Dear all,

Hopefully somebody else has experienced this problem and can add the information missing from other similar topics.

Model: Octavia I, '53 reg, L+K trim

Recently my driver's door stopped locking when I locked the car from the key fob. This problem went away after a couple of days, so I attributed it to damp. However, about a week later, I noticed that the passenger's door had also stopped locking in the same situation. As a quick fix, I locked the door from the outside by holding down the door knob and pulling the outer handle out, while closing the door.

However, now I can't open the door. The door knob does not pop up when unlocking the car (either from the key fob or the unlock button on the driver's door). Also, if I pull the chrome release lever, the knob lifts up, but the door does not unlock (or open if it's already "unlocked"). Pulling the eternal handle at the same time does not help either. When I release the lever, the knob drops down again (actually, it is pulled down quite strongly).

I suspect that something became disconnected when I locked the door manually.

I've managed to get the door card half-off (using a combination of screwdrivers, brute force and swearing) and can now peer inside, but the lock mechanism is well hidden.

I've begun removing the door card from the driver's door so that I can learn how it works, but some pointers as to what to look for / how to reattach anything that might have popped off would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

try thumping the door card very close to the top while simultaneously getting someone else to activate the unlock function either with the remote or the switch on the door has worked for me on a few octavias

Lift the knob at the same time as operating the remote a few times - worked for me recently.

I've since dismantled the door and removed and completely dismantled the door lock assembly - to be honest I didn't find anything amiss.. with the door lock hanging out on the electrical connection you can operate the locking system and get a better idea what does or doesn't work.

When you do get into the door, remove the connectors from the lock module and door module (part of the window motor) and check for damp ingress and any corrosion on pins. I can only conclude that dismantling mine and refitting it was sufficient to clean some contacts and return to normal working.