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Door Locking / Unlocking Problem

407K views 58 replies 32 participants last post by  ron1004 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Door Locking / Unlocking Intermittent Problem With Remote Keyfob

Yesterday I had a strange situation where the doors would not lock. I got home and just could not lock the doors. After opening and closing each one the doors did lock, so I put it down to perhaps a sticky mechanism or something.

This morning I unlocked the car fine, came to work, got out, and tried to lock the doors - nothing. Only the driver's door was unlocked and none of the doors would lock.
I restarted the car and then turned it off; this time only the right-hand doors unlocked. The front and rear doors on the passenger (left) side are presently locked, but both doors on the driver's side are unlocked. So, my vehicle is unsecured due to the fault.

Has anybody experienced a similar problem? I'll need to take it to the garage (again) to get this sorted, no doubt.

I did have a similar problem some time back where the front passenger lock didn't work, but again, intermittently so the dealer couldn't see the fault.
Sounds like this could be related.

I'd appreciate a comment if anybody has had a similar problem, and I'd love to hear what the fault was. I want to get all the info I can before taking (more) time off work to take my new car back to the dealer.
Thanks.
 
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#5 ·
Hi ED209,

I have been meaning to get back to this very helpful forum for a while now to feedback on my choice of vehicle.

I finally opted for a Kia Ceed 1.6 Crdi 3 5dr AUTOMATIC (diesel) last Autumn. I have experienced two separate problems as follows:

DOOR LATCH FAULT - Unable to open rear passenger door from inside
I had problems early on as passengers were unable to open a rear passenger door. After ruling out any child safety or door safety mechanism features, it was taken in and identified as a door latch problem. The latch was replaced without question and it resolved the problem. I suspect that the car was delivered with the fault already present as it was found the first time I carried a passenger.


DOOR LOCKING / UNLOCKING problem - unable to lock/unlock with remote key


In the last 4-6 weeks I have experienced the same problem as you have described above. The first time it happened, I was unable to lock the car with the remote key fob after parking it in a busy street. I thought that there was a problem with the battery in the remote key as I was able to lock it manually with the actual key in the door. However, when I returned home, I tried to lock/unlock the car with my spare remote which had never been used and was only a few months old, and the problem remained. I had to lock it manually again putting the the key in the lock.

The next day I checked again using my original remote and it worked perfectly. I was baffled but did not contact the dealer as it was a once off.

In the last 7-10 days, the same problem has reoccurred twice - making it 3 times in all now, so I will be contacting the dealer. As you rightly pointed out, as it appears to be an intermittent problem, it may be difficult to actually show the problem to the dealer.

I have noticed that whereas my sidelights usually go off automatically when I lock the car with the remote, when I have to lock it manually with the key in the door, this does not happen.

It is unfortunate that I have now experienced 2 problems with the vehicle in less than 6 months as, apart from that, I am very pleased and quite impressed with the car itself.

I will feedback again once I have spokento or visited my/a dealer.

I will be keen to hear if you have any further news too.

Thank you.
Regards

TLM
Hi TLM, just got in from 3 hours in the rain with the RAC guy. (Wet and a bit unhappy.)

I moved the car to an adjacent car park to save me and Kia any unnecessary embarrassment due to the highly public nature of our main car park and of course, having been started / stopped the engine the locks are now behaving as I would expect. I did get a video of the left doors locked / right doors unlocked and car being unresponsive to the remote fob though.

As the car is driveable it is Kia Assist's policy not to recover it to the dealer; I'll have to take it there myself. I don't really have a big problem with that but how am I supposed to get around (take children to school and get to work) in the meantime?

I need to take it to the dealer to be investigated but I wonder what they can realistically do. If they can't see the fault then they probably can't diagnose it. The dealer doesn't have a courtesy car available until the end of the week.

I just need a car in the meantime but let's not start debating the shortcomings of the warranty when it comes to actually having a car; we know that having use of a car is down to the dealer's discretion & resources, not a term of the warranty.

