# 1994 GXE @ 114k; electricals



## hj30 (Dec 14, 2020)

Greetings. Trying to sort out about half dozen electrical issues (but not all in this post).

Auto door locks have a tendency to lock without command, usually when the vehicle has been sitting for awhile (on occasion when driving). When this happens, I frequently find that the driver's door lock/unlock switch is inoperative. The door handle key pad(s) [Digital Touch Entry System] beep when depressed but won't open locks. The issue seems to "self correct" regardless of what actions I may take (drive over rough roads, slam door repeatedly, input open/close command on drivers lock swithc). Typically when the lock system is "dead", cannot lock/unlock any doors of the car using the manual interior door lock except the door that the manual knob is being unlocked/locked.

The FSM Wiring diagram is not much help for me as I don't know what defects in the circuitry produce what failure. FSM EL pg EL-85 describes the rudimentary functions of the time control system, but other than the issue of a random Seat Belt Warning Light & Chime (yeah, this is another issue I should leave for another thread) I would think if the Time Control box was failing, there would be more issues.

Occasionally, when opening driver's door exterior keyed lock, the alarm will sound! Don't seem to have this problem with the pax door key.

FSM Body, pg BF-12 show the control unit Door Lock Timer. No idea what function this serves. Nor its location.

Thanks for following along!!


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

hj30 said:


> Greetings. Trying to sort out about half dozen electrical issues (but not all in this post).
> 
> Auto door locks have a tendency to lock without command, usually when the vehicle has been sitting for awhile (on occasion when driving). When this happens, I frequently find that the driver's door lock/unlock switch is inoperative. The door handle key pad(s) [Digital Touch Entry System] beep when depressed but won't open locks. The issue seems to "self correct" regardless of what actions I may take (drive over rough roads, slam door repeatedly, input open/close command on drivers lock swithc). Typically when the lock system is "dead", cannot lock/unlock any doors of the car using the manual interior door lock except the door that the manual knob is being unlocked/locked.
> 
> ...


Go to section EL-148 of the FSM and go through the diagnostic procedures; in particular the diagnostic procedure 6. Inspect the harness connections to the "Digital Touch Entry Control Unit". Worse case is the control unit is marginal. The "Time Control System" has nothing to do with the door lock/unlock function. Your seat belt switch may be marginal causing the warning light.


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## hj30 (Dec 14, 2020)

rogoman said:


> Go to section EL-148 of the FSM and go through the diagnostic procedures; in particular the diagnostic procedure 6. Inspect the harness connections to the "Digital Touch Entry Control Unit". Worse case is the control unit is marginal. The "Time Control System" has nothing to do with the door lock/unlock function. Your seat belt switch may be marginal causing the warning light.


@rogoman 
thanks for the response. i will assume that only the front seats have a switch. is the switch related to the auto-deploy shoulder belt when it stops in the forward position? i don't recall in the past having to engage the lapbelt to silence the chime or turn off the instrument panel light. i've inserted the pax lapbelt into the receiver, but the chime/light continues to sporadically operate.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

hj30 said:


> @rogoman
> thanks for the response. i will assume that only the front seats have a switch. is the switch related to the auto-deploy shoulder belt when it stops in the forward position? i don't recall in the past having to engage the lapbelt to silence the chime or turn off the instrument panel light. i've inserted the pax lapbelt into the receiver, but the chime/light continues to sporadically operate.


Yes, I remember those lap belts; they didn't set off an alarm if not secured which probably applies to your car also.

The random seat belt warning light problem may be due to a problem on the passenger side though, there may be no passenger, so it would be annoying to have the passenger seat belt reminder constantly flashing if there is nobody sitting there, thus the sensor to detect if a passenger is really sitting there or not, and once it determines a passenger is sitting there the seat belt reminder will activate until the passenger buckles up. However I'm not sure if your car has that feature considering the age of your car.


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## hj30 (Dec 14, 2020)

on the last page of FSM Wiring Diagram there is the module termed "Automatic Seat Belt Control Unit" and it makes note of the LH/RH Shoulder belt buckle switch - but I can't find where this terminal block/joint connector (J/C) is located - I cant discern the difference between J/C-1 and J/C-9. The only 22 pin connector is J/C-4. Ooopppsss I lied; on the VG engine J/C-1 is 22 pin. Is there another diagram that would pin-point the Seat Belt unit? I did not see any notations for a weight switch in the lower cushion of either front seat.

I had a 1990 Mazda 929 with the same type of "suicide" shoulder belt - probabl saved the life of my niece & her friend in the front pax seat when she intersected the concrete abutment of a bridge. when you're 17 you are immortal.




rogoman said:


> Yes, I remember those lap belts; they didn't set off an alarm if not secured which probably applies to your car also.
> 
> The random seat belt warning light problem may be due to a problem on the passenger side though, there may be no passenger, so it would be annoying to have the passenger seat belt reminder constantly flashing if there is nobody sitting there, thus the sensor to detect if a passenger is really sitting there or not, and once it determines a passenger is sitting there the seat belt reminder will activate until the passenger buckles up. However I'm not sure if your car has that feature considering the age of your car.





rogoman said:


> Yes, I remember those lap belts; they didn't set off an alarm if not secured which probably applies to your car also.
> 
> The random seat belt warning light problem may be due to a problem on the passenger side though, there may be no passenger, so it would be annoying to have the passenger seat belt reminder constantly flashing if there is nobody sitting there, thus the sensor to detect if a passenger is really sitting there or not, and once it determines a passenger is sitting there the seat belt reminder will activate until the passenger buckles up. However I'm not sure if your car has that feature considering the age of your car.


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## hj30 (Dec 14, 2020)

A little more research - BF-42 shows the front limit switch for the seatbelt guide rail assy. It also makes note of Lap belt buckle switch (driver side only). And I guess the control unit for the automatic seat belt system is located "Control unit is located on right hand panel dash side below instrument". Where ever that is! Cryptic is nothing else. Just need to figure out how to test the switch on the lap belt buckle. According to the diagram on pg BF-45, the lap belt switch is connected to the Automatic Seat Belt Control Unit.


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