Central Locking Installation

Black Widow Kit

Couple of weeks back I got my hands on a DIY 4 door central locking kit for our car. The used car we got doesn't come with central locking and it's really a hassle (call me lazy) to manually lock the doors.

The kit costs $69.00 and includes 1 master and 3 slave actuators, a whole lot of wires and 2 remotes.

The electrical diagram

Before I got the kit, I did my research online and found that it's quite easy to fix it up. But I didn't read the fine print (a certain level of understanding of electronics is required).

So I was quite stunned when I saw the electrical diagram. Even the guy at Strathfield where I got the kit from advised me not to do it unless I know what I'm doing. Leave it to them he says, but he probably just wants to earn my money.

It costs a ridiculous $65 per door to have it fixed. That's $65 X 4 + $69 = a whopping $329

All the wires from under the steering wheel

There are so many wires at the drivers kick panel that I'll be 80 by the time I identified everyone of them. I also risked electrocuting myself (slight exaggeration but 12V does hurt) and messing up the car's electrical circuitry.

There wasn't much chance for trial and error as I didn't want to end up with a few thousands dollars worth of scrap metal just for the convenience of central locking.

The various equipments needed

Taking off the door panel

Another main obstacle was removing the door panels to which I'm proud to say I'm an expert at now. haha It took us 2-3 hours (me & roy) to remove our first panel, which we did in the dark with a fumbling torchlight.

All the wires lead to a central control box

After installing all the actuators at the separate doors, I linked the wires under the carpets to the main controller under the steering wheel.

I was able to locate all the main wires except for the headlights, which will blink to indicate the remote has been activated/deactivated.

After an exhausting search (turning your head upside down and searching in a cramped environment), I finally gave up.

Fixing back the door panel

Everything works just fine now, without the indication. I am so proud. haha

It took me a total of 3 days spread out over 2 weeks to complete. Now I can include "Central Locking Kit Installation" into my resume.


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