Hi all, I've fitted a cheap aftermarket kit to my 2006 4x4 ("Universal Remote Central Locking Kit Fits All Cars" from Amazon, 25 quid ) and it's working well, however I want to hook it in to either the indicators or side lights, and I have read that this is a bad idea - can anyone explain why, and suggest a way of doing this safely?

FrankFisher said:

Hi all, I've fitted a cheap aftermarket kit to my 2006 4x4 ("Universal Remote Central Locking Kit Fits All Cars" from Amazon, 25 quid ) and it's working well, however I want to hook it in to either the indicators or side lights, and I have read that this is a bad idea - can anyone explain why, and suggest a way of doing this safely?

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Hi, welcome - and well done

I suspect it's because it's all part of the "CANBUS" system..,

read other posts on such.. SEARCH in "advanced" will find lots of good info

Charlie - Oxford

It may well upset the CanBus system.

Another reason is it may make it easier to break into the car.
Early alarm systems flashed the indicators. Thieves realised that if they just stuck a screwdriver into the flasher lamp, breaking the bulb and short-circuiting it, on many vehicles this would disable the alarm and open the vehicle. Later alarms included a fuse between the lamp output and the alarm to prevent this.
Your locking system may not be so protected. Is it worth the risk.

Another argument against lights flashing is that we all like to see how far away from the vehicle we can operate the remote. The flashing lights tell everyone which car is yours, and that you've unlocked it, and how far away you are. There's a risk that someone will be in your car before you. You'll hear the locks work, stick with that and keep it simple.

I wonder if the OP's reasoning is to deal with the "large car-park loss" phenomenon. Something I've had after swapping the yellow Seicento for the silver Panda. Only happens during cold/wet weather.


Maybe the CL kit can provide power to any remote wire. In which case stick a nice bright LED on the end of the aerial!

A yellow ping pong ball on the aerial is cheaper.

I also wired in a cheap rcl kit and I wired in the indicators and no problems after more than a year. The instructions I followed were from a cobra alarm system. Mine flashes twice when unlocking once when locking and repeating one of those while its already locked/unlocked starts finding mode where it flashes for 30 seconds.