Patrick Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 Hello, The close codes 559, 557, 555 on the Essex keypad on my 2002 Monaco Dynasty Baroness stopped working a couple of weeks ago. The custom open code still opens the doors but the close codes no longer work. I asked for and received help on this forum. The conclusion was that replacement of the keypad was required. I wasn't thrilled about spending $299 (US) on another keypad, so I looked for alternatives. What I ended up doing is installing a keyless entry system for a fraction of the cost of a new keypad which meets my needs perfectly. This is how I did it. The Essex keypad works by completing a ground circuit to the door actuator. When the code is entered, either the open or close ground circuit is completed. Underneath the cup holder on the passenger side is access to the keypad wiring. Inside are two white multi-pin connectors and the reset button. I made all my connections through the wiring on these two connectors. (see photo) I purchased a keyless entry system from Amazon for about $22 CDN. The keyless entry system consists of a control module, wiring and two key fobs. I also had to purchase 2 x 5 pin 12V relays for about $7 CDN each. Aside from crimp connectors and a few bits of wire that was my total cost. When you press the button on the key fob a positive current is output from the control module. Since the open and close actuators the Essex keypad controls work by completing a ground, a positive current signal is not going to activate the actuator. The positive signal needs to be converted into a negative ground, that is where the relays come in. A positive signal from the control module activates the relay, which is wired to complete a ground circuit when active. The attached photos show how I wired things up and the keyless entry system I bought. The nice thing is that the Essex keypad still works just as it did, so anyone can add the keyless entry system without losing the functionality of their keypad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ R Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Nice work Patrick. While my keypad still works, a remote has always been something I was curious about. I will be doing this thanks to you. Great post with great directions. Russ R 2003 Monaco Windsor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeBob Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Nice write up, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) Nice. I’m surprised your wireless module doesn’t have the ability to use positive or negative output ’signal’ so you don’t need the relays. There’s usually a ’signal input’ wire that is connected to 12v for positive signal, or connected to ground for negative signal. There’s nothing special about the Essex‘wireless option’… If you buy the Essex keypad with ‘wireless option’ they send you an Essex keypad with a 3rd party Avital branded generic 4-button wireless system that can be used to lock/unlock the bay doors also. Cheers Walter Edited March 14, 2022 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 On 3/13/2022 at 6:24 AM, Russ 2003 Windsor said: Nice work Patrick. While my keypad still works, a remote has always been something I was curious about. I will be doing this thanks to you. Great post with great directions. Russ R 2003 Monaco Windsor Russ, Not shown in my diagram are the positive and negative wires for the control module itself. The module requires power on its own. I wired these to the same positive and negative wires everything else is connected too. Good luck! It’s a pretty easy installation and having a remote key fob to unlock and lock all the doors, including the bay doors is very convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 2094 Dynasty Good morning. We have had an issue with our Essex 1701 for years. The remote works fine unlocking and locking both the entry and bay doors. The keypad locks both entry and bay doors but only unlocks th entry door. It should unlock bay doors after pressing and additional key. There is one wire in the keypad harness not connected to the essex keypad molex connector. According to the wiring diagram there needs to be a wire connected to one of the three open slots in the molex connector for the keypad to unlock the bay doors. I verified there is no voltage on the orphan wire so I connected it to the molex connector corresponding to pressing the 9/0 key to unlock the bay doors. It did not unlock the bay doors. Does anyone know where the two relays(lock and unlock) are located. (Might even be 2 relays for each side of the coach bay doors). My guess is the orphan wire is not connected at the relay end. I think the unlock relay is good since the FOB will unlock the bay doors. Thanks for any suggestions. