warpc0il

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Okay, so this afternoon I've finally got it off! There was a trick to it, which is a different action to that shown in any of the youtube vids or discussed here, and I don't know if that's because it's such an early car. Anyway, it was clear that no amount of pulling, or pushing down was going to work. This only left a few directions and, with the screws removed and the side clips disengaged, I tried pushing the lower section in, away from me, toward the front of the car. There's about 1/8" movement in this direction if you push hard enough and, if you hold it in and gently move it down, then two hooks on the back disengage and the frame becomes loose in your hand. We have lift off!!! Just need to get the instruments out now, and apart, and find and fix those dry/cracked joints on the board.....

There's an increase in tension on the alternator drive belt, just after starting, as it tries to make up for the power just taken from the battery. This can cause related noise, either from the belt slipping, or from a bearing. The noise would naturedly reduce and then stop as alternator load does. Does it carry on any longer if the headlights and heated rear window are ON?

Some things never change and so 18 years on and I have exactly the same issue. Undo the two screws - check Unclip the two clips each side - check (after discovering that the top right clip was trapped behind the frame of the hole in the dash panel Pull the trim away from the bottom - that's NOT happening!! Tried lifting, squeezing, and pulling as hard as I dare, and there's slight movement but it's not coming away. I notice that the trim has got the original manufacture date label on the back - 3rd November 1998 - so maybe the very early ones are somehow different??? @EddyHDid you just pull MUCH harder or was there a trick to it? I've tried blowing warm air, from a heat gun, through the slot underneath, in the hope it would soften the plastic and ideally help it unclip, but at least stop it shattering. Not broken it yet but not getting anywhere either. I need to get access to resolder the joints on the board behind the speedo, as the immobiliser keeps cutting the fuel as soon as the engine starts.

Okay, so it looks like we've got it sorted. The culprit was the motor that drives the tailgate lock. This motor was very stiff and taking way too much current. Not quite enough to blow the fuse but enough to play havoc with the rest of the system. The short-term fix was to disconnect the motor, which meant that the tailgate lock worked manually but at least the rest of the locks worked together, including the rear passenger doors, and the fuel filler release operated. Now we've replaced the tailgate lock motor and it's all working as it should, at least most of the time, as the rear offside passenger door is still a bit lazy. This may be because it hadn't seen any action for a couple of months, so I'm just going to keep an eye on it while it gets some more regular exercise. I'd like to thank those of you who took the time to suggest potential causes, as that still helped with the diagnosis, even if it was a process of elimination.

Lot's of info to work with there and some clues as to where to start looking. I'm up to my armpits in other stuff atm so the car's going to an independent VW/Audi/Skoda specialist in the morning, along with a printout of this thread. Spooky that I declared it "FUBAR" not knowing that was also a members handle on this forum. Even more spooky that Fubar had the same issues, and is located in NI Anywhere near Groomsport?

I don't think it can be down to an individual lock, as none of the three keyholes (front doors & tailgate) and neither of the front door internal handles, operate the central locking, just that door. This is despite them all switching the internal lights off when locking :confused: A thought occurred to me last night, which proved to be correct when we checked this morning - the fuel filler flap release doesn't work either :shock: So, not only can we not get either rear passenger door open, even from the inside, but we can't put any more petrol in the car :( I believe the technical term is FUBAR

Just out of curiosity, could there be any mileage in just disconnecting the battery, leaving it for a few minutes and reconnecting? Would/could this trigger the components to say "hello" to each other again?

Does the lack of any further responses imply that this is a rare problem or just that there are so few of these cars still on the road (or at least with guys on this forum) that it's totally outside of anyone's experience? Is there anywhere that I can lookup which electrical components this model has in common with her other VAG cousins?

No other strange electrical behaviour, just the central locking, and they're not doing anything random. No issues with any lights etc. Confirmed last night that all three external locks (both front doors and the boot*) also switch on/off the internal courtesy light when they operate, so signals are getting from the locks to whatever controls those lights. I could live with the door locks only working independently but it's a problem not being able to open the rear passenger doors at all. This very early Octavia seems to be a bit of a mix-n-match from the VAG parts bin. The 1.8L 20V and auto-transmission is from an Audi and certainly some of the electrics are marked "VW". When the wiper linkage seized a couple of years ago, I replaced the complete mechanism, motor, etc with one from a Mk4 Golf, which dropped straight in. Are the components for the central locking also common with contemporary Golf/Passat or Audi? If so, which one? * I've been saying "boot" but it's actually a hatchback.

:bump: ?

Our Octavia battery went a bit flat, due to lack of use over the Christmas break, and didn't have enough go to start the car. Not having a long enough extension lead, I had to remove the battery and bring it indoors to charge. Apart from it being waaay over complicated to remove and refit the battery, this went well and the car now starts and runs fine. However, the central locking won't play any more. She's an early Mk1 (1999) without a remote fob, so the central locking should work from either of the front door locks, or the boot. Currently the drivers door lock only unlocks/locks the drivers door and the boot. The front passenger door lock only locks/unlocks that door. The boot lock just locks/unlocks the boot. It's impossible to open either of the rear doors, even from inside. The switch on the inside of the drivers door, that should lock/unlock everything, doesn't. Is this all a coincidence and there's a broken wire or expired component, or has something just got confused from having the battery flat, removed and then replaced? Is there a way to reset or test the central locking? PS. I had searched the forum but could only find threads related to the later cars with remote central locking.

Tried some silicone oil spray in the lock but no joy. Only good thing is it happened at home, where I have a spare key and the car is on the drive.

Thanks for the bump but it appears that either no one knows the answer or those that might are too busy to read the forum atm. Had another jiggle of the key this morning, trying to get it out of the lock, but just lowered all the windows, again #-o