Decided that the VRS had been sat on my parents driveway for long enough that it deserved a bit of attention. So I went armed with the Touran a good set of jumpleads and a can of diesel (just to make sure I had enough!) the car has actually been sat for about 8 weeks and had an idea that the battery was on its way out. Got there and the car unlocked without a problem (other than the d/s rear door which seems to have a wiring / lock problem) I cleared the car of snow, put de-icer on the windows and got ready to get in and give it a try - I pulled on the door handle and the door opened with a creak - but then the door wouldnt close and latch - the lock mech seems to move over the striker but wont take hold - so now my drivers side door wont shut and the car wont start - so jumped it off the Touran - it ran rough, but seemed fine - then as soon as the jump leads were taken off the car died.

i stripped the drivers door off its card and unbolted the carrier, but couldnt get into the lock to see what has happened - took the battery off and replaced it with the Touran one so I could drive it 3 miles in the snow to the lockup - tied the door shut with clothes line - removed the battery and walked 3 miles back carrying the battery in the snow to get it back into the Touran.

I'm so bloody annoyed i could easily sell the car as it annoyed me that much!

Has this happened to anyone else??

Edited 21 December, 201015 yr by Polo6n1600i

What a p*** take! To be fair its just the weather taking its affect on your car, any car parked up for a little while in this weather will suffer the usual cold symptoms.

• Flat Battery
  
• Frozen Engine
  
• Frozen doors and windows
  

If it had a strong battery and fairly good working glow plugs I cant see it causing any problems.

All cars have had the cold this winter just some worse than others. Be patient, some boiling hot water should free up the lock mechanisam.

I hope you left the interior map lights off because if the car doors are open the lights will be open draining your battery dead.

I would suggest that the lock is more than likely suffering form being frozen.

They normally freeze shut though, not freeze open once opened. Central locking problems are also common when things frozen.

Edited 21 December, 201015 yr by anewman

I'll give you 1K for it!!

There you go, sell it and buy mine, no such issues

No doubt a Touran would perform the same in these conditions after being idle for 8 weeks, I would give you £1,200 if pressed.

DB.

Edited 21 December, 201015 yr by mogwye

im not actually putting it up for sale. The thing just ****ed me off so much. Oh well - good job i just got a little loan to help things out with the 3 cars! £3000 will sort them out!

... if the car doors are open the lights will be open draining your battery dead.

Correction - they turn off automatically - from the manual:

The interior lighting is switched off after about 30 minutes when a door has been left open in order to avoid discharging the battery of the vehicle

The doors are tied closed and i took the battery off and walked 3 miles back to the Touran carrying it!

I like many others in the thread think you're being unfair to the car. I don't know what you expected really after leaving it for that long in this cold, with a (more than likely) 7 year old battery.

I did expect the battery to be flat - hence the reason for the huge heavy duty set of jump leads that i took with me. The 1 thing that really annoyed was the door jammed open! I'm trying to find out if this kind of thing has happened to anyone else? is there maybe a spring that has broken or am i looking at a new door lock mech??

To return to the subject line - if you haven't used it for 8 weeks, why do you need it in the first place? :no: :yes: (I'm expecting you to blame the weather by the way...)

Edited 22 December, 201015 yr by DRJ

I did go to the car armed with tools to get the car started - the door lock annoyed me! And now that i've slept on it and the car is secure its not all bad. At least its under cover now. I'm going to put a heater inside the car to try and dry it out a bit - i'll also get the rear door carriers sealed - as that is why there is so much moisture / ice in the car in the first place!!

Now i've calmed down i know it will be an easy enough fix no matter what the problem is - it was just a heat of the moment comment! I know the car hasnt done anything wrong and will be treating it to a new Bosch Silver S5 battery as its christmas present!

To return to the subject line - if you haven't used it for 8 weeks, why do you need it in the first place? :no: :yes: (I'm expecting you to blame the weather by the way...)

Its been sat for 8 weeks and i knew it would need a little bit of TLC to get it running - the kids were at school - wife at work and I had a morning to myself before work so I thought i'd atleast try and get the thing started and get the heaters running in it to make sure the bad weather hadnt affected it too much. I did get it started, but as soon as the jump leads came off the car stalled.

We have had alot of snow here in that time and i was sure it would have affected it somehow - just didnt expect the door lock to be the thing! I was actually looking forward to getting back into it as its more fun to drive than my bus!

My old Citreon ZX used to have the same problem with the doors when it was cold, it was like the catch would stick open. Once the car warmed up it would close fine but it was a pain. Try a bit of deicer into the catch.

Can understand the frustration, but at least it's tucked up now. Could it not have been taken there before the cold snap, and hopefully avoiding all these issues? (playing Devil's Advocate)

Get the bits sorted that need attention and I'm sure all will be fine :yes:

Steve

...The 1 thing that really annoyed was the door jammed open! I'm trying to find out if this kind of thing has happened to anyone else? is there maybe a spring that has broken or am i looking at a new door lock mech??

I've had this on our last Audi A6 - in very cold weather the door would open OK but wouldn't close again. To solve it we sprayed the mech liberally with WD40 and used a stout screwdriver to mimic the striker plate on the door jamb and worked it in a few times. It was OK after that. I think that some damp had got into the mech and frozen, and that the WD40 displaced teh damp as well as lubricated the mech.

I know the car hasnt done anything wrong and will be treating it to a new Bosch Silver S5 battery as its christmas present!

Awwwww.. See, you still love it really!

yeah if i was you i would sell it,

break it up and sell the bits

why 8 week mate?

I feel your pain!

my drivers door freezes every nigth now without fail, opens fine just doesnt seem to catch again when u pull it closed....tryed everything pouring boiling water,de icer round it still doesnt wana stay closed.

Only way it closes if u drive about to get the heat up inside, and really swing on it to close it.... now resorted to opening the back door and climbing threw every morning!

tho you could always smash the window outta it and go Dukes of Hazard style

There has been another car in the lockup for the last 10 weeks - which is why it hasnt been in there (otherwise it would have been! Serves me right for owning so many cars!)

If you put a screwdriver agains the lock mech then the lock moves and clicks into place, but then springs open again instantly. It may not be frozen open - it may actually be knackered. New battery going on on Sunday - get it started and upto temp. If it heats up it may fix itself - if not then the lock will get replaced

New battery fitted this afternoon - car started quickly - rough for a few seconds and then fine - left it to run for 40 minutes - drivers door now shuts! Just need to rebuild the drivers side door (doorcard etc) but I think i'm going to upgrade my door speakers while they are apart, plus get all 4 door carriers sealed while i'm at it! Going to buy myself a SeatSport intercooler and Forge pipework kit after newyear!

Fancy ignoring your Furby for 8 weeks, serves you right. I wouldn't like to be left out in the cold for that long. Now go gives it some love.