Ticking noise from under the bonnet when parked and locked.

[edwardmk]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Hi Martin,

I notice from your photograph that you may have disconnected the charger when it reached stage no. 4 which C-tek defines as "battery ready for use". You'll find that it's better to let it complete the programme and reach stage 7 "fully charged" which is when the charger enters the trickle ("float") mode.

Torch!

There's a lot of unnecessary fuss made about this. I have a syringe of MG Rover special lock lubricant. It's just light grease! All this does is to ease the passage of the key blade channel through the engagement mechanism. WD40 may freeze (I remember this from years ago) but really, if the key blade is kept clean and the dust cover on the slot is functioning, you don't need to go mad with lubricants. Silicone aerosol spray is very effective and smells nice too!

Simon

Hi Simon,

I left the battery charging again until the 7th light came on and noticed the voltage had dropped in trickle mode to around 13.4. (On position 6 it was at 15.45 which quite surprised me.) I'm pretty sure the battery is good but will check again tomorrow.
While disconnected from power I did manual door checks as follows. Rear doors, push buttons down, doors lock. Pull door handles inside (once) they unlock. Pull outside they remain locked. Conclusion normal manual operation?
Front passenger door, same as rear on manual, so also normal?
Driver's door is an issue on manual. If I lock the door (anticlockwise) with the key and take the key out, then the inside handle won't open the door from inside the car. However, if I lock the door with the key and leave it in, then two pulls of the inside handle opens the door. Now the door will open and close using the outside handle with the key left (stuck) in the barrel. To free the trapped key I must manually re-lock from the outside. Then I can't manually unlock from outside or inside.
Next I locked the driver door from the outside to get the key fob free (for the alarm), and locked all the other doors. Connected the battery, no alarm sounded! Took the negative lead off the battery and alarm went off. Re-connected the battery and used the fob to silence the alarm. Pressed the fob button to unlock and lock several times. The rear door buttons unlocked and locked normally. There was a single beep on locking with the fob every time which I suspect was the open bonnet.
Front passenger door button was totally inactive. The driver's door did react up and down, but the door didn't unlock, unless I put they key in and gave a manual assist on opening. The only way to open the driver's door from outside is with the key fob and the key working wirelessly and manually in sync.
I'm thinking a bad connection or failed solenoid in the front passenger door.
Clueless about the driver door. (Both door cards are off)
A torch and mirror examination didn't show anything apparently broken. When the key turns, I see a small drive shaft turn with no slippage at the key end, but can't see what happens at the other end. I feel the driver side is very close to working normally. The button amplitude/range appears to be less than it should be. AC 90 lubricant definitely improved things, but it wasn't enough