Door Locks not working properly.

[D Britt]

QUOTE=Tyger;1307140] Now waiting to see D Britt's promised "how to" photos. [/quote]

Sorry about the lack of photos. I meant to address this in my earlier posts. I started taking photos of my dash removal, but quickly realized that Buzzy's instructions were already first rate and there was little I could add. When I got the friggin dash off, the CDL module's location was so obsured, that I could barely even see it, not to mention photograph it. I should have taken a pic of where I ended up wedging the CDL in its new spot, but honestly by that point it was midnight, I had lost 5 gallons of sweat (it's only 87 degress at night here on the Georgia coast) and my hands were dripping blood from about a dozen not-so-minor cuts. Anyway, enough excuses.

I'd be happy to walk someone through the process or answer any questions.

Viper, I moved the module from where it was originally to a spot where it should be accessible after only removing the starter panel/cubby in the future. As Dragon has said, his car is an EU build and the module is located in a different/better place than ours.

[TheViper]

I know someone who had the dash apart and could still not see the CDL, so I was hoping for specific location.
Cheers,
Michael

Originally Posted by D Britt

QUOTE=Tyger;1307140] Now waiting to see D Britt's promised "how to" photos.

Sorry about the lack of photos. I meant to address this in my earlier posts. I started taking photos of my dash removal, but quickly realized that Buzzy's instructions were already first rate and there was little I could add. When I got the friggin dash off, the CDL module's location was so obsured, that I could barely even see it, not to mention photograph it. I should have taken a pic of where I ended up wedging the CDL in its new spot, but honestly by that point it was midnight, I had lost 5 gallons of sweat (it's only 87 degress at night here on the Georgia coast) and my hands were dripping blood from about a dozen not-so-minor cuts. Anyway, enough excuses.

I'd be happy to walk someone through the process or answer any questions.

Viper, I moved the module from where it was originally to a spot where it should be accessible after only removing the starter panel/cubby in the future. As Dragon has said, his car is an EU build and the module is located in a different/better place than ours.[/quote]

[D Britt]

The CDL is partially underneath the A/C tube that runs under the driver's side of the dash and roughly follows the contour of the windshield. The arrow in the picture below points to a red circle where you'll find the location of the CDL module. It's a black box with a white sticker on top. I took a picture of the replacement module that I can post tonight.

You'll see a bunch of foam on the far left once you've removed the dash top. The foam will mostly be between the indicated A/C tube and the side of the car. Use a big flathead screwdriver to push some of the foam around until you can see the box. It is bolted with two screws and washers, one towards the middle of the dash and one toward the outside. I was only able to remove the screw nearest the middle of the dash. I couldn't get to the other screw at all. I used it as a pivot and pushed the old CDL back under the foam.

The wires plug into the CDL module from the cabin side, so you may see this before you see the actual box. The harness is about an inch in size and has about 6-7 wires going into it.

Hope this helps.

[TheViper]

That's very helpful, thanks,
Michael

Originally Posted by D Britt

The CDL is partially underneath the A/C tube that runs under the driver's side of the dash and roughly follows the contour of the windshield. The arrow in the picture below points to a red circle where you'll find the location of the CDL module. It's a black box with a white sticker on top. I took a picture of the replacement module that I can post tonight.

You'll see a bunch of foam on the far left once you've removed the dash top. The foam will mostly be between the indicated A/C tube and the side of the car. Use a big flathead screwdriver to push some of the foam around until you can see the box. It is bolted with two screws and washers, one towards the middle of the dash and one toward the outside. I was only able to remove the screw nearest the middle of the dash. I couldn't get to the other screw at all. I used it as a pivot and pushed the old CDL back under the foam.

The wires plug into the CDL module from the cabin side, so you may see this before you see the actual box. The harness is about an inch in size and has about 6-7 wires going into it.

Hope this helps.

[D Britt]

Here are two photos of the replacement CDL module before I installed it. The first if from the top, the second is a shot of where the harness plugs in. Didn't think to use something to show scale.

