Fiat Ducato base m home door auto-locking.
Just taken delivery of a new Autotrail Tracker EKS, and I'm dry disturbed to find all doors automatically lock after 45 seconds. Tried changing this on the 3.5" display options, nothing changes. Only way round, if you rember every time, is to open and shut the cab door(s). My worry is, should I exit the m.home without the keys, or not using the cab doors, for any number of reasons, I would be totally locked out. This clearly could be dangerous in many circumstances, apart from just the inconvenience. Does anyone know how this system can be changed, e.g auto-locking cancelled permanently.
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I’m afraid I can’t help with you particular vehicle. Ours is actually the opposite they don’t auto lock, which can mean if you catch the button as you push the keys in your pocket, you can end up leaving the MH open.
However, when it comes to locking them when in the vehicle on a night, we don’t use the fob as this sets the alarm, but rather use the security door lock button on the dash. If you use that rather than the fob, do they still auto lock.
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Hi Steve, according to page 17 of the Fiat Ducato manual
users can turn off the auto locking through the multi function display. Also worth knowing you can lock and unlock the doors using the central locking buttons on the dash, page 82. It is useful to be able to lock your doors if driving into a less safe road system.
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I think every van we've had auto locks unless a cab door is opened - Merc, Peugeot and Fiat.
We have taken the precaution of getting a non-chipped key cut (from Timpsons) and it is securely hidden outside the vehicle. We also carry one chipped key each to lessen the chances of locking ourselves out.
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Thanks for that, I presume ours has been disabled in that case. I will have to have a look through all the options when I am next across. Although perhaps safer to leave it as it is and just carry on being careful with the keys when leaving for the day.
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They don’t all auto lock. My Ducato (2018 model) doesn’t and set-up is as supplied new. I use the dashboard button to lock/unlock the doors from inside.
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Our AS Bourton on a Mercedes base has an option to override the auto lock. In fact the dealer mentioned this to us. AS set the default to disable the locking as they are aware that people have locked themselves out of their Motorhome.
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No, not when driving off. Nor do I mean by using the dashboard locking button.
The auto lock the OP and I refer to is when the stationary van relocks after a short time unless a cab door is opened. Unlock it, exit through the hab door, van relocks and, whoops, the keys are still inside😫
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If you enter locked van through hab door and immediately go to cab and open and close a cab door this turns off the auto lock function. We get around three minutes to do this before auto lock kicks in. Don’t know if this works for all mind. Alway carry a hab key secreted away under van for ‘emergencies’ but never used this to present.
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Timpsons or other such will cut that spare hab key and they are peanuts. Lots of hiding places, just remember where it is. Use a magnet and wrap to secure against spray etc. I have a photo on phone to remind me where situated. Belt, braces and binder band.
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Exactly the same on our 2022 Swift Escape with Series 8 cab. A real gotcha, luckily we found out whilst my wife was still inside and could open the door. I’m paranoid about leaving without a key, or forgetting to briefly open a cab door once outside. I have tried all sorts of combinations but it auto-locks every time. I am told auto lock an be turned off in the radio menu on the latest series 8 cab, so will try that next trip. However, as ours does not auto lock once it hits 15 mph, I am not convinced it is switched on anyway. Probably going to have a further key cut and placed in a secure place on the chassis, but having had a brand new caravan stolen, I’m not too keen to do that - thieves are up to date with these things and will look for it first.
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Swift have taken this problem to Fiat and they have responded. I think I’m beginning to understand it a bit more now. Fiat say if the keys are left inside the habitation area, the security antennae are too far away and will not be able to read that they are still in the motorhome and disable the self locking. The keys must be left in the cab area and everything will then be OK. Great I thought, an answer, so I put the keys in the cab area and waited. Sure enough, it self locked again😤 So, I moved them onto the dash board…..same outcome. Finally I put the key in the ignition, but same result. It is evident, the antennae in the cab are not talking to the keys, and therefore not recognising they are still in the van, so self locking continues. I thought we had cracked it, but obviously not. I have a friend who is an electronics engineer, who insists this is a software problem. I do know the new Series 8 Ducato cab had to have it’s software reprogrammed because it failed to recognise the Alko software, so possibly this has interfered with the auto lock system as well. Meantime, the only way is to remember to keep the keys with you at all times, always remember to briefly open a cab door (which cures the problem), or stash a spare unchipped key somewhere on the vans chassis, something I’m not too happy about. Could the OP perhaps try putting the keys in the cab area to see if that cures it - could just be a problem with our van.
