Broadway EL 2022 Locks itself.......

Hi all,

I suspect that this may not be a unique problem.

We have a 2022 Broadway EL. We have had a few issues with it which we have resolved through advice here or via a repair centre. However we have a relatively new issue which I am hoping we can resolve without going through FIAT warranty. If we need to we will. We emailed Autosleepers directly for advice but true to form they don't reply. Hopeless. No reply as per normal. 

Once you have unlocked the van and entered (with the engine switched off but either on/off mains hook up) the van basically locks itself. There is a loud click (as if you have pressed the fob) and the van has locked itself. Not a big issue if you are in the van but if you are e.g. on a campsite and outside with the door shut (even with the keys inside) it will lock the doors. Consequently you are locked out of the van.

Has anyone ever experienced this issue and if so what did you do/what was the problem and is it easy to resolve ? We may end up going to Fiat through warranty to resolve but would prefer to try and resolve this if possible without trecking 40 miles to our nearest commercial Fiat Dealer.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom shared. Alastair

Bob Earnshaw's latest video where he tries out his new 2024 Swift Kon-Tiki van based on a Fiat chassis complains about this "FEATURE" and he managed to lock his keys inside the van, fortunately his wife had the spare key kept separately and let him back in.  It is an absolutely stupid feature, I don't think you can do anything about it.

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There is a thread  on the CAMC about this and, apparently, depending on the model, the autolock can be swtched off via a menu on the radio (not sure if this is just for the 'over 15mph' autolock or not though.

Having read through the thread below it doesn't appear that the autolock can be switched off on the newer vans

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Another Forum and a possible solution but quite in depth involves a bit of wire swapping

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Have you tried briefly opening and closing the drivers door after unlocking? This might be necessary to inform the vehicle that it hasn’t been unlocked unintentionally. A feature used by a few manufacturers in case the fob is accidentally activated in your pocket. It could be the hab door doesn’t communicate with the vehicle electronics so it doesn’t recognize when you have entered the vehicle.

Toffee wrote:Have you tried briefly opening and closing the drivers door after unlocking? This might be necessary to inform the vehicle that it hasn’t been unlocked unintentionally. A feature used by a few manufacturers in case the fob is accidentally activated in your pocket. It could be the hab door doesn’t communicate with the vehicle electronics so it doesn’t recognize when you have entered the vehicle.

This has been a feature on MB based vans, on my 2010 van.Must always open a cab door on unlocking or it locks after 30 secs and the ultrasonic sensor sets off the alarm if you are inside.

Thanks all. Good comments all round. From what I can gather here it appears that this is a feature rather than a fault.....although that point is debatable. The van is a 2022 Fiat base, automatic. I.will try the radio route first of all. If that doesn't work maybe phone Fiat for some advice....and then if nothing comes out if that I will basically make sure I have a spare key accessible at all time. Hopefully the radio option
might work...... My car locks itself when stationery after a minute or so but not when keys are in it. It really does feel like a pointless feature unless of course it can be deactivated.

Toffee wrote:Have you tried briefly opening and closing the drivers door after unlocking? This might be necessary to inform the vehicle that it hasn’t been unlocked unintentionally. A feature used by a few manufacturers in case the fob is accidentally activated in your pocket. It could be the hab door doesn’t communicate with the vehicle electronics so it doesn’t recognize when you have entered the vehicle.

Hi Toffee. I did try this and what you suggest happens in principal. If I unlock using the fob and enter via the hab door but don't open the cabinet doors then the van locks itself after about a minute. If I open/close the cabin doors then it doesn't lock itself. You can adjust settings through the radio as others have suggested but that appears to only impact the cabin doors as it may be, as you suggested, that the hab door electrics don't  ommunicate fully with the settings for the cabin. 
Work in progress but thanks again for your suggestion.

You will find this a base vehicle problem not auto sleeper, i have coach built Malvern 2018 Mercedes Sprinter base vehicle. The same thing happens on this so much so that while i was greasing the step mechanism i found a box about 75mm x50mm stuck back of it , was a spare key inside it, i wasnt notified when purchased vehicle though. The issue has nearly occured though being nearly locked out. also i noted recently last week on ferry to Mull , that they state turn off alarms if possible i quickly read through handbook and found there is a button to do this, which you press then lock the door, since doing this the doors dont appear to lock on there own now, and also the alarm does'nt sound off like it used to if you went into front driving area when the doors used to lock automatically, so sugest reding through vehicle handbook and you may find solution or get in touch with main vehicle dealer see if they can point you in right direction

Ours block itself , nothing can be done about as Ex garage owner I have raised this issue , it's a Safe feature. !!!!!, just get into the habit of opening 1 can door

when going through the handover at garage, on our Nuevo, the sales person tried to explain the locking procedure to me. basically he wasted his time as i'm none the wiser! the upshot is ALWAYS keep the keys in you're pocket. evidently it seems to be a " safety " feature! confusion is further enhanced by having a secondary burglar alarm fitted. i approach the van with some trepidation now as not sure which procedure to use. seems as has been suggested by others open a cab door before hab area............possibly!