So, in summary, I can't be sure that I can lock the car when I get home or that it will remain locked, so it's potentially uninsured. If I drop it off at the dealer I'll be without transport.
I've got a certain amount of deja vu here. I seem to have been plagued by small faults with the cee'd, as is already well documented on this forum.
None of these faults has been catastrophic but there have been so many minor faults that the confidence I had built up in this car over the six months since I picked it up is easily lost.

Yet again I find myself in "the discussion" where my wife asks me whether I regret buying a Kia - a decision which is sometimes hard to justify.
I think the car as a concept is great. Good mpg, comfort, features etc but soooo many faults.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for your response Johan.

When one door is ajar the car attempts to lock and then unlocks again, resulting in a double "thunk" sound. The fault I have is that the car doesn't even attempt to lock or unlock. It's intermittent; happened yesterday and this morning. Of course it's behaving perfectly at the moment. I did manage to video it misbehaving though so I know I'm not going mad...

(BTW, just for info, the bonnet being open doesn't seem to prevent the car from locking, just the doors and tailgate.)

I know you DID say that this is not the cause of the existing problem, I'm posting this for the benefit of others.
Regards,
Ed.
 
#8 ·
If I remember right, you have to set the child locks, or twist your key in the side of the door to lock them? I would suggest also for locking the other doors that wont have it - try disconnecting the battery to disable the central locking, and then lock each door on its own with the key. that should keep you secure!

Have a look through the manual for the exact advise for the back doors!
 
#9 · (Edited)
Hi Jeebo. I'm not sure if one of us has missed the point a little, but the problem is that the remote does not cause the car to even attempt an unlock or a lock action. I think the child locks are a different feature which only affect operation of the rear door handles and even then, only from the inside. Even if the child locks are activated it is still possible to open the rear doors from the outside. (I sure hope so, anyway! :D)

The problem I had was that none of the doors would lock or unlock - they wouldn't even try. The two doors on the left side of the car were locked from the outside but openable from the inside and the two doors on the right side of the car were openable from inside or outside.
A strange scenario indeed - half of the car was locked and half was unlocked. And I couldn't fully lock or unlock the car.

You suggested that I lock each door with the key but unfortunately that's not possible - the car only has one keyhole and that's in the driver's door.
I think disconnecting the battery is not something to be done on a whim, and frankly not by me as the car's under warranty. I think it takes 8 hours plus following a battery disconnection for the car to gather its wits.

Thanks for your suggestion though.
Kind regards,
Ed.
 
#10 ·
Hi ed, i see what you mean, my advice was more hoping to help you get the car locked. Being an owner for only a short time im still gathering my bearings. Some of my advice is sort of transferred from the focus so i hope anything i suggest doesnt make things worse...

Have You given kia a call yet by any chance? You would hope a problem like this (by the sounds of it its more a transciever error, possibly bad earth to it?) would be covered and one would hope that the dealer would think that your inability to lock the car is important!
 
#11 · (Edited)
I have experienced similar problem with car locking/unlocking. I drove home, pulled key out, but I didnt hear ''thunk'' sound, so car didnt unlock. I closed the door and pressed lock mechanism on key, and nothing. LED on key lights up, like it transmists signal, but nothing else happens. I then needed to press lock/unlock button on the dashboard of the car, and all worked again. Manual locking/unlocking worked fine all the time.
 
#14 ·
Thanks Pinbot.
Of course my car worked fine this morning, but I'll keep an eye out. If / when it happens again I'll try the unlock button on the centre console and see if that makes it sort itself out.
The worrying thing for me is that it seemed that the doors I need to get children in and out of were locked.
Perhaps I should worry less and just try to find what causes the problem. If nothing else I should try to get to the point where I can repeatably "cause" the fault in order to assist the dealer.
Thanks for your post,
Ed.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Hi ED209,

I just had a quick look and although this may be the long winded way of editing an original post, it appears that you need to:
1. Login
2. Click on where it says Welcome ED209
3. Under the Mini Statistics heading click on Show all Statistics
4. On the left side of the screen, look for and click on Find all threads started by ED209
5. Click on the desired post, i.e. original unlocking/locking etc.
6. Within the post, click on Edit
7. Click on Go Advanced
8. Change the title
9. Save.