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I don’t think hiding a hab door key under the chassis is a problem. I defy anyone to find mine. There are so many nooks and crannies under there to choose from. Thing is remembering where it is, hence I took a photo of the location on my phone but since doing this I seem to have instant recall! Must be something to do with how I learn. I check regularly that it’s still there, never budges. Would not recommend hiding an ignition key even though I still would wager anyone to find it!
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So, what I’m still unclear about is can you disable auto lock (as opposed to auto close) via the new integrated radio/media system or is all the faffing about and key hiding described above strictly necessary?
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The procedure I described earlier in the thread works for my van. The secreted hab key is just belt and braces, there if auto lock should kick in or I loose my keys whilst out, on the hill or about from the van. Faffing about? If locked out, for what ever reason, this can be a real nightmare. When I worked in the motor trade rescuing folk with locked vehicles was not an infrequent exercise. Once bitten twice shy and all that. Just gives me that extra bit of confidence that maybe my advancing years demand.
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Yes, whatever floats your boat, but what you describe is a work around. What I’m interested in knowing is can the default be changed, so you only have to worry about locking it, not being locked out?
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I’m afraid it’s a boat that many unfortunately have to sail in even without that auto lock issue. How many have said ‘never thought it would happen to me’. As for changing the default let us know when you’ve found out. I failed but came up with that simple workaround.
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I always check I have my keys before I finally push the hab door shut. Having said that, as we all know, there's that one time when you are caught out.
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I’ve had the problem on a 2022 Ducato based Pilote where if the key fob is used to unlock (and disable the alarm) the doors would all re lock after a couple of minutes if only the hab door was opened. I checked that this happened regardless of self locking options. My understanding is the way the hab door needs to be wired has changed in the new Ducato and that Pilote hadn’t realised this. My dealer changed the wiring and the problem has “more or less” gone away. I say “more or less” as very occasionally the doors still re-lock which is a little bizarre as it’s inconsistent. More investigation needed but until then I now always open a cab door.
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Hi we have just taken delivery of a new Mclouise Fusion on a Fiat Ducatto and have discovered the same thing. Checked direct with Fiat and our dealer and this “auto lock” is a standard feature and it cannot be disabled.
Ways round it seem to beopen the habitation door and leave it open until cab doors lock and you can use it as normal
always open a cab door
make sure you keep your keys outside the motor home ( not ideal I know)
do what we have done and secure a key safe outside the vehicle so you can always unlock the habitation door even if you set the alarm off….
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In case this helps - I have a 2023 Rapido 8096df - The auto relocking problem was a real issue for us as the vehicle is an A-class and only has one cab door that is rarely used.
The habitation door is the one we use all the time.
Having used the FIAT key fob to unlock the vehicle and then entered via the habitation door - the vehicle would relock after about a minute (most of the time).Note: This is not to be confused with auto-locking which is a setting in the FIAT console to auto lock doors once you get above about 20 mph.
I believe the auto relocking was because the FIAT electricals had not registered the habitation door opening - The cab door was working OK (no auto relock) if you decided to enter that way.I was convinced that it was the habitation door handle that was the problem as sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not.
I checked the internal door switch with a multimeter and it seemed to be working fine (using the resistance setting to tell me whether the switch was open circuit or closed circuit)So maybe the problem was elsewhere.
I then looked at the electrical contacts near the the door hinge (I believe these replace the old physical wires from door to MH body that used to break after a lot of use)
I believe two of the plunger contacts are used to power the central locking in the door (the bottom two)
I believe the other two plunger contacts at the top are used to communicate the door open/closed signal.
They should show the same open circuit or close circuit signal that the main door switch (above) was showing.This did not seem to be working reliably, so I believe that the plunger type electrical connections in the door were not working well.
I wiggled the plunger contacts around / pushed them in and out - and it seemed to improve matters.
I then used some switch cleaning lubricant on the plungers - and the auto relocking problem has gone away for now - with the digital dashboard reliably registering the habitation door open event and hence no auto relocking after a minute.In conclusion - If your vehicle is auto relocking after about a minute - then there is a problem with your habitation door not talking to your FIAT electricals - Maybe a bad contact - Maybe a broken wire - Maybe a design flaw with the vehicle not communicating correctly to the FIAT electricals.
I hope this helps - I have read a lot of theories about auto relocking - but never seen much resolution of the issue.
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