Erratic central locking

[BOOMER]

Guys, I need your advice please.

I have a 2.0GLXi Octavia Estate, year 2000, it has done just under 70k. My central locking, non remote type, has gone scitzo! When I turn the key clockwise, to unlock, the doors all unlock and then immediately lock again. On a second attempt they either do the same, force my hand back to the vertical position, or leave the tailgate and rear doors locked. When locking the first attempt locks the doors but takes 2 further attempts to get the dead locks to work. I've had the doors cards off and all appears well inside, no water or corrosion, I've even left the battery disconnected for 20 mins in the hope it would re-set, but to no avail.

Any ideas please? Anyone near Witney, Oxfordshire got VAG-COM and would be willing to plug in for me, beer vouchers available of course.

Thanks in advance.

Boomer

[mooragerx7]

iv got a smiliar problem with my 1.9 glx tdi 1998 (non remote locking) the front two doors wont unlock unless you use the key in them (i am able to unlock the back doors from the boot) and the back two sumtimes wont lock and they were taken to a garage just before i bought the car to be fixed at that stage it had 76k on it it was working fine till start of august when it had 106k now the fronts dont work. My mate is going to have a look at the door acuators for me in the next week so ill let you know how i get on

Michael

[BOOMER]

Thanks for your reply, I'll look forward to the outcome.

To add to the saga I had to get up at 03:20 this morning and disconnect the battery as the door locks were all cycling on their own! Also the journey in to work this morning was frequently interupted by the front passenger door locking and unlocking by itself.

My gut feeling is that water has got in somewhere, where and how is the issue.

[KenONeill]

These sorts of problems are frequently associated with the driver's door loom or the convenience ECU.

Do other door related functions like courtesy light, electric windows and mirrors, lights on buzzer, anti-hijack and rear door/window isolator work correctly?

[justinbarrow]

Im the same here, Bloody electrics:mad: sometimes the windows wont wind down 2 doors at the front wont lock and then when they do open by themselves in the night so when you come to it in the morning 1 or 2 doors are open.

I have no water ingress but it is very common (i think its the only major problem that these cars have as they get old)

Keep us updated, If it turns out to be your ECU it may be expensive.

Good luck

[mooragerx7]

These sorts of problems are frequently associated with the driver's door loom or the convenience ECU.

Do other door related functions like courtesy light, electric windows and mirrors, lights on buzzer, anti-hijack and rear door/window isolator work correctly?

i know all other functions courtesy light, electric windows and mirrors, lights on buzzer, anti-hijack and rear door/window isolator work correctly on my car but sumtimes the driverside window dont work properly but its been like that ever since i bought the car

by anti-hijack do you mean the lock/unlock botton on the driverside door? if so this only works on the back door and the boot.

cheers Michael

[KenONeill]

i know all other functions courtesy light, electric windows and mirrors, lights on buzzer, anti-hijack and rear door/window isolator work correctly on my car but sumtimes the driverside window dont work properly but its been like that ever since i bought the car

by anti-hijack do you mean the lock/unlock botton on the driverside door? if so this only works on the back door and the boot.

cheers Michael

Yes, but the lock/unlock button works on all dorrs on my car. Of course, this may be configurable with VAGCom?

In your case, I think the symptoms point at the driver's door central locking gubbins, since the loom or ECU failures would normally cause issues with one or more of the other driver's door controls and/or functions.

[BOOMER]

For info another update

Since the locks went scitzo 2 days ago they have now returned to normal, or what was normal before. They still don't do the deadlocks on first key turn but then they never did. The anti-hijack lock locks all the doors as it should but then immediately releases the front passenger door.

My guess is that water has got in to the system somewhere, although it all appears to be dry in the doors, and since it hasn't rained for the last two days has dried out. I may well take the cards off again and splash some WD40 around just in case.

Where do I find the ECU/Controller for the locks etc? Is it in the drivers door or behind the dash somewhere?

Thanks for your input everybody, much appreciated.

Boomer

[mbames]

The passenger door anti-hijack issue may be due to a dry joint for one of the microswitches in the lock mechanism.