Reviving my Autocop unit

archat68 · 23rd August 2007, 21:45

Hi,
During the last week's heavy rain in Kolkata, when I was returning back home through some water logged street, water entered in my car. actually there was a lot of water inside the car. my carpet got completely wet but when i returned back home, parked my car and locked the car using the remote. After 1/2 hour all of a sudden my Autocop started acting weirdly. Alarm started blaring and when i tried to stop it by unlocking and relocking the doors using the remote the central locking failed also - door lock of one of my doors jammed. I tried various thing but finally had to disconnect the battery. Actuator of one my the doors completely jammed and cannot lock the door even manually. With fear i left the car in my parking area for the night (which is covered only on top). NExt day i tried to connect the battery - but the problem persisted. When i inspected inside of my car the Autocop unit was completely wet and when i lifted it from the floor water was dripping from inside it. My heart sank with fear as this unit is only 6months old.
I contacted one my friends who owns a car workshop and he confirmed that water damaged units are not covered under warranty. He suggested some workarounds:
i) Gently remove the warranty sticker without tearing it off and unscrewing the unit. on opening the solders were all corroded with thick paste like solder sticking on the plastic cabinet.
ii) he then suggested that i clean the board with with WD40 and then with Iso Propyl alcohol. By doing this i removed all the corrosions and the board was gleaming like a new board.
iii) Then i heated the board with a 40 W bulb to evaporate the IPA.
iv) After 30 min of heating with trembling heart i reassembled the unit again and refixed in the car.

And voila it started working.

i had to open the door panel and apply some silicone lubricant on the shaft of the actuator moved it inward and outward a few times and it also stared working. Reassembled all the things and I'm a very happy man.

Thanks to my friend for his advice which saved atleast 6K.

But one thing happened is that the range of the remote became very much less. I had to stay near the window to lock/unlock the door using the remote. Any suggestions?

_______
Arup

rohan_fonseca · 23rd August 2007, 23:38

Check the batteries of your remote too.

Zappo · 24th August 2007, 00:11

The master control unit of your autocop will have a small antenna sticking out of it. See if it got damaged or the soldering came off during your disassembling/assembling stage. Or maybe it is getting shadowed due to improper fixing of the unit.

doctorkats · 24th August 2007, 04:18

[quote=archat68;542045]Hi,
My heart sank with fear as this unit is only 6months old.
I contacted one my friends who owns a car workshop and he confirmed that water damaged units are not covered under warranty.

good job!
most water damaged main control units of autocop work after a simple service.although there is no expressed warranty they still repair it for you at no cost.

archat68 · 24th August 2007, 08:33

i don't know why those dumb*** fellows don't fix the unit someplace proper where water can do no harm e.g below the dashboard!!

______
Arup

23rd August 2007, 21:45	#1
archat68 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Kolkata Posts: 896 Thanked: 617 Times	Reviving my Autocop unit Hi, During the last week's heavy rain in Kolkata, when I was returning back home through some water logged street, water entered in my car. actually there was a lot of water inside the car. my carpet got completely wet but when i returned back home, parked my car and locked the car using the remote. After 1/2 hour all of a sudden my Autocop started acting weirdly. Alarm started blaring and when i tried to stop it by unlocking and relocking the doors using the remote the central locking failed also - door lock of one of my doors jammed. I tried various thing but finally had to disconnect the battery. Actuator of one my the doors completely jammed and cannot lock the door even manually. With fear i left the car in my parking area for the night (which is covered only on top). NExt day i tried to connect the battery - but the problem persisted. When i inspected inside of my car the Autocop unit was completely wet and when i lifted it from the floor water was dripping from inside it. My heart sank with fear as this unit is only 6months old. I contacted one my friends who owns a car workshop and he confirmed that water damaged units are not covered under warranty. He suggested some workarounds: i) Gently remove the warranty sticker without tearing it off and unscrewing the unit. on opening the solders were all corroded with thick paste like solder sticking on the plastic cabinet. ii) he then suggested that i clean the board with with WD40 and then with Iso Propyl alcohol. By doing this i removed all the corrosions and the board was gleaming like a new board. iii) Then i heated the board with a 40 W bulb to evaporate the IPA. iv) After 30 min of heating with trembling heart i reassembled the unit again and refixed in the car. And voila it started working. i had to open the door panel and apply some silicone lubricant on the shaft of the actuator moved it inward and outward a few times and it also stared working. Reassembled all the things and I'm a very happy man. Thanks to my friend for his advice which saved atleast 6K. But one thing happened is that the range of the remote became very much less. I had to stay near the window to lock/unlock the door using the remote. Any suggestions? _______ Arup
	() Thanks

23rd August 2007, 23:38	#2
rohan_fonseca BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Panaji Posts: 984 Thanked: 8 Times View My Garage	Check the batteries of your remote too.
	() Thanks

24th August 2007, 00:11	#3
Zappo Team-BHP Support Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 5,919 Thanked: 2,652 Times	The master control unit of your autocop will have a small antenna sticking out of it. See if it got damaged or the soldering came off during your disassembling/assembling stage. Or maybe it is getting shadowed due to improper fixing of the unit.
	() Thanks

24th August 2007, 04:18	#4
doctorkats BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Noida Posts: 315 Thanked: 2 Times	[quote=archat68;542045]Hi, My heart sank with fear as this unit is only 6months old. I contacted one my friends who owns a car workshop and he confirmed that water damaged units are not covered under warranty. good job! most water damaged main control units of autocop work after a simple service.although there is no expressed warranty they still repair it for you at no cost.
	() Thanks

24th August 2007, 08:33	#5
archat68 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Kolkata Posts: 896 Thanked: 617 Times	i don't know why those dumb*** fellows don't fix the unit someplace proper where water can do no harm e.g below the dashboard!! ______ Arup
	() Thanks