And if I can ever figure out how to resize my photos, I'll stop posting such huge pics.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by D Britt

The CDL is partially underneath the A/C tube that runs under the driver's side of the dash and roughly follows the contour of the windshield. The arrow in the picture below points to a red circle where you'll find the location of the CDL module. It's a black box with a white sticker on top. I took a picture of the replacement module that I can post tonight.

This is interesting, because just today I got into the right side panel to free my Cobra antenna, and first had to pull out a mess of foam which turned out to be under the air duct on that side. The underside of the RH air duct was then clearly visible and accessible
If the CDL is where you seem to be describing it, I wonder if it might indeed be possible to get at it without taking the entire dash apart. Is it really under the LH air duct?? I'm thinking maybe if I can just get the wires off the old CDL, I can leave it in place and put a new one near where you must have put yours.

[D Britt]

The CDL is not directly underneath the A/C, only partially. At least it was on mine. IIRC, this is why I could not get to the other screw on the other side of the module. Unless you have really tiny hands, I would definitely not worry about removing the old module and simply unplug the harness. The module itself is very light and I have not heard any rattling since I shoved it back under the foam along the side. I installed the new module in a "shelf" in the aluminum plate that was behind the speedo/tach display. It wedged in there almost perfectly with a little bit of trim tape. No problems so far. In hindsight, I probably would have installed the new one even lower down behind the starter/headlight panel. Not sure why Lotus didn't do this in the first place, as there appears to be plenty of room.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by D Britt

The CDL is not directly underneath the A/C, only partially. At least it was on mine. IIRC, this is why I could not get to the other screw on the other side of the module. Unless you have really tiny hands, I would definitely not worry about removing the old module and simply unplug the harness.

Thanks for all the good info. I am going to go in through light switch panel, try to pull some foam, and see what I see. If the CDL unit is below and slightly right of the air duct (my impression, from your description), I should be able to see it from underneath. How hard was it to remove the harness? Did it just unplug, or were there clips, etc.? I know it won't be possible to get more than one hand in there so doing anything tricky is going to be tough.

[TheViper]

Please keep us updated, and take photo's, I am sure it will be useful to many owners.
Cheers,
Michael

Originally Posted by Tyger

Thanks for all the good info. I am going to go in through light switch panel, try to pull some foam, and see what I see. If the CDL unit is below and slightly right of the air duct (my impression, from your description), I should be able to see it from underneath. How hard was it to remove the harness? Did it just unplug, or were there clips, etc.? I know it won't be possible to get more than one hand in there so doing anything tricky is going to be tough.

lease keep

[D Britt]

Originally Posted by Tyger

How hard was it to remove the harness?

That was the easist part of the whole project. It came loose with a moderate tug. The harness snaps on without any difficult clips or clamps.

As others have said, I highly recommend that you wear gloves while fiddling around inside the dash. I didn't take them seriously when others talked about how easy it is to cut yourself. I had my hand in the dash for a few minutes and didn't feel anything sharp. When I withdrew it, it looked as though I had been juggling razor blades.

I took the dash off based upon the information from the service manual that said you had to do that. Let us know if you are able to somehow get to it through the light switch panel. I don't think you will, but I will be more than happy to look foolish if there is a better way for other people to do it.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by D Britt

I took the dash off based upon the information from the service manual that said you had to do that. Let us know if you are able to somehow get to it through the light switch panel. I don't think you will, but I will be more than happy to look foolish if there is a better way for other people to do it.

