Faulty central locking or not??

Advice appreciated please guys.

About 6 months ago the central locking started playing up. When I unlocked the car, the locks would drop down but then unlock again. The passenger door pin would not move.I had to unlock the car by manually unlocking the passenger door lock so this pinpointed the problem to the passenger door locking motor.

I always tried remote first and it would work about 1 in 10 times. Alfa dealer quoted £160 to fit a new motor. My local specialist (Mobitech) said £100 or so.

Booked the car in for Tuesday as MOT is due as well, and would you believe it, the central locking is working 100% since Friday. I have stood there locking and unlocking countless times and it's fine!!

Question is, should I still get it done as it will fail again, or should I leave it. I have to say the unlocking noise is more than a "Clunk" (if you know what I mean) than it was.

What do you think??

Don't do it!

£100 is £100

The 164s are known to suffer from jammed door locks as the grease in them dries out - 1 of the symptoms is the locks cycling repeatedly.

Obviously your doors aren't jammed, but it might be worth getting the door panel off & checking/lubing the linkage/ lock (did the dealer or specialist check?)

Could potentially be that the motor(solenoid?) is loose & sticks as it moves?

I say do it, on my 166 i have replaced all the door lock asemblies (1999 with 252 000km), and it is a known problem on the 166, they do not last for ever

I say wait - mine did the same as you've described a few months back and I attacked it with the WD40 spray can, and the problem went away....for now!

lock of my 166 door didn't work at all. removed panels and wire was hanging loose in door. easy fix

Originally Posted by Cheradnine

The 164s are known to suffer from jammed door locks as the grease in them dries out - 1 of the symptoms is the locks cycling repeatedly.

Is that why recently I've come back to my car to find it unlocked despite the fact that I could have sworn I'd locked it?

Could be - don't think mine did that tho.

You could try the forums on http://www.digest.net/alfa/FAQ/164/b...um/dcboard.cgi - some of the guys there have more experience.

My old 12v 164 did unlock itself when the battery got low though.

Mine also sometimes plays around.

I have changed one rear lock (motor went dead), but looks like drivers lock is near to be changed also in the far far future (until it is totaly dead ).

Also i change my habit when locking the car, now i always wait to see if it stays locked when i press the button.

Well my specialist had already bought the part so I got him to change the unit. So happy it's working again.

I kept the one he removed and will take it to work to sus how it all works etc.(I am in electrical Engineering)

If I find anything worth reporting I will let you know!

my lock started not to move last week. i had a new motor put in the passenger door, it cost me 45 euro. the old lock motor is still in, there just is a new one next to it.