Removed door panel, found this...

OK, please look at the pictures below and tell me that the black box with the Fiat sticker is.

Basically, the cable that connects to the outside door handle broke, so I had to go inside to replace it. After replacing the cable I fit all the parts back in place but when it came time to checking the lock mechanism, the out side key lock wouldn’t work. While looking closer I realized that the black box with the Fiat sticker in question was causing an issue.

Possibly some sort of an adjustment, although there isn’t much of an adjustment that can be made.

The interesting feature about this black box is it has wires going to it????

Is it part of an alarm system?

Is it possibly part of some sort of power door lock system?

Is it part of a remote keyless entry system?

It seems to have some sort of cam mechanism in it that requires the door latch / door lock to travel a certain distance and then it will engage. But because there is no adjustment (that I could find) if the key lock doesn’t travel far enough, this black box pushes the whole assembly backwards with the help of a spring that is in there and the door will not remain locked. However it will lock if you use the inside lock pull.

All thoughts are welcome.

Thanks
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SECOND LAW OF NON-FUNCTIONAL APPARATUS

"All Italian Sports Cars, regardless of age, shall have at least one
system or component which does not work, and cannot be repaired. Such
a part shall never be mentioned in the Official Shop Manual, although
there may be an out-of-focus picture shown." It goes without saying
that such parts should never under any circumstances be removed, lest
the natural balance of the car be upset.

 

Fiat Whitehead is the torpedo factory on the Med near Pisa. It that thing ticking?

 

LOL, thankfully I left it on the car!

 

It wasn't ticking, but it had a strange hum! (joking)

 

It looks like a power door lock system or maybe an alarm system

 

Looks like a door lock solenoid.

 

Both things I was thinking, but there is no "Door Lock" switch in the car, and I don't think I have an alarm. Plus, from the look of the wiring, it's factory, not after market.

Did these cars ever have factory alarms / door locks?

 

I was not aware they had either one of those but, from looking at your picture that is what it looks like. Do you have a parts book to refer to and also is your car a Euro version?

 

The car is an 83 US version 308. I don't have a parts book.

 

This is a switch to activate the power door lock in the passenger door. Around 1981 Ferrari added central or curb side locking to the 308. When you lock or unlock the drivers door the passenger door would follow. The drivers side was not power actuated. This is just the switch that tells the passenger door to lock or unlock. Most of the actuators in passenger doors failed early on and many non original owners never knew the system was there. A service bulletin around 84 details the discontinuation of the Fiat boxes for more modern actuators. From that point on there were actuators in the drivers and passenger doors.

 

Hi Chris, that's a lock actuator, you should have one for each door, the driver side has four wires and passenger side has two wires. I should know because I replaced my actuator about 6 months ago. Here's the site: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238381&highlight=Lock+actuator

If you need one I know where to order them.

 

my 308 GTB QV has the power lock feature, and it still works!

 

Ah, interesting.

My 328 has the double side electric locking. No interior switch: each door follows the other.

Adjustments can be finicky. For a while, the car used to unlock itself shortly after being locked with the key. (With just enough delay that you'd think it was locked.) If I'd push on the pass side door, it would stay locked. Locking with the button wasn't a problem. I had the shop adjust the linkages, and it's been okay since. (So far.)

 

I added keyless remote to my 328 central locking,,,,I think the locks are located too low to be fumbling around with keys,,,,,,I'll probably take the keyless control box out if I track the car to save on weight

 

Well played!

 

I found the same thing on my car. Only on the driver's side. Ended up installing a new set of SPAL solenoids. Hey, they're Italian!!!!!! Fingers crossed the beloved ghost of St. Enzo approves.

 

Reading the title of the thread, I had a deja vu. No, I didn't find a door lock solenoid, but something much more puzzling. My door panels were already off when I got the car. I was poking around in there and saw something unusual. There were traces of what looked like a plastic bag that was zip tied to the inner door frame. The bag contained something with wires sticking out of it. After I got it out, I discovered that it was someone's poor attempt at setting up component speakers in the door. It looks like someone dismantled a home component speaker and pulled out the crossover circuitry. They wired this crossover to separate high/mid/low speakers, put the device in a plastic bag to "seal out the elements" then hung it inside the door.

Crazy stuff.
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My USA QV came from the factory so that if you lock the driver door by pushing down on the knob, the passenger side will lock automatically. It does something similar when unlocking with the key from the outside... unlock one door, the other unlocks automatically.

 

LOL, taking that out added 5 MPH

found this in my Mondial T, yup, BMW, mirror controls...probably costs the same as a Ferrari part though...can't win either way.
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Here's what my old lock actuator looks like, it's internally defective.
So I got brand new one from FerrParts
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