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) The essex keypad (and also the separate wireless module) work by providing a ground "signal" to the coil on a relay for lock/unlock. Your wiring diagram shows which wires are the signal wires on p194. If you jump one of these signal wires to ground, it will fire the corresponding relay and actuate the locks. I think only 5 of the essex wires are active (12v(red), ground(black), lock(orange), unlock(white), bay doors unlock(brown)) plus the yellow programming wire. You might have more wires connected on the essex side, but the M24 (Keyless) plug up under the dash should only have 5 pins in it. So to test it, jumper each lock/unlock/bay door unlock wire to ground and this will tell you if the problem is the essex keypad or something in the wiring/relays. Just don't jumper the 12v in wire (red) to ground! If your remote is working properly, it's a good indication that the problem is the essex unit. My 2003 dynasty relays are in the front electrical bay below the driver. Cheers, Walter Edited March 21, 2022 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 On 3/21/2022 at 11:59 AM, wamcneil said: The essex keypad (and also the separate wireless module) work by providing a ground "signal" to the coil on a relay for lock/unlock. Your wiring diagram shows which wires are the signal wires on p194. If you jump one of these signal wires to ground, it will fire the corresponding relay and actuate the locks. I think only 5 of the essex wires are active (12v(red), ground(black), lock(orange), unlock(white), bay doors unlock(brown)) plus the yellow programming wire. You might have more wires connected on the essex side, but the M24 (Keyless) plug up under the dash should only have 5 pins in it. So to test it, jumper each lock/unlock/bay door unlock wire to ground and this will tell you if the problem is the essex keypad or something in the wiring/relays. Just don't jumper the 12v in wire (red) to ground! If your remote is working properly, it's a good indication that the problem is the essex unit. My 2003 dynasty relays are in the front electrical bay below the driver. Cheers, Walter Walter. Essec tech support told me and the documentation supports it that there must be a wire connected to the 9/0, 7/8, or 3/4 terminal in order to open the bay doors from the key pad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 (edited) Right. One of the auxiliary wires is used to unlock the bay doors. I believe Monaco used 9/0 pretty consistently, but I’ve read posts where one of the other aux signals was used for the bay doors. https://www.a1electric.com/essex/pdf/KE1701WD.pdf About 6 of the Essex wires aren’t used in our application , so don’t feel like every wire needs to be connected Cheers Walter Edited March 23, 2022 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Walter, guess I was not clear. I have no wire connected to any of the three auxiliary ports and I only have one wire in the harness that is not connected. I am thinking this wire goes to the unlock relay which is why I need to find that relay. Thanks for your input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Have you tried grounding the bay door wire in the plug (purple) to see if it actuates the locks? Should be a purple wire on the coach side. What’s hooked up to the purple wire now? Should have the Essex 9/0 (brown) wire connected to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Ther is no wire connected to any of the three auxillary ports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) Ok... so what's connected to the coach-side purple wire??? My essex has two 4-pin plugs on it. One of the plugs has purple, blue, brown and green on the coach side. Purple is the bay door unlock wire. Which is connected to the brown 9/0 wire on the essex. Edited March 24, 2022 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) My molex (essex) connector is 12 pin and as I said nothing is connected to any of the three auxillary ports. All three are empty Edited March 24, 2022 by bmulvenna@hotmail.com Spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 On 3/22/2022 at 6:43 PM, wamcneil said: Right. One of the auxiliary wires is used to unlock the bay doors. I believe Monaco used 9/0 pretty consistently, but I’ve read posts where one of the other aux signals was used for the bay doors. https://www.a1electric.com/essex/pdf/KE1701WD.pdf About 6 of the Essex wires aren’t used in our application , so don’t feel like every wire needs to be connected Cheers Walter Thanks Walter. All 6 wires are connected in my harness but none of them to any of the three auxillary ports one wire in the harness is not connected at essex end. That is why I think I need to connect it to any of the 3 aux ports. I did that to no avail. Need to find the other end which I think should be connected to the unlock relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) Ok, so there are 5 wires that actually do something. The Red boxes show which 8 wires are connected to my plugs. Callouts show what color wire they connect to in the harness. Monaco must have done something a little different in 2004. I remember reading another thread where somebody reported a single 12-pin plug at the essex instead of two 4-pin plugs like I have. Do you have a purple wire in your plug? If so, what wire is it connected to on the essex? If you ground the purple wire, it should unlock the bay doors. Edited March 24, 2022 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 I am going to jump in here with a question. The Essex Keypad, 1/2 key, is non-functional. So, I cannot reprogram the keypad to the specific code that I intend to use on my 2006 