Fixing stuffed smartlock modules - How To - For FREE

[Bipolar]

Does your box or bubblecar occasionally not crank when you turn the key? Noticed that banging on the dash makes it go? Odds are the smartlock module is playing up.

I had this issue on my NC which got progressively worse, so I decided to figure out what was causing it.

The first thing I did was pull the module out of the car (it's above the handbrake in boxcars, I'd assume in a similar place in bubblecars) and then pull the PCB out of the plastic case.



I suspected that the contacts in the relays had developed high resistance over the years so I thought I'd attempt to clean them.

I de-soldered one of the relays and removed it from the board to see how/if it could be pulled apart. Unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to pull the covers off the relay without breaking the cover so I used a sharp razor blade and side cutters to break the cover off, exposing the relay.



Make sure when you do this that you are VERY CAREFUL as it would be quite easy to destroy the relay by cutting too deeply into the cover.

Once I'd investigated the first one I soldered it back on to the board and broke the covers carefully off the rest of the relays. It's not necessary to de-solder the relays to fix this issue, I just did it to see what I was working with initially.

Then I got a strip of 1200 grit sandpaper about 8mm wide and 50mm long and folded it in half lengthways, so it was now double sided and only 4mm wide.

With that piece of sandpaper I carefully poked it in between all the contacts of the relays and then gently sandpapered the contacts clean (arrows to show where I'm talking about).





The relays do have a lot more contacts than usual so make sure you do both sides when you are in there.

After cleaning the contacts I blew them out then put a little bit of Nyogel on them to try and stop/reduce the arcing across the contacts, put the PCB back in the box and back in the car. It's been 3 days now and it seems perfect, no more percussive maintenance needed.

[needfordspeed]

You're a gun Rollin, good tutorial and will definitely come in handy.

[galapogos01]

Great tute!

Be good to identify which relay it is. Not all four would be used. I'm sure an off-the-shelf jaycar part would drop right in.

I was under the impression it was a dry solder joint on the pcb itself, but its just as likely the relay contacts tbh.

[nstg8a]

so if its dirty contacts causing it, how does bashing the dash make it work?

my electrickery skills go as far as wiring up a stereo or driving lights, anything more technical than that and im lost lol.

[Rollin]

My theory is: Every time the relay contacts there is a tiny tiny spark which jumps from one contact to the other (as it closes and/or opens, not sure which) and I believe that little spark ionises the air it passes through and deposits a little tiny patch of 'stuff' on the contacts. The 'stuff' (someone google what it is, I CBF) resists the flow of electrons, and over time it builds up enough to prevent any electricity from passing through.

When you bash it the contacts chatter and dislodge or flatten a little bit of this stuff which then allows power to flow through and let the car start.

galapogos - yeah, I think there are relays in there which do boot and door locks maybe? I had no way of figuring it out so I just cleaned them all.

[Hayden]

how far did this problem develop in your NC?
I've had the same problem with my father's NC 5ltr for 2/3 years now and it's developed into stalling once engine temp reaches thermofan kick in point, i wonder if this could be the mysterious problem...

[Rollin]

Hayden it's more likely that your fathers car needs a throttle body clean and a base idle reset. If it has a K&N filter it probably needs the maf cleaned with brake clean as well.

My car used to need a good one or two solid handbrake slams to start almost every time before I did this, and up until yesterday afternoon had been perfect - now it seems to only have an occasional issue if the car has been sitting in the sun all day, and then I really only need to pull the handbrake out an inch and slowly put it back in and the car will go - nowhere near hard enough to actually jolt the dash like I used to before.

I might have to pull the PCB again and check for dry joints like galapogos said :/

[Hayden]

we've sent it to the mechanic who fitted the gas to it about 10 times now and he's tried just about everything and same with me and my father, but eh what can you do i guess, i'll try this later this week and let you know if it fixes the problem

[XR_Lightning]

cool man! nice work! mite have to give this a go

[travs ea-xr6]

or you can just scotch lock the two cranck feed wires that go into the module

btw top job

[Rollin]

Which two wires? Sounds a lot easier if it does actually work - I'll definitely give it a go.

[travs ea-xr6]

i think its 2 red with blue stripe wires that go into the modual that i scotch lock together

[needfordspeed]

Yeah I've done that and seen it done before, just bypasses smartlock doesn't it? I think it's red/green, either way there's two identical wires going into it, just join them iirc.

[galapogos01]

It only bypasses the smartlock starter kill. If you are using a stock EBII+ ECU smartlock can still stop injector pulse directly in the ECU.

[XR_Lightning]

you will have to let us know how you go with this Rollin, if it plays up or not, this thread needs to be stickied I think aswell

[sexyr6]

Nice doco rollin, just to add some more info..

The starter wires to bridge are Red/Blue in color (pins 18 and 25), and the relay on the module board is RLY 2.

[galapogos01]

Nice one.

Got a pic of the pinout? From Rollins pics it looks like a DPDT. A oneathese looks like it'd drop right in:

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SY4062

Otherwise, see http://www.jaycar.com.au/productResults ... 4&form=CAT

[EBOOST]

so has people had success with just joining the 2 red/blue wires together?
my ed does this and its pretty annoying.
if its still gonna have no injector pulse then ill do what rollins done but the other way seems alot easier.
cheers josh.

[Rollin]

Yeah the lane is being gay again - Smashing the dash doesn't help, but if I reach under and move the wires on the drivers side of the connector a few mm then it comes good every time, so I'm going to have to pull it out and investigate a little further.

