f468357

I removed my driver and passenger door panels to install new speakers. I put everything back together and the driver's side door lock would not work. Mechanically or electrically. It is in the unlocked position and I cannot mechanically rotate it to the locked position. If I try electronically to lock it, it tries and stays unlocked. Electrically the passenger's side does the same thing but mechanically the passenger's side can be locked. Could someone explain, is there any reason why I should not mechanically be able to lock and unlock the door with the rotary ****. What can I look at to fix? I have checked Adrian's book and couldn't find anything that would explain not being able to use the manual lock. Thanks.

ddubois

Are you trying to lock the driver door with the door open? It physically won't lock when the driver door striker latch is in the open position. You can rotate the striker latch closed by hand to test it while the door is open, just remember to rotate back to open before you try to close the door.
Another problem that was giving my central locking system fits was a short in the driver door 12V wires to the actuator resulting from the PO having new aftermarket speaker wires run through the door. The short actually resulted in burning traces on a small circuit card inside the door actuators. I was able to solder jumper wires around the burned traces, and used one of the abandoned stock speaker wires in the door to bypass the short. Everything works perfect now. A wiring diagram is a necessity for troubleshooting the alarm/central locking.
Of all the work I have done on this car, getting the stock alarm/central locking system working has easily been the most time consuming.

f468357

Thanks for the response but I figured it out. It was my lack of famililarity with the car. You can't lock the drivers door when it is open. Even manually. I didn't now that. I think I reinstall everything for a second time on that side and all is good. Not too much remains and I will have installed the new Alpine head unit, new front and rear speakers, and a small powered sub under the passenger seat. Nothing that will win any competitions but better than stock.

deep_uv

Pics????

Steve

f468357

Out of town right now but hope to finish install within next few days. I have allready taken pictures of the sub placement because I thought it maybe of interest to some people on here. Hopefully can post Monday.

Gregg-K

Which Alpine head unit did you install? I installed a CDA-9885 this spring, and I swear it is not near as good as my old Alpine 3DE-7887. The new deck has a nice iPod interface, but the sound is nowhere near as good (I'm using the same MB Quart mids & Tweets with the Rockford sub amp and subs as before).https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/banghead.gif


Has anyone had different experiences with the newer Alpine stuff?.

.. Gregg

altarchsa

I have the same or similar head unit. Nothing to compare with, but I was super impressed when I finally got it balanced. Convinced the guy at Best Buy, who installed the head unit only, to do it. He told me he had some actual college level education for this.

I had personally installed a big 5 channel Alpine amp up front (used), JL 10" sub in an upholstered-to-match box I built to replace the right rear seat, and Infinity Kappa Perfect components in doors. Left the Pioneeer plates in rear deck, they sound surprisingly good.

I didn't know anything about the equipment and was surprised at the complex user interface / crude lcd graphics of the Alpine. However, my stepson gave the advice for the Alpine head unit. He was head of the install bay at Circuit City for over a year and assured me the Alpine was the best.

Now, for the good advice if you've endured my rambling. Make sure you've set the head unit to use the external amp and not the on-board amplification! Makes a world of difference! Check the operating instructions for procedure.

Gregg-K

Out of curiosity, how did your installer balance your system? I find is so much variation in tonal balance from one CD to another that I cannot find level settings for the high and low frequency amplifiers I like for all CDs.

I've always used the low-level RCA outputs, and I was pleased to see my new Alpine allowed me to disable the internal amplifiers (my old one didn't) ... but the sound quality of the old guy is consistently better despite that.

... Gregg

altarchsa

The guy said that there are a couple of CD's recognized among the installers for their "clean" sound - Santana's Supernatural and Dire Straits Money for Nothing. He used the Santana CD and although I'm lukewarm on Santana, I immediately went inside and bought it after I listened to him tune the system. There are a number of adjustable settings on my amp, he spent most time there going from other speakers off, set the front speakers; other speakers off, set the sub; etc.

The "Hey Now All You Sinners", I think it's cut 4, brought a huge grin to my face and made me glad I had spent the time and money - Total Satisfaction. Always had wondered whether name brands, big bucks (at least in terms of my humble wallet) made a difference. Now I know.

Found that I could crank Hey Now to #21 volume without having to reach for the controls when it hit the middle increased volume part. Drove home and demo'd it for my wife (not quite the addict I am) and she got the same smile across her face. I would say, if you can find a really knowledgeable guy to adjust the settings, spend a few bucks for it! Also, spring for the multi-channel big amp.

Gregg-K

I happen to have both CDs, so I'll check my settings using those. You're right about the importance of having a guy who has a pair of ears and a brain, but all the ones I know around here couldn't be relied upon to hold the correct end of a soldering iron!

My system is a multi-speaker, multi-amp set up not much different from yours, and it always gave very impressive performance with my previous 6 year old Alpine head unit. Who knows, maybe the new head is as good as the old one, but the problem is that I was expecting more from it?

I was hoping someone might comment about the CDA-9885, but meanwhile I may as well have another go at balancing the crossover frequencies and levels.

.. Gregg