drgork - 1/18/2009 6:14 PM

Success! LPG was right. The central locking relay was at fault. I got a replacement from Vlad (part # A 009 545 19 32 - just as LPG said). On my 2000 G500, the part is in the metal box (under the hood against the firewall) where the K40 relay is located. The Central locking relay is actually under the tray that hold the K40 relay. You must remove the K40 relay first and then remove the metal tray. There are 2 nuts that hold the tray in place. Once that's out of the way, you can get to the relay. It is held in place with 2 nuts as well. Space is very limited and tight in there so it takes some effort to remove it. I had some difficulty getting a small socket in there to loosen the nuts.

The wires go into the relay via a multi-pin connector with locking tabs on the sides. There isn't much slack in the wires so you really have to be careful removing the connector. You also have to be careful removing and replacing the nuts. If one fall down in the box, you may never see it again! If you have to do this, I would recommend mounting the new relay first and then pushing the connector onto the pins of the new relay. Once connected, all you have to do is replace the K40 tray, K40 and put the cover back on. All in all, I think it took about 45 minutes.

Once in place, I was glad to hear the old clunk of the locks working again.

Thanks for everyone's help as always!

Danny