Hi folks.

I've got a problem with my 2002 TDi Elegance Octavia.

My central locking for the rear-right door is not working. Nor can I open the door form the inside (when I pull the internal handle the pillar rises, then drops again upon release), so I reckon it is staying deadlocked. The rest of the doors work fine, as does the boot, so I am leaning towards a problem with the localised systems in the door. I have checked the door loom for damage or corrosion and can't see any. Thankfully the child lock is off.

Now, the lock was making a few strange grinding noises every now and again my wife tells me (she uses the car for work, so has more exposure) for a week or so before it stopped working. Then it started again for a few days, then stopped again. The "grinding" noise makes me wonder if the motor is faulty, but then I'd expect to be able to open the door manually.

I tried using the wiring diagram in my Haynes manual to chase the electrical circuit around (I used to fix tank turret electrics for a living, so I am reasonably handy with a multimeter) but the diagram in the Haynes manual is no use to me in that regard. I did prove good the door supplies (both at a steady 11.8V) and found that the purple wire on the door loom (testing from inside the car) sits at a steady 11.8V and pulses down to 5-6V when I operate the central locking switch (I haven't stripped the other side pillar cards down to confirm that it operates the same way).

As I currently stand I have the battery cable disconnected and I am going back to check if the door opens every now and again. If this doesn't work then I'll do a comparison with the way the left side rear central locking works electrically to see if I can spot a difference.

My questions are three-fold:

1) Does anyone have any better wiring diagrams they can share?

2) Does anyone know if removing the battery cable for a while will allow the deadlocks to release?

3) Does anyone know if a faulty motor would prevent the deadlock from releasing even without power to sustain it driving home?

Thanks,

Shane

I should think that the lock motor has had it. Basically the dead lock is stuck on, you can either remove the interior panel and hit the lock, which will be tricky and you'll need to remove the surrounding trim to allow limited access to the perimeter screws, or (I've had a result with this in the past), get someone to operate the locks whilst you (carefully) slap the outside of the door. Once open replace the lock.

I wish it was as easy as disconnecting the battery to get the dead lock off.

This is a very poor unreliable system. The door motors seem to fail all to regularly. You can try to push down on the door lock pin (on top of the door) while operating the central locking, or pulling up on the pin while operating the central locking, don't do what i did and cut the wires to the effected door, as i now have no central locking and the fuel flap also will not open now (disaster) disconnecting the battery doesn't do anything. No idea what I am going to do with mine, an over complicated unreliable system, no good at all.