I decided that after 14 years it was time to put power door locks in my '97 F150. I was tired of asking passengers to lock the door, then having to explain that while the truck has a security system, it has no power door locks.

I got this kit and installed it on Saturday. The installation took a while, but went smoothly. The locks work. Locking either door causes the other to lock, and unlocking either causes the other to unlock.

Then I tried to tie it into the Ford security system. The door lock instructions indicated that there should be two wires coming out of the security module, likely green and blue in color. On the Ford module I found a blue and yellow wire labeled Door Trigger + and -. The door lock relay has two wires to connect these two, one brown and one purple. Not knowing which way to wire these up, I tried wiring it both ways. One way caused the doors to stay locked. Any attempt to manually unlock the doors was met with an immediate relocking by the system. Wired the other way caused the doors to stay unlocked. In neither case did the arm and disarm buttons on the key fob have any impact on the door locks.

One more thing, the blue wire coming out of the Ford security module disappears under the dash while the yellow wire goes nowhere. The owners manual hasn't been much help on my main problem, but I may have found an explanation for where the blue wire goes... it seems that when the system is disarmed, the dome light is supposed to go on for a while. Perhaps the blue wire is connected to a relay to support that feature, however the dome light has never come on like that after the system was disarmed.

I checked the blue and yellow wires with a voltmeter. I found that the yellow wire is constantly reading 4.7 volts while the blue wire is constantly 0 volts. Arming and disarming the system doesn't seem to have any impact on the measured voltage for either, but if the pulses were really short they may not be detectable with my old voltmeter.

In searching these forum and the web I found that there are ways to enable or disable features in the Ford security system by arming and disarming the system in a particular sequence. The automatic engagement of the door locks is one such feature that can be enabled. I'm hoping that my system isn't properly configured for power door locks and there's some secret sequence that will enable it.

I'm really stuck with this one. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry to be so long winded.

Greg G.

 

Can I ask what you are calling the Ford Security system ?

I hope what you are calling the security system is not bolted to the back of the cab fuse panel.

The 97/98 MY have the parameter alarm with the RKE & Power locks, no mention in the EVTM or parameter alarm without RKE & Power locks.

The only blue wire I could find on the factory parameter alarm system is to the horn, and no yellow wire.

Not too sure if the Ford module that you are talking about with these color codes is the ford security module, if so you are not looking at the RAP ( remote antitheft personality ) module - this is what operates the parameter alarm & power locks when installed with the RKE & parameter alarm.

 

It's a Ford brand anti-theft module. It was installed by the dealer. It's situated under the kick panel and was held in place with tie straps before I cut it loose.

There are about a dozen or so wires connected to it. One is labeled Door Trigger + and one is labeled Door Trigger -.

Greg G.

 

Ford brand anititheft module ?

The only one I am aware of is a Ford Gold RKE, Remote Start, and VSS, does it say anything like this ?

 

I'll post a picture tonight of the module. In the late '90's local Ford dealers in the Phoenix area were putting these units on most vehicles in their inventories. I chose to keep it installed. It's not an after market unit. It has Ford on it and a note at the bottom to not go through the normal warranty process but use another process instead.

 

Here are pics of the unit in question.

 

It's entirely possible that this system just isn't compatible with the power locks that I installed, or that another component is necessary. But way back in January of '97 when I bought this vehicle the tech that drove it around to the front of the dealership after it was prepped told me that installing door locks with the Ford security system was straightforward and it was something he did several times a day.

Upon further consideration, it seems likely that the blue and yellow wires are inputs from door sensors. Only one would be absolutely necessary, so that would explain why the yellow was left hanging.

The brown disarm wire on the far left would be a logical choice for one of the wires to drive the door locks, but what would be the other one? Nothing else makes sense.

 

Sorry I have no clue what that is, I have never seen it.

You are going to have to see if someone else can ID it.

 

I did a bit more digging. It's a Chapman GOH-717-JLK security module. These were branded with several different car maker logos. Some included door lock and unlock outputs. Those would be found to the left of the white/ground lead on my box, if it had them.

It seems I have just a few choices.
1) Buy a new security module with the appropriate outputs for the door locks.
2) Find some way to connect my existing box to the new door lock relay. This may require some extra circuitry.
3) Just button things up and call it good.

 

I took another look at the module and noticed that under the two missing lock/unlock spade connectors were solder pads. I tried holding the lock/unlock leads from the new door locks against these pads, thinking that maybe the module still supported this feature even though it didn't have the connectors, but no luck.

Generally when electronics manufacturers disable a feature in a lower cost product, they either do so via a different firmware version, or simply leave some components off of the printed circuit board. I opened the module and found no missing parts, so I guess the firmware version must not support power locks.

I called AutoAlarmPro.com in Michigan and spoke with Derrick (I think). He was extremely helpful. He told me that these modules were actually made by Code Alarm and when installed at an after market shop they were labeled as such. When installed by dealers they were known as Chapman units, even though they would carry the car makers logo.

He also told me that a Code Alarm Elite 1100 or Pro 1000 would be a drop in replacement for my unit, while providing the lock and unlock outputs that I needed. I found a full Elite 1100 system on Ebay for just $35, so I ordered it. Hopefully with the new module I'll be able to get things working.

I'm just posting this information here for the benefit of whoever else may come along later trying to sort this out.

I'll post one more update once I get everything working.

Greg G.

 

keep in mind, not all RKE units support direct connection to the power door locks, an external relay might be needed by those that do you support it.

if you are looking for a unit, Travis at KCAutosound.com can point you in the right direction for what you are looking for, and for a small fee ( 25.00 I think ) he will prewire it for your MY and trim level, and include the directions on where to get what circuit

 

The door locks I installed have a relay that drives them. Grounding one of the leads from this relay unlocks the doors while grounding the other locks them. While I had the module apart I took a look at the circuit and components connected to the missing lock/unlock spade connectors. It looks like these units ground those lines when arming or disarming the system. I think it will work fine, but of course I won't know until I get things hooked up.

Thanks,

Greg

 

Just one last follow-up... the Elite 1100 system arrived today and it was in fact a perfect drop in replacement for the Ford branded Chapman controller. I programmed the new module with my old Ford key fobs without any problems, but I ran too late to get the other settings programmed (didn't want to keep the neighbors up with a lot of beeping). I'll take care of the rest tomorrow.

Greg G.