Thanks doog1948. What you say is consistent with many comments and what happens. I initially thought it was a fault with the van but think it's is actually a feature which is a fault. I.e. the back door locking mechanism doesn't appear to talk to the front door locking mechanism. Opening the cabin doors all be it briefly seems to stop it happening but that surely can't be acceptable to Auto-Sleepers as a brand. In my view when the coachbuilt element is attached to the chassis (Fiat in my case) you would think that their electrical team would make sure that the left arm and the right arm would work in conjunction with one another. As you say a) I'll open the cab door and b) keep the keys on me even if I am just outside the van.......frustrating

doog1948 wrote:when going through the handover at garage, on our Nuevo, the sales person tried to explain the locking procedure to me. basically he wasted his time as i'm none the wiser! the upshot is ALWAYS keep the keys in you're pocket. evidently it seems to be a " safety " feature! confusion is further enhanced by having a secondary burglar alarm fitted. i approach the van with some trepidation now as not sure which procedure to use. seems as has been suggested by others open a cab door before hab area............possibly!

Thank goodness my older Nuevo doesn't have this automatic re-locking function.  

I have a Vodafone Cobra vehicle alarm.  It is armed by pressing the single lock button on the remote key fob which locks the two cab doors and the habitation door.  But my fob has two unlocking buttons - one for the cab doors and the other for the habitation door.  Pressing either disarms the alarm.  If yours is the same, I wonder if pressing just the habitation door unlock button and then not entering the van will still cause your habitation door to automatically re-lock?

Alastair0811 wrote:Thanks doog1948. What you say is consistent with many comments and what happens. I initially thought it was a fault with the van but think it's is actually a feature which is a fault. I.e. the back door locking mechanism doesn't appear to talk to the front door locking mechanism. Opening the cabin doors all be it briefly seems to stop it happening but that surely can't be acceptable to Auto-Sleepers as a brand. In my view when the coachbuilt element is attached to the chassis (Fiat in my case) you would think that their electrical team would make sure that the left arm and the right arm would work in conjunction with one another. As you say a) I'll open the cab door and b) keep the keys on me even if I am just outside the van.......frustrating

Its not just Auto-Sleeper - Swift have the same problem.  The common denominator is Sargent who provide the electrical systems to both.  It's probably them that need to address the problem.

Thanks Caraman. I suspect you are right but is slightly comforting to know that it's not a fault but is in fact a feature as I was all ready to send it to Fiat under warranty to have the "fault" repaired. Bit of a dichotomy really. I want it "fixed" but apparently its built to do what it does so in theory nothing is wrong with it.

Alastair0811 wrote:Thanks Caraman. I suspect you are right but is slightly comforting to know that it's not a fault but is in fact a feature as I was all ready to send it to Fiat under warranty to have the "fault" repaired. Bit of a dichotomy really. I want it "fixed" but apparently its built to do what it does so in theory nothing is wrong with it.

Auto-locking a short time after a door has been unlocked but not opened is common and a good thing. My current and previous cars had it.  It's also good thing on a panel van including PVCs.  The problem arises when its not integrated with a coachbuilt's habitation door which is not part of the base vehicle.  I will be interested to hear what doog1948 finds with his vehicle alarm.  If it's like mine which allows the cab doors to remain locked when the habitation door is unlocked with the remote key fob, it may be a solution to the problem - fit a vehicle alarm.

will try the switch off alarm approach. my alarm is autowatch 695.

doog1948 wrote:will try the switch off alarm approach. my alarm is autowatch 695.

My MB base has an Autowatch 695, and still autolocks after 30 sec if cab door not opened. Operation is integrated into normal MB key fob.

similar response as Ploughlin. hopefully i'll remember to keep the keys in my pocket! . now for something completely different. just spent a half hour on my back under the van spraying Lanoguard. happened to have a litre or so left over from spraying another van. not sure if this stuff is effective but time will tell. Doug.

it seems some dog owners have a similar problem!

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Yes this is indeed a perfectly normal (in the unique mind of the designer, but no one else) feature, certainly of the newer MB based campers. In my more normal (so the men in white coats tell me) mind if I was designing the computerisation firstly I wouldn't include self automatic locking, and secondly if I did I would certainly include a small bit of programming that says "If the key is inside (and I can search for it using my radio waves) then I will not lock the doors".
However, they failed to employ me so we have two choices:
1) locate a spare key outside somewhere that we can access when it's all locked up. With our keys inside.
2) Don't buy a new motorhome, get one made in the last century. And pay £100 every time you accidentally stray into a LEZ.

Not only that feature but there is another Automatic gearbox MB feature no one seems to have mentioned in this thread: You unlock the central locking and get in via the hab door, sit in the driver's seat, put your foot on the brake pedal and press the start button. A very helpful message on the display says "Key Not Detected. See owner's manual". So you see the owners manual and find the bit where it says "the key must be within the boundary of floor to ceiling, in the cab area between the two front doors and between the two front seats and the windscreen area". You shout as loudly as you can to the moronic computer that is still busy trying to ensure that the vehicle is locked, The Key Is Jolly (other words can be used) Well In The Detected Area". But it does no good. After a lot of shouting and getting nowhere you realise that you have to get the keys out of your pocket, lock the camper, then unlock the camper (which you have already done, you remember, in order to get inside) and then start the starting procedure again. You press the foot brake, and then the starter button. Then the computer has a jolly good think about the situation and about five seconds later after waving its arms and legs all across the dials and back, the engine starts. You can then change from P through R, N and D before you can reverse out of your space. But before you can reverse you have to cycle the gear selector back from D through N and then R before you can reverse. You can't go from P to R which two gears are adjacent on the selector. Genius.