Not sure if I had multiple problems to begin with or this has been the issue all along and it was magically temporarily fixed because I moved the wires around so much when I was removing and refitting the module. I'll try and get into it again some time this week and see if I can see anything else...

[sexyr6]

Got a pic of the pinout?

I don't, but should be able work something out.

[Rollin]

I had another bash at the lane yesterday and today, trying to figure out exactly what happens when it won't start.

Occasionally I could touch the wires and it would go, occasionally manually closing the contacts on the relay that sexyr6 pointed out in one of his above posts would make it go, but sometimes neither would work.

I suspect there may be voltage drop somewhere which is making the relay not close properly and/or it to not get enough juice to get the car to crank, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I re-tensioned and cleaned all the pins in the connector (took them out, adjusted them, put them back in) and it made no difference.

In the end I did as sexyr6 suggested and joined the two red/blue wires just as they come out of the plug, and it's been perfect since - although it was perfect for a couple of weeks after I cleaned the relay contacts too :/

I think this will be a better long term solution though - I should get this whole tutorial deleted and just put a post up saying "solder the wires together for win".

[krazyea]

If my smart lock modules stuffed my car won't crank over yea

[misk]

although it might not help those that get results from dash related violence lol, if your module is playing up also check for shitty tracks on the PCB itself.
on one of my modules some of the board had started to kind of de-laminate at some parts and 2 tracks had separated from the board and split.
i soldered 2 wire to replace the tracks and was all good.

[ed40]

What I used.



HATE SMARTLOCK

[turbotrana]

I had this problem a while back and just got a soldering iron to all the solder joints (I think the relay ones in specific but I think I went thru most of them) to remelt them to eliminate dry joints and it fixed it in my case. Many times if you get a magnefying glass you can actually pick a dry joint. But bypassing is probably the best bet if this does not fix it.

[TUFED6]

I'd just bypass the ****. Any car thief worth a pinch of shit can steal an E-series in about 2 seconds anyway.

[Yianni]

I had another bash at the lane yesterday and today, trying to figure out exactly what happens when it won't start.

Occasionally I could touch the wires and it would go, occasionally manually closing the contacts on the relay that sexyr6 pointed out in one of his above posts would make it go, but sometimes neither would work.

I suspect there may be voltage drop somewhere which is making the relay not close properly and/or it to not get enough juice to get the car to crank, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I re-tensioned and cleaned all the pins in the connector (took them out, adjusted them, put them back in) and it made no difference.

In the end I did as sexyr6 suggested and joined the two red/blue wires just as they come out of the plug, and it's been perfect since - although it was perfect for a couple of weeks after I cleaned the relay contacts too :/

I think this will be a better long term solution though - I should get this whole tutorial deleted and just put a post up saying "solder the wires together for win".

It's been a couple of months now, have you had anymore problems or has the bypass fixed it?

[Rollin]

Nah, fixed permanently...

[holmsy]

mine is starting to stuff up.

so all i have to do is pull those 2 wires and solder them together?

[Rollin]

Yep....

[holmsy]

just occured to me.

connect together the 2 wires coming out of the ecu.
or going to the ecu (after cutting)

[Rollin]

I don't think I even cut them, I just stripped about 10mm off each wire in the same place, soldered them together and taped. If you were to cut them it would be on the 'vehicle' side of the wiring, not the ecu side.

[TURBOWINDSOR]

..

[67rce]

I don't think I even cut them, I just stripped about 10mm off each wire in the same place, soldered them together and taped. If you were to cut them it would be on the 'vehicle' side of the wiring, not the ecu side.

I'll confirm when I can be bothered, and the NC is at home, not tucked away safe in the workshop at work.

[theboss290]

will locking the two red/ blue wires work on a EF blue bcm ??

[theboss290]

ok seeming i had no responce i did it any way end result im going to go and get a new one as it now causes the fuel pump to work when it feels like, not when its going , just at prime when you turn the key, It does go eventualy but can take 20 or so turns of the key before priming .

[monkeykplunk]

This is an old thread I know, but I joined the 2 red/blue wires as stated here, and all I got was no response. As if the module has gone into full protect mode.

The light flashes twice, stops, flashes twice, stops, flashes twice, stops, then continuously flashes.

I'm currently leaving the ign on, to see if the ECU needed to "relearn" the smartlock module, but does anyone have any other ideas?

[89.SVO]

i worked for RACV and all we did was bridge the red w/ blue trace (i think, can't 100% remember) wires. Fixed every one. Even had to do it on my Dads partners EB at one stage

[Tramp]

My 93 EB 111. 5.0 v8 auto
is giving me 4 flashes on the smartlock. It has been running fine without missing a beat until last night... midnight. Engine now cranks, had plenty of spark at all plugs, fuel pump working and you can smell fuel at the front after trying a few times to start but still will not fire up. it had a couple of moments of almost firing but then wont.

cant see anything obvious... all connectors connected

had replaced natural safety switch a couple of weeks ago. could the problem be related??

has new battery in remote

[XR_Lightning]

Got sick of banging the dash to start my car, used to only do it when it was warm, but recently it has been doing it more frequently in the cold weather. Was gonna try the cutting & joining the wires trick, but I wanted to do it properly and actually investigate what the problem is with these crappy modules. SO I ended up ripping out my smartlock module, opened it up and found dry solder joints around most of the relay pins through the circuit board and the big blue capicator in the middle (which was also quite noticably loose). Resoldered all the relays and the capicators and any others joints that were starting to look abit dodgy, and so far so good. Havn't had to thump the dash once yet . And car hasn't ever cranked over so easily before like it does now, was quite surprised at the difference it has made.