Recommend me a central locking controller

[nickwilliams]

I currently have central locking on my 90 courtesy of an old Sparkrite controller which is activated by a radio control module from LPRS.

It's carp. The key fob transmitters only work if you are standing right next to the vehicle, the buttons press far too easily in your pocket, and the Sparkrite controller will change state if the battery voltage drops too low while cranking the engine.

It's now started playing up - there must be a loose connection somewhere because the locks keep cycling themselves whenever I go over a bump. If I'm going to have to take it to bits to troubleshoot and cure it, I may as well replace it with something better.

What I'd really like is something like the controller on my Peugeot estate car - works from about 20m away, has really well made a solid remote control key fobs and is completely reliable.

Can anyone recommend me an after market module which provides a good range of operation with solid, reliable key fobs?

If someone can point at a guide to canabalising an OEM solution to do this I'm happy with wiring and electronics, I just don't have time to reverse engineer a solution for myself.

[Tanuki]

Why not retro-fit the late-1990s central-locking/immobiliser/remote as used on UK-spec Defenders of the era?

You get a separate battery-powered sounder (so if thieving villains disconnect the main battery the alarm still sounds) and - at least on the kit as fitted to County station-wagons - ultrasonic monitoring of the insides of the vehicle too [though this is a pain if you want to leave the car with dogs inside].

That way you can do it using all OEM parts which will at least mean that in future it could be maintained properly.

I really don't like non-factory security gear because - as you've discovered - when it plays up there's usually nobody with the knowledge or test-equipment to fix it.

[nickwilliams]

Certainly worthy of consideration. Got any info/links to say what bits are required and how they go together?

[Retroanaconda]

A proper 10AS unit and the central locking actuators could work as above. Central locking was fitted as an option from 2002 onwards. The 10AS unit had been used for a while before that but there are two versions about, one has the relay(s) to drive the CDL and one doesn't.

However I'd just get an aftermarket one of half decent quality. My bargain eBay kit has lasted eight years so far without major issues.

[Aragorn]

I used a kit on my old Audi from a company called RightClick:

http://www.rclick.co.uk/

They do various options, the Audi already had central locking but no remote, so i purchased this:

http://www.rclick.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=1152

They also do kits with the full locking system and have a huge range of different style key fobs.

[Bowie69]

Yep, have Rclick on my old Audi too, works very well, after 2 years I need to change the battery, but otherwise faultless!

Got a neat switchblade style fob with mine too, so nothing other than a house key and car key on the same ring

[Aragorn]

yeh, they do replicas of the audi flip-keys that are pretty decent. They might even have a blade that fits the defender, theres a huge range of blades to fit different cars.

edit:

Looks like they do list the "LF10" blade that fits the defender

[L19MUD]

They look like really decent sets.

I have had a Spal set on my 90 for 8 years but it started causing problems last year. For this price I think I will change

Will be pretty cool to have a flip style key for the Defender!!

[mickeyw]

I fitted Spal AS-80 system and central door locks on my old 90. I never had a problem with that.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available any more, otherwise I'd buy another set for the 110.

[Dave W]

I'd look at the 10AS system, it's robust, spares are readily available and it can also act as an additional alarm/immobiliser with or without a BBUS. It can also be connected up to interior lights to provide it's courtesy light function (interior lights come on when you unlock the doors with the fob, interior lights fade in/out and have an auto timeout which turns the interior lights off if a door is left open for more than a set time with no change).

It's easy to setup and match to remote fobs using a Nanocom or similar via it's OBDII interface.

In it's simplest form it wouldn't take a lot of work to hook it into the existing vehicle electrics, it only really needs power (permanent and ignition switched) and an OBDII connector for programming it.

[nickwilliams]

Much though I like the idea of the 10AS route, it looks like the module is about £130 and the fobs plus programming will be about another £45 whereas the RClick option is about £30.

Does anyone know of any cheaper sources for the 10AS module + fobs?