Lord of Hog
6th November 2017, 08:08
Having woken up to the first frost of the winter in commuter-belt Sussex this morning I thought I'd throw a seasonal chestnut on the fire and mention the good old Central locking / interior lights / noddy horn problem that afflicts a lot of our cars as soon as there's a bit of ice in the air. You know how it goes: you prise the frozen door open, start the engine and the interior lights won't go out. Then when you get to your destination the central locking won't work and each attempt results in the under-bonnet Noddy horn giving a comical little "honk" quite out of character with the beautiful sleek vehicle you're trying to lock and making everyone in the car park smirk.
As far as I can figure it's all the result of the same sort of issue that makes your central locking lock or unlock without being asked when driving along on a wet day: something damp is fooling the system into thinking it's already locked when in fact it isn't.
I haven't come up with a fix yet BUT:
The doors can all be locked manually from the inside (for the driver's door push down the button and hold up the exterior handle as you close it).
The interior lights can be switched off manually.
Park somewhere you're likely to get a decent rise in temperature while you're away and everything should be back to normal by the time you return.
Works for me .... normally. However, if you happen to be passing through East Grinstead and hear the frantic parping of a Noddy horn ........... :}
As far as I can figure it's all the result of the same sort of issue that makes your central locking lock or unlock without being asked when driving along on a wet day: something damp is fooling the system into thinking it's already locked when in fact it isn't.
I haven't come up with a fix yet BUT:
The doors can all be locked manually from the inside (for the driver's door push down the button and hold up the exterior handle as you close it).
The interior lights can be switched off manually.
Park somewhere you're likely to get a decent rise in temperature while you're away and everything should be back to normal by the time you return.
Works for me .... normally. However, if you happen to be passing through East Grinstead and hear the frantic parping of a Noddy horn ........... :}