Remote central locking W460

[grazza]

Inspired by John757 on this post, I decided to make my central locking "remote"

For very little cost and not a great deal of effort I can now lock/unlock all my doors via the supplied remotes. Its certainly not a particularly vital thing to have but I will find it handy when camping and anytime I want to load up the back.
I only did this because I already had keyed central locking.

The kit consists of an actuator ($3.50) and control unit ($14.65) - lots of these on ebay.
Only one actuator is needed, for the drivers door.

The actuator was fitted as shown with the connecting rod cut to a length and bending a loop such that it attaches to the manual lock knob, using the machine screw which holds the knob in place.

The 2 wires for the actuator (3 were not required) were run through to the cab to the control unit, which also required power which was taken from the central locking loom. The control unit was wrapped in some foam and sits in the cavity behind the lower speaker, which was removed to get to the cavity. Note that there is a metal tab inside the door which I needed to bend out of the way to mount the actuator.

I could have also wired it up to flash the indicators, activate an extra alarm or utilise the 3rd button on the remote for something (perhaps turning a work light on/off, winch control, etc...) but I kept it super simple.

Works well and if it ever fails I can still lock normally.

[cartop]

Gereat job Grazza,I use remote control since two yeasrs ago,no any problem.İt's very eaase.

[Winston]

Very nice Grazza. My 460 has central locking but the OE actuator in the driver's door is missing, so I've been thinking about a setup like this for a while. I'm glad to see the ebay parts working well for you.

How did you secure the actuator? I see the zip tie but that can't be it?

[grazza]

Hi Winston, I drilled a hole in the door for a bolt which secures the lower part of the actuator. The funny looking rectangular metal piece is actually a nut, the only thing I had which was the right size. The zip tie is there to stop any horizontal movement.

The actuator has 2 holes in it and comes with 2 screws but I used a long thin bolt.

[vette427sbc]

Those actuators fit very nicely in the lower corner of the door. There is more metal so you can get 2 screws in to secure it.

[b5nrd]

Hi, bought a kit to do my 1984 280E which has central locking already via key. Can I ask the reason for creating the bend at the end rather than a hook to the hole you can see just above? My G has been retrimmed and the previous owner must have removed the toggles that are visible on the door car just wondering if this is maybe where they would attach and with me not having means I could just create a hook for the hole instead. Thanks.

[fedebarreiro113]

Hi, bought a kit to do my 1984 280E which has central locking already via key. Can I ask the reason for creating the bend at the end rather than a hook to the hole you can see just above? My G has been retrimmed and the previous owner must have removed the toggles that are visible on the door car just wondering if this is maybe where they would attach and with me not having means I could just create a hook for the hole instead. Thanks.

Exactly what you said.
That's a threaded hole were the knob for the lock attaches. Gazza made the loop on the end of the rod so he could fit the screw through it.

[Flanker525]

Very nice Grazza. My 460 has central locking but the OE actuator in the driver's door is missing, so I've been thinking about a setup like this for a while. I'm glad to see the ebay parts working well for you.

How did you secure the actuator? I see the zip tie but that can't be it?

Are the OE actuators electric or vaccuum like on a W126?

[b5nrd]

That makes complete sense now thank you my issue is I don’t have the toggle so will need to fashion something to work. Self taper or something.

[DesertStar]

Thanks for posting this Grazza ? Now I must revisit this on my 280GE. I was always concerned the actuators might be a little "light duty" for the door latch system which on my W460 seem a bit tight when locking/unlocking with the manual knob on the side of the door panel. Original owner of my W460 installed the "Mercedes" type actuators (square box looking) and seem to work best in warmer weather and a little spotty when it is cooler.