm

I now have fully functional keyless entry! Thanks to everyone that helped. My only problem now is that the lock action from the inside is a little bit difficult, but I have a feeling that is because of actuator placement, and I'm too lazy to fix it.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:01 pm

thefultonhow wrote:I now have fully functional keyless entry! Thanks to everyone that helped. My only problem now is that the lock action from the inside is a little bit difficult, but I have a feeling that is because of actuator placement, and I'm too lazy to fix it.

it will always be a little stiff. Cheapo actuators add to the drag of the system when used manually. They make nice actuators that have a little centrifical clutch on them so they only engage when you send voltage through them. With those you cannot notice anything when working the door mechanism manually.

Gee Spoolin · Post by **Gee Spoolin** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:41 am

Sup guys. I'm trying to install a Valet 712T keyless entry for my 1991 Legacy wagon. David's info (thefultonhow) in this thread is especially helpful on splicing the correct wires (thanks man

). However, I'm having trouble to identify the rest of the wires to complete the install. I need to locate the following:

- Each of the 3 wires that unlock the front passenger door and both of the rear doors. (or is it one wire that controls all 3 doors?)
- The wire that unlocks the tailgate.
- The 2 wires that control the input and output of the domelight.
- The ignition wire.

Since the keyless entry that i got allows you to first unlock only the driver's door then the other 3 doors, do I really have to splice 3 wires to control these other doors (excluding driver's side)? Or is there one single wire that sends signals to ulock all 3 doors? This is my very first install of keyless entry but I'm trying to utilize all of the features offered by the system

Any pointers or inputs would be greatly appreciated

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 6:45 pm

AFAIK you NEED to use an actuator to control the locks -- you can't splice into wires. And when you do use an actuator, you can't use two-step unlocking -- alll the doors and the tailgate will unlock all at once.

Gee Spoolin · Post by **Gee Spoolin** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:34 pm

thefultonhow wrote:AFAIK you NEED to use an actuator to control the locks -- you can't splice into wires. And when you do use an actuator, you can't use two-step unlocking -- alll the doors and the tailgate will unlock all at once.

Thanks for your reply. I've already got an actuator as I'm awared that I need one for the driver's door. I understand what you're saying, no wire splicing necessary if I just want to unlock all doors and tailgate all at once at a single press of the remote. But to utilize "dual stage unlockong", I do need to splice wires of the other doors for this feature to work, right? I still need to locate those wires mentioned in my previous post so please let me know. Thank you

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:11 pm

I'm not sure you CAN do dual-stage unlocking on our cars. Although, if you went into each door and the tailgate, I suppose you could splice into actuators there. I know there is one in the tailgate. But that's waaaay more trouble than it's worth. And you'd need two relays for each circuit.

Gee Spoolin · Post by **Gee Spoolin** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:58 am

thefultonhow wrote:I'm not sure you CAN do dual-stage unlocking on our cars. Although, if you went into each door and the tailgate, I suppose you could splice into actuators there. I know there is one in the tailgate. But that's waaaay more trouble than it's worth. And you'd need two relays for each circuit.

Thanks for your advice

I found that there are 8 wires wrapped by electrical tape that are connected to the driver's doorlock mechanism. I'm guessing they're the +/- of the actuators for each of the 3 doors and tailgate? I'll get a volt-meter and find out. Hopefully they're what I'm thinking they are so I can have "dual stage unlocking"

As of having relays, the Valet 712T has separate outputs for lock/unlock for 4 additional actuators, so I'm assuming I don't need to add relays?. Anyway, do you or anyone know where are the two wires that control the input and output of the domelight? What about the ignition wire?

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:01 am

See if this helps:

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=18386

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

Please help -- keyless entry door lock actuator (vrg3?)

Please help -- keyless entry door lock actuator (vrg3?)