Guys - spent a fair bit of time this evening between the PC and the car. Anyway, after taking off the internal door panel checking the state of connectors etc (all looking OK) and a long trawl of the forum to find similar symptoms, I am about to have a go at replacing the door locking mechanism.

I am going to attempt the 'take apart and see if anything needs soldering' option but am also planning on going to my local scrappies.

So . . the question . . . what other cars (model/years) should I be looking for that will have the same door locking mechanism.

Mine is: 2002 1.9TDI elegance estate

Cheers

Edited 14 January, 200917 yr by schmooser

Write down the part number off your locking module and take it with you, so you can check.

I'd check anything VAG on the mk4 platform. So Leon's, Golf's, Octy's, A3's etc.....

I'd imagine it's a common part, but I could be wrong!

You're a braver man than me. I need to try this with my sisters Seat Leon as the drivers side puddle light isn't working and the central locking only works with the key in the door, but taking apart the window winding mechanism to get the lock mechanism out put me off!

Let us know how you get on!

There is nothing to solder inside the central locking module - trust me - I took mine apart the other day hoping the same thing. Inside is a fairly compact circuit board and 4 microswitches.

Still can't figure out what is wrong with mine. If you want pics of the inside of the module, search "central locking woes"...

Thanks guys.

Jonnycatbiscuit - You'll probably find some soldered connections on the rear of the board that the microswitches are on. My research on here suggests that these are often the culprits, particularly those around where the external connector plugs on to the module. At least . . . that's what I am hoping! See here for a similar unit but showing the reverse side of the board

taligentx.com: Passat - Door Lock Mechanism Repair (piccies at the bottom on the right hand side of the page - they enlarge when you click on them for a better view)

By the way, how easy was it to get the mechanism out? Did you have to remove any of the window mechanism or did you manage to free the handle mechanism and slide it out?

if you take off the handle mech and undo the window regulator bottom mount then you can just about wiggle it out (ooo errrr!)

I bought my replacement door mech off a vrs in a scrapyard. The only gamble is you might not be able to test the door mech prior to fitting it to your car.

Well, spent the best part of the day (and several trips to mates for the right size torx bits and that annoying 8mm spline drive - courtesy of a loan from my local garage!), dismantling the inside of the door and getting the door mech out, then an hour with that in bits on the kitchen table and a bit of soldering. Put it all back together and voila everything worked like a charm. Took it for a drive and 2 mins into the drive all the doors locked on their own, internal locking button worked to unlock them and now it's misbehaving again . . . .bo&^ocks.Would any form of reset through Vagcom be in order? Been thinking about buying it and may just go ahead if that may be a solution?