General Ulysse central locking failure

[walderwambat]

I have a 53 reg Ulysse on which the electric window switches on the pillars havent worked since I bought it before Christmas. Yesterday the wife used it and the central locking in the boot lid went haywire, constantly locking/unlocking (apparently) every time we opened the side electric doors or started the car. It was easily stopped by opening the boot and shutting it which immediately locked it, even though the rest of the doors were unlocked. This morning all went back 24 hours with the boot working fine but this afternoon its gone worse with the boot locked though the car indicates its open, and the central locking wont therefore lock anything else, so the car is now vulnerable.

Has anyone got any ideas before I give it to Fiats and prepare for a hefty bill!?!?

 

[jarred]

Hi just a thought. open boot remove drivers side panel (little vents on it Just below boot light) wires in there have two problems Hose for rear wash wipe comes off and wets connector for rear locking. Also if not tied back when you open side door the bar for operation rubs the wires. Hope this might help

 

[walderwambat]

Hi, Thanks for the hint. The boot is currently permanently locked though the car thinks its open so central locking not working. As such I can't open the boot but will attempt to contort my way from the inside past the seats (with kids seats strapped in to make it like The Krypton Factor) and look inside the panel. Am I right that the 'break' in the hose would be in there, or in the tailgate itself. Your suggestion is quite feasible as the rear wash isnt working and I suspect my wife tried it.

I'll let you know.

Cheers

 

[walderwambat]

Hi Jarred. Thanks a million. Your diagnosis was spot on!! This morning, having dried out, the boot opened giving access to the panel and indeed the washer pipe had separated. The washer and central locking now looks OK. Ive still booked it in with Fiat for cam belt, service, electric windows and a couple of other bits but God knows what they would have charged to find this fault. You've probably saved me a tidy sum!!

Cheers mate!

 

[Lou]

Snap.

This morning the same problem preceded by the following: Got in the car and the battery/starter took longer then usual to start the car and then the hazards started flashing (they had not been left on) and a message stating that the passenger airbag had been deactivated. This promptly went away and did not come back. Later as I was driving I got the message that the boot was open. I have tried to open it but can't and as per Walderwambats problem I cannot lock the car. I have checked the manual and it mentions that the boot can be opened from the inside with a screwdriver. I have tried this but can't figure out what I'm supposed to do. It does not take a very large screwdriver so trying to exert any force is not easy and it does not appear to do anything. Has anybody ever done this and if so what type of screwdriver do you use and do you turn it or just use it as a lever?

Thanks

Lou

 

[walderwambat]

Hi, I too saw the emergency open of boot with screwdriver and think I found the hole but too couldn't get a screwdriver to work and gave up before I broke anything. I tried slotted, philips and star head of all sizes. I'll be interested if anyone does know what one to use, but you may have the sdame problem I had. Certainly the boot lock symptoms are identical, and if the rear wash isn't working it should work once it dries out. Good louck.

 

[Lou]

I still cannot open my boot and no matter what kind of manual locking I try I can't get all 4 doors to remain locked at the same time. I was considering removing the fuse for the central locking except that the diagram in the manual which shows the position of the fuses does not match up with mine. Having said that I still tried to remove the fuse that I thought contolled the central locking but it is in an awkward position and even using their little tool for removing fuses I could not get the fuse out. After having almost lost the little tool and having to unclip some panels to retrieve it I decided to give up on this. I have managed to unclip the panel with the vents under the boot light with the boot closed and sure enough I have a pipe which when one tries the rear wash wipe spouts water. But guess what? I cannot find the other end to connect it to. It appears to have completely disappeared, unless you have to unclip some other panels once the boot is open. There is some dampness on the carpet but not much so I am waiting for it to dry out so that hopefully the boot will open. It really surprises me how with all the technology at our disposal you can still end up with a situation like this, there should be a key override on the boot just as there is on the doors. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Lou

 

[jarred]

Just a note use a few plastic zipper ties to hold the pipe together.Dry the connector block out below the hose (normally blue plastic with 4 to six wires in. The manual release for the boot is very hit and miss and has to be well aligned when manafactured (so not a hope) ha ha. If the pillar switches for the rear windows dont work but the drivers panel does.sure the child locks are off and is this a ex addi lee car??
LOU One final note please check you have had the recall done if the "airbag deactivated" has or is coming up.Sounds more like water in the fuse box that just the rear hose common fault Good Luck

 

[walderwambat]

Hi Jarred. No child lock is not on. Had already checked that, but suspect at least one switch in pillar is duff from the feel of it. Don't think it ex Addi Lee car. It was certainly registered privately, not that means anything.
LOU, the other end of the washer pipe should be in the rear pillar above the opening. Trying to get both hands up there to push the pipes together is a pain and I can only assume it was designed by someone with small hands on a bad day!!...Good Luck.