I just tried it on my one and only post and it worked.

Regards
 
#25 ·
Hi ED209,

I just had a quick look and although this may be the long winded way of editing an original post, it appears that you need to:
1. Login
2. Click on where it says Welcome ED209
3. Under the Mini Statistics heading click on Show all Statistics
4. On the left side of the screen, look for and click on Find all threads started by ED209
5. Click on the desired post, i.e. original unlocking/locking etc.
6. Within the post, click on Edit
7. Click on Go Advanced
8. Change the title
9. Save.

I just tried it on my one and only post and it worked.

Regards
TLM
Thanks for your comprehensive response; I was missing "Go Advanced". I hope the revised thread title is more helpful.
 
#26 ·
Happened again today; this time I couldn't unlock the car. Got out of the car and locked the doors, then realised I left my briefcase in the car so I tried to unlock, but to no avail. Unlocked the car with the key in the driver's door and all OK again.
I wonder if there'll be a firmware upgrade at some point to fix this.
 
#29 ·
Hi Ed,

Sorry replying to your comment from a while ago, I thought that changing the title may have been a mod job.

As for bulletins on the car, I have mine going in for

  • Front Door Interior Handle assembly replace
  • Front End Module wiring repairs
  • Headlamp moisture inspection
  • Rear handle door latch
  • Audio Unit Inspection

These are valid for my Ceed 2 2010 so hopefully one of these is relevant to fixing the problem!
 
#31 ·
I thought I would tag onto this thread my issues which are similar.2009 SW.

Friday (torrential rain) noted car did not lock with remote but did manually. However all doors but driver's were locked. Replaced remote battery - no change. Moved vehicle to another location. Remote still not working and again locked manually. Returned to vehicle neither remote nor key would open vehicle. Did notice that red light on dashboard switch remained illuminated.

Had to call on services of breakdown/recovery who managed to gain entry by airbagging top of drivers door and getting ignition key into ignition on end of long rod. Once ignition switched on window lowered and entry gained.

Remote now working perfectly but unable to lock/unlock manually.

Dealer visit required with all the hassle that entails. Has anyone any update on what work the dealer completed to get everything working normally?
 
#32 ·
First things first with electrical problems!

Before you do anything else, check the fuse box first when you have a problem with any part of the car. The door lock/unlock control is electrical and is fused. We also had same problem, fuse was loose. Took 15 seconds to fix.
 
#34 ·
Hi all,

Kindly regards from Spain.

I have the same problem than you. Sometimes, lock/unlock from the remote control isn't possible. In my opinion, this is due to a malfunction in the ignition keyswitch. Please, check the next point:
Usually, when you remove the key from the ignition keyswitch you can hear a "click" and doors were unlocked (if they are locked, or course). But sometimes (in my case with hot wheather) you can't hear the click and doors weren't unlocked. In this case remote control fails. I believe the main unit don't recognised the key are removed from keyswitch. If you insert and remove the key on the keyswitch usually the problem is solved.
Please, confirm if you have the same symptoms.

Sorry by my bad english.
 
#36 ·
Something similar happened with my Picanto. I thought it was due to the weather we have here in the UK where it's usually always cold which causes the locks to freeze up or get jammed. But in my case turned out to be a latch replacement that was needed.

First thing I did, since this was a lock issue, was call on my reliable local locksmith in Barkingside (I live in East London) and they came over instantly. Now the problem with my Picanto was that the front doors weren't opening when I used the key but the rear doors and boot were fine - this was the cause of a few embarrassing moments when trying to enter the car at times.

Anyway the locksmith came and had a look - his professional diagnosis was that it needed a new latch. He spent a good 30mins trying all sorts of things but it just wouldn't open. He even went out of his way to take a photo of the latch and email it to "HQ" and when he got a response he told me it was the latch. So armed with that information, I took it to the dealership and requested to order a new latch. Got it installed the next day and voila, everything was back to normal. Thanks to the professional advice given to me by the locksmith I was pointed in the right direction and the problem was solved within days.
 
