The NA has an alarm but no central locking, and some Turbos were built without it. A number of owners have added remote central locking so the original alarm fob also locks and unlocks the doors. This is an outline of what they did and what went wrong. It is not a full step-by-step, and photos in the original threads were not recoverable.
What it costs
| Route | Cost (year) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Main dealer fit, NA | £370 (2005) | Dash, both doors and the front clam removed; three or four days; works off the original fob. The dealer said it was their first on a VX. |
| Another dealer's quote | about £900 (2007) | Other dealers said they couldn't do it. |
| Alarm specialist, replace alarm | £350 to £450 (2007) | Replaces the standard alarm; one quote would have meant two fobs unless the alarm was replaced too. |
| Professional quote | about £300 (2011) | Quoted to an owner who read the DIY thread. |
| DIY with a kit | about £25 to £30 (2009) | About 10 to 14 hours. One Turbo owner's parts bill was about £25. |
| DIY with a universal remote unit | about £25 (2017) | An NA owner. The supplier even provided two wires with the correct pins for the back of the alarm unit. |
The door side
- Remove the door trim. Two screws and plenty of clips. See Door panel removal. Then peel back the plastic covering the inside of the door.
- Find where the motor connects. A Turbo owner describes a white plastic part with a hole in its end, hanging vertically from the lock. It sits at about 8 o'clock when open and 6 o'clock when locked, and you can check by moving it with a finger. An NA owner says there are two places the rod can attach, and he doesn't know which is best.
- Mount the motor. One owner made a plate to bolt to the inner door frame so the motors have a good line of action. Another notes the motors need to be slim line to clear the window mechanism; an NA owner found the windows cleared his motors fine. Grease the mechanism, and test the motors on a battery first to make sure they are strong enough.
- Run the cables through the door and pillar grommets. Where no holes exist, one owner drilled the door edges and pillars without removing the doors, using a Dremel between the door and the pillar. The dealer that fitted one NA took the doors off to drill them; owners say doors are easy to remove, and one asked about using a 90 degree drill.
Connecting it to the alarm
The alarm gives a lock pulse and an unlock pulse. You feed these to a central locking relay unit or the CDL module. Owners disagree on the pins, which may reflect the different connectors on the Turbo and NA alarm units:
- On a Turbo alarm, one owner says the wires are "pink and green" (pin 1) and "pink and white" (pin 4), from the workshop manual wiring.
- On an NA alarm module, one owner found no wires fitted for central locking, and connected his new wires to two terminals on the alarm module's connector: 6 for unlock and 2 for lock. He asked a Turbo owner to confirm these and the threads don't record a reply, though it worked for him. Another NA owner reports the supplier gave him the correct pins and he only had to add two wires.
To connect, one owner widened the alarm connector holes with a small screwdriver, soldered cut-off connector terminals to the input wires and pushed them in. Another soldered the lock and unlock wires straight to the back of the connector block inside the alarm unit, with a small hole drilled in the side for the wires, to avoid cutting up the multiplug. Where the unit sits varies: one found his alarm module on the other side to where the workshop manual puts it.
The control module in one owner's eBay kit turned out to be faulty: he re-tested the live feed, earth and motor connectors several times, and the motors didn't even click. Test the module before you refit the dash.
If it fails, or the battery goes flat
Fitting central locking effectively deadlocks the doors, and the key won't open them, so plan for a failure. Ideas from owners (none tested in the threads beyond the first):
- A cut-off switch so you can go back to manual locks if the system misbehaves. One owner fitted this.
- Two spare wires tapped onto the motor wires (usually green and blue, not the module's command wires) and run out to a waterproof terminal near the scuttle by the wiper arm. Apply 12 V to them and the motors unlock directly, regardless of a flat battery or faulty module. It fails if both motors have died or you have no 12 V.
- A backup battery with a momentary switch, as on the factory Turbo. See Central locking backup battery.
- Permanent jump leads to the main battery, left tucked behind the front arch liner, so you can inject power from outside. This was also suggested for a dead battery and no bonnet release access.
- A pull lever outside the car to release the bonnet, which one owner made. See Flat battery and charging system.
Why bother, and why not
Owners are split. In favour: the alarm and doors set together in one press, you don't have to remember to lock the passenger door, you can lock the doors from inside, and no frozen key locks on cold mornings. Against: the door key stops working, the car is open to a slashed roof or a smashed window anyway, and several owners simply leave theirs unlocked (one stopped locking his because something kept draining the battery). Two owners cite insurance as a reason to lock: a stolen car that was left unlocked may not be paid out. Check your own policy, as that is their understanding. On an NA there is also no way to lock from inside unless you add a switch.