Dynasty. However, the two key-fobs that came with the coach work well so replacing the keypad is a project that will go to the bottom of the list. My question is, whenever I enter my Windsor with the keypad or the key-fob the dome light over the driver's seat lights up for a few seconds. Whereas there is no light that comes on when I do the same thing in the Dynasty. What am I missing? Isn't there a light that is supposed to come on when you enter the coach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 (edited) Does your Windsor have viper alarm? The alarm wiring plug (also used for key fob module if no alarm option) includes “dome light” that is connected to the entry lights and triggered by the viper alarm. If yours is also triggering the dome light from the keypad, I don't know how that could be happening. Unless the alarm is sensing the unlock signal from the essex and then triggering the dome light. I haven't looked at the Windsor wiring diagrams, so maybe there's something different going on. If you don't have the viper alarm, then I don't know what's going on there. The original key fob module did not have a dome light output, so wasn’t possible with the original key fob option. When I replaced the original key fob module with Avital, I connected it’s dome light output, so that does work on mine (but NOT with the Essex). The Essex keypad also has a dome light output, but it’s not used (green wire). I recently discovered an unused yellow wire that goes all the way from the Essex pigtail to the bundle with alarm plug that I'm planning to utilize for the kaypad dome light. There’s also the Essex’s “Arm” output wire that could be repurposed to trigger the dome light. Cheers Walter Edited March 25, 2022 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 No alarm in the Windsor and neither in the Dynasty. But the dome light feature works in the Windsor but nothing in the Dynasty. I haven't gotten into the Essex wiring that is under the cup holder on the passenger's console. That is for a much latter project to get into that. In the meantime, I know exactly where the Carlings switch is on the passenger console to turn on the entry way overhead lights. I simply reach in and turn those on for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmulvenna@hotmail.com Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 21 hours ago, wamcneil said: Ok, so there are 5 wires that actually do something. The Red boxes show which 8 wires are connected to my plugs. Callouts show what color wire they connect to in the harness. Monaco must have done something a little different in 2004. I remember reading another thread where somebody reported a single 12-pin plug at the essex instead of two 4-pin plugs like I have. Do you have a purple wire in your plug? If so, what wire is it connected to on the essex? If you ground the purple wire, it should unlock the bay doors. Issue has been corrected. Monaco had 2 wires reversed. Incoming purple was connected to the essex blue rather than the essex brown. Switched them around and all works as it should. A big thank you to Walter for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jegall Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Anyone know of a wiring diagram for a 2003 Imperial keyless system I have a circuit board with relays on it that has 6 plugs on it behind the center console. My key fobs are missing the key panel outside works to lock and unlock all bays and unlock the door but not lock it . The door actuator works both ways with jumpers . Thanks for any help Jim Gallaway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) I'm not familiar with Imperial, but we've got this in the downloads (p34): The essex keypad is totally separate from the wirless module. While you're in there, get a keyless entry system to replace the original. The one Essex sells along with their keypads as an "add-on" is actually a separate and generic 3rd party keyless that's available on Amazon (Avital 2101L) Essex 1603 Keypad and Wireless Replacement - iRV2 Forums Edited March 2, 2023 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamcneil Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) What did you jumper to get the front door to lock? Unless you grounded the white/black wire at the essex keypad, you can't rule out essex failure. Grounding the Lock wire on the essex keypad should fire the locking relays. And grounding the Unlock wire on the essex should fire the unlock relays. Oh, wait. Nevermind. You said the essex WILL lock the bay dooors though. So the probelm isn't the essex. Edited March 2, 2023 by wamcneil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 AFAIK, there is only one lock signal generated when you use either the keypad or keyfob. There are two separate unlock signals for unlocking either the entry door or the bay doors. Somehow, the lock signal is not getting to the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Blackmon Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 On the inside of the door frame there are 2 spring loaded copper contacts and 2 pads on the door. Be sure they are clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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