Hello,

I recently bought a 1998 Octavia which drains battery, around 300mA with the key out of the ignition, the current goes into the thick red cable in the battery fuse box ( main interior according to workshop manual )

After alot of fault searching, removing all fuses and relays to no avail, I finally removed the connector to the driver side door ( Connector station pillar A ) and voilà the current dropped to 7mA!

So I have now stripped down the driver side door but I cannot find any problem there, there is no water inside the door, the lock unit seems to work as the interior light in the car is functioning properly. I have disconnected the speakers and heated rear view mirror but that did not help either.

If I remove the large connector to the "central lock unit" ( the thing attached to the powerwindows motor ) the current goes down, but I guess thats about the same as removing the pillar A contact.

Everything in the door works except for the lock cylinder which is broken, could that effect something? Could a broken lock cylinder perhaps prevent the car from going into "sleep" mode?

Any help or ideas would be great, I'm stuck!

BR

/Markus

The control unit attached to the window motor controls the following

Window motor

Door lock motor

Wing mirror heater

Flashing LED

Interior Light logic

Central locking logic

If the lock cylinder is broken the key must be turned back to the vertical after locking, otherwise one of the door lock microswitches is activated.

If this doesn't fix it, then you should look at the microswitches in the door lock. They are often badly soldered and the microswitches often go bad. Do a search and you will find more info.

Finally, don't be surprised if the module is going bad as this is a common fault. Bad news is that the control module is part of the window motor and is not available separately.

Thanks!

I'll start with replacing the destroyed lock cylinder, Am I correct in thinking that a Golf IV 98-03 lock cylinder would fit the Skoda Octavia? ( they only had Golf cylinders on my local junkyard )

/Markus

You will need an M4 spline drive (also known as 4mm triplesquare) tool to get the lock out. To get the lock barrel out, pull on the door handle, loosen the lock bolt with the M4 tool and pull. Only loosen the lock bolt just enough to get the barrel out. If you loosen it too much the bolt will fall out and it is very difficult to recover and put back.

AFAIK the Mk. IV barrel is the same, but I suggest you compare one to your barrel to check both the dimensions and the throw.

Last time I had to replace a barrel, it wasn't too expensive to get one from a dealer that matched the key. If you don't get a matched lock and have a passenger side lock it is worth swapping it over to the driver side. It is a real PITA to have a door key that is different from the ignition key.

If you need to remove the door lock, you will need an M8 spline drive bit.

I have actually already tried to swap side's ( move the passanger side good lock over ) but I failed, could not get the passenger side cylinder to fit into the driver side and I did not want to apply any force ( which would leave me with 0 working locks.. ).

I will check with the dealer and see how much the dealer wants for a new matched cylinder.

Thanks again.

/Markus

Edited 15 February, 201016 yr by Markus78

Fixing the lock cylinder seems to have fixed the current leak! I order a lock repair kit from ebay and fixed the driver side cylinder with it and now the car goes into sleep mode as it should!

BR

/Markus