 

[Lou]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. To the best of my knowledge all the recalls have been done, Iv'e had it from new. I have checked the fuse box in the engine bay for signs of water before but never found any but that does not mean it has not happened since. I will try to locate the hose in the pillar though it's not easy with the boot not open as I can't position myself too well. I did see some connectors of which one tiny one did look blue. I will have to have another look. Do you disconnect it to dry it out? I did have a feel around this area and I did not feel any signs of water/dampness.

Lou

 

[jarred]

Hi yes just pull the plug apart dry it out and yes small hands and looking up while laying on the boot help to locate the hose.
The window piller switches should have a nice "Click and spring" to them might be worth replacing one and checking the door sprung pins are clean and making contact?

 

[walderwambat]

Hi Jarred, Thanks for the replies. One window switch has a barely discernible click so I expect at least that one is duff. Anyway car now in Fiats for cam belt etc and while its there they been asked to check windows and let me know the score. At the end of the day I can live without those switches operating but couldnt take the car out with the central locking problem so I owe you one!

Cheers

 

[Lou]

Hi,

Monday morning the boot finally gave in and decided to open. For the next two days it started acting up in a different way. You could lock the car and open it which was the main concern so this was good. But, after driving it and parking up and opening the drivers door you could hear some rapid clicking coming from the lock area of the boot and the boot would be open. So, after not being able to open the boot the car is now opening it by itself. Closing it works and you can lock the car. As of this morning it appears to be behaving itself so fingers crossed maybe it has finally dried out. I will wait until the weekend to reconnect the hose etc. as I will be able to see better during the daytime.

Lou

 

[walderwambat]

LOU, Sounds like you got your problems in reverse order to me. I got the rapid clicking noise with the boot open first, which was cured by closing the boot each time as you say, followed by a short spell when all appeared OK, followed by the defiantly locked boot and collapse of the central locking system. Hopefully whatever order the symptoms appear in, they are all associated with that damned hose connector,....fingers crossed. Mine seems aok now. Fancy putting a hose connector tantalisingly out of reach. A few inches lower down and it would be so accessible. Good Luck and I hope its all cured now thanks to JARRED.

 

[stroud]

found answer to central locking found answer on here somewhere carnt find it again disconnect battery for 10 mins hey presto boot opened central lock all started working so far so good

 

[Lou]

My central locking is now working fine, i juust have not got round to reconnecting the rear was wipe pipe yet.

 

[dgpfc]

hi to all with a similar PITA (pain in the arse problem),
to open the tailgate from the inside when the boot is locked you need a very small screwdriver no bigger than 3mm diameter but bent to about 30 degrees about an inch and a bit from the end .
you then need to clamber thru all the seats and junk in the boot ,get on your hands and knees and lift the trim surrounding the lock catch up a few millimeters and then whilst holding a torch between your teeth ,using your spare hand insert the end of the very small bent screwdriver into a very small hole on the back of the lock mechanism , jiggle it about and using your head or anything that will reach , push on the tailgate and it should open .
following it so far !
if you then at anytime close the tailgate you will find it will lock itself again !!!!!!!!
after cursing and swearing many times at fiats completely mad design , you will then proceed to find that your local dealer wont have a clue whats wrong with it and sting you .
they dont know if it is a short out or a solenoid or a duff contact switch,
but at least you know how to open the door to empty the boot of whatever it was you wanted to take out , but which you have already taken out of the side door to get in to the boot to release it !!!!!!!!!!!!

oh to be a car designer , what was wrong with having a key in the lock , no lets design something ridiculously crap that we cant fix . good old fiat.

ps im going to send a copy of this to fiat head office , i not gonna hold my breath , customer service ,ummmm will update when i get a reply !!!!!!!