Well... not to make D Britt look foolish but... it was too easy the other way.
Steps to do it:
1) Open up the left-side access panel (with the starter and light switches). To do this, you merely unscrew two philips screws which are at the bottom (in the cubby hole), then, while pulling the (just-released) bottom out slightly, stick a slotted screwdriver in at the top of the panel and twist it so the plastic hooks at the top disengage. Don't try to just pull it out or they will break (HRM broke them when they put in my driving lights a few years back (but they were also quite nice about getting me a new panel)).
2) Once those hooks are free, pull the panel away. You should have enough length with the light and starter harnesses to just let the whole thing hang down in the footwell. Within you will see mostly a great mass of foam. Using hands and/or some long-nosed pliers, yank and wiggle the foam till you've gradually worked it all the way out. Once out, it looks like this (photo 1). You should then see the CDL unit mounted on the shelf.
3) As D Britt said, you can just wiggle the bus back and forth till it comes off the CDL unit. Pull it free (photo 2).
4) You can now clearly see the CDL unit mounted inside (photo 3) You'll need some short-handled or racheting philips screwdrivers to unmount it.
In the final photo (#4) I have reattached the now-unmounted unit to the bus, and show the two bolts and washers that held it in place. You can also see the trim panel, with the lights and starter harnesses still attached, hanging down to the right of it.
No cut hands, and all-in-all it was much easier than getting at the Cobra unit on the right side of the car (I did get cuts from that!).

Now if only my parts dealer had a new CDL unit in stock for me (he is ordering one). Hope to have it by next week.

Meanwhile, the Cobra fob has been put in a drawer. Now that I finally got good range on that thing, I don't want it around till it can unlock my doors again as well as it locks them! On second thought, I imagine the alarm itself will still work just fine without the CDL unit. Will let you know.

[D Britt]

You are the man!!

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by D Britt

You are the man!!

I wouldn't have known where to start without a lot of good info from you and the Viper. Thanks!
BTW, do you still have your old CDL unit? My 13-yo son insisted on taking a look at the guts of the thing. He informs me that the varistor seems fried – it indeed looks all brown and scorched on one side; he wants me to get a new varistor and see if the damn thing will work again (I already have a whole new unit on order, however). In case you were wondering, the varistor looks a lot like this (when new):

PS The alarm system does not seem bothered at all by the missing CDL unit; it just (obviously) can't operate the door locks without it.

[TheViper]

Excellent, thanks, and BTW the alarm should work without the CDL.
Michael

[Tyger]

I finally received my new CDL unit and installed it. The door locks now all work just fine.

[Hello Kitty]

My 2006 had a similar problem. The CDL unit was replaced under warranty, and fixed the problem.

[05titanium]

Originally Posted by Bob Dz.

Ok, for those of us out of warranty when this happens, how do we get Lotus to pay??? Should I start a "Official Door Lock thread" to find out how many of there are of us?

Lotus should pay for this, maybe it should be a recall or "campaign" as they like to call it. Make sure you save your receipts for future reimbursement. I believe the job costs about $300-400 as the part is $90 and then 2-3 hours taking apart the dash.

This part should not be "going" in a 3-5 year old car, ESPECIALLY, since we probably only open/close the car about 5-10% a normal car. So technically, if you used your Elise everday, this part would have broken within the first year?!?!? LUCAS is that you?!?!?!

Sorry for the rant. I'm also having an AC issue where it won't keep a charge.

garaged. BUT... I was told to change the CDL unit, it's only a mater of unscrewing the cover over the light button and unplug old one them replug new one Whats this you saying it's a 2-3 hr job taking off the dash?????? thanks

[TheViper]

No need to remove the instrument cluster or dash. Removing the start/light switch panel will gain access. I have a used CDL available, PM me if interested.
Cheers,
Michael

Originally Posted by 05titanium

garaged. BUT... I was told to change the CDL unit, it's only a mater of unscrewing the cover over the light button and unplug old one them replug new one Whats this you saying it's a 2-3 hr job taking off the dash?????? thanks

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Tyger

Open up the left-side access panel (with the starter and light switches). To do this, you merely unscrew two philips screws which are at the bottom (in the cubby hole),

Just to be picky, they are not Phillips head screws, they are Pozi-drive head screws. They are slightly different, and a Phillips head screw driver doesn't fit as well (and you run a bigger chance of stripping the screw). Pozi bits in a driver will fit the screw much better. Chances are the screws inside the dash are also Pozi.

You can see the slight differences in the screw drivers in the photo below. The Pozi head screws don't have as deep a "hole" in them as the Phillips, and the Pozi drivers have slightly wider "flanges" that engage the slots in the screw heads.