#37 ·
You live in London and think its always cold enough to freeze the locks, don't think so.

We live in a part of UK that is considerably colder than London (like most cities London is protected from the worst of the weather) and I can assure you its not always cold, most of the year temperatures are well above freezing even if the weather is poor.

This looks like an advert to me form a Locksmith after work, the only other explanation is the poster keeps his car in a deep freeze.
 
#38 ·
Hosein

This morning I have the same problem, I were not able to lock the doors, all the doors were locked but driver door staied open and remote control does not worked!
af any one has a clue for solving problem will be great!
thanks all!



Yesterday I had a strange situation where the doors would not lock. I got home and just could not lock the doors. After opening and closing each one the doors did lock, so I put it down to perhaps a sticky mechanism or something.

This morning I unlocked the car fine, came to work, got out and tried to lock the doors - nothing. Only the driver's door was unlocked and none of the doors would lock.
I restarted the car and then turned it off; this time only the right hand doors unlocked. The front and rear door on the passenger (left) side are presently locked, but both doors on the driver's side are unlocked. So, my vehicle is unsecured due to the fault.

Has anybody experienced a similar problem? I'll need to take it to the garage (again) to get this sorted, no doubt.

I did have a similar problem some time back where the front passenger lock didn't work, but again, intermittently so the dealer couldn't see the fault.
Sounds like this could be related.

I'd appreciate a comment if anybody has had a similar problem, and I'd love to hear what the fault was. I want to get all the info I can before taking (more) time off work to take my new car back to the dealer.
Thanks.
 
#41 ·
Kia sorrento

I have a problem with my Kia Sorrento locking system, does anyone else?
It has happened 3 times in the last year, if the keys & fob unlock/lock are left in the car, either in ignition or on a seat, and you shut the door it locks itself up! Three times I have had to get the spare key/fob from home! It's very inconvenient and costly if I happen to do this miles away!
Any suggestions? Apart from keeping key/fob in my hands at all times!

Please could a Kia expert reply to cayberry@live.com.

Thank you.
 
#42 ·
Key Problems

Hi all I have recently purchased a Kia Ceed 2007/8 model and it has this same problem with the remote central locking. Sometimes you get out of the car and press lock and nothing happens and then sometimes it locks just fine well I think I may have found the problem!

I noticed with mine that when I get out and press lock and it does nothing if I slide key back into ignition give it a little wiggle then take it back out again all doors unlock. I think there is a sensor or something in the barrel that unlocks all the doors when key is removed but maybe over time this gets worn and doesn't always work. Ever since I noticed this I have put key in barrel then removed and all the doors unlock everytime.

The only reason I haven't got it sorted is the fact that a new barrel and programming would probably cost a million pounds.

Hope this helps

James
 
#43 ·
Kia Rondo unlocking problem

Hi,

I had the same problem, when you press the lock button many times... No beep, beep!!! Anyway, in my case, the problem is NOT here!!! When it arrives, open your door and press with your finger on the key ignition, just a little pressure and you will hear a "click", after, close the door and press the lock button on your remote, and all will be ok.

Claude
 
#46 ·
no "click" = no remote locking

Hi,

I had the same problem, when you press the lock button many times... No beep, beep!!! Anyway, in my case, the problem is NOT here!!! When it arrives, open your door and press with your finger on the key ignition, just a little pressure and you will hear a "click", after, close the door and press the lock button on your remote, and all will be ok.

Claude
Agree, I have the same intermittent problem. Need a little pressure with my finger on the key lock just to hear the "click" and the system gets ready to lock/unlock the doors via remote control. Is there a way to get rid of this and have the "click" when I remove the key? I've put some WD40 but it did not help (probably got worse because there is even less friction when I remove the ignition key). Thanks for your help, sorry for my poor English! Cheers :D
 
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