Hi,

Longtime lurker on this very useful forum.

I have two MK1 Octavia Estates in the family, both of which are having central locking problems. :(

The newer one is intermittent and I can still unlock and open all the doors, occasionally having one of the rear doors stay locked.

The older one has the passenger side rear door locked permanently, whilst I don't mind this (it gets used as a van with the rear seats down permanently!!)I am told that its an MOT failure.

I am guessing that its the water ingress problem:

- I guess I should be getting the rear door card off and looking at the windows motor connector?

- Given that the door is locked and can't be opened via the interior handle, is there another way of opening it?

Any help gratefully received!!

Many Thanks - Paul

Have a look through at my thread in this forum - I had similar symptoms with my NSF door and it was the spade connectors on the motor that caused the problem. Lots of fiddling dismantling the first time around, but much easier after. The other possibly cause (other than water ingress to the electrics in the driver door) is dry solder joints, again inside the locking mechanism. These too can be inspected at the same time if you dismantle the door.

There is a way to get to the inside of the door when it's locked closed, but it's a long and messy job involving removing a fair bit of interior trim I think! I'd get a friend to repeatedly hit 'unlock' and slap the door near the locking mechanism to try and get it to make a brief contact before setting about dismantling. There is a thread somewhere on here on how to get the door dismantled when closed.

In a rush so haven't got time to find the links now, I'll do so tomorrow if you've not found them yourself by then.

Good luck.

Have a look through at my thread in this forum - I had similar symptoms with my NSF door and it was the spade connectors on the motor that caused the problem. Lots of fiddling dismantling the first time around, but much easier after. The other possibly cause (other than water ingress to the electrics in the driver door) is dry solder joints, again inside the locking mechanism. These too can be inspected at the same time if you dismantle the door.

There is a way to get to the inside of the door when it's locked closed, but it's a long and messy job involving removing a fair bit of interior trim I think! I'd get a friend to repeatedly hit 'unlock' and slap the door near the locking mechanism to try and get it to make a brief contact before setting about dismantling. There is a thread somewhere on here on how to get the door dismantled when closed.

In a rush so haven't got time to find the links now, I'll do so tomorrow if you've not found them yourself by then.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply Rob, much appreciated - will be trying this weekend !!

Thanks for the reply Rob, much appreciated - will be trying this weekend !!

Well, finally got around to doing it, got the door trim off with a reasonable amount of violence.

I have checked the connectors, both the large connector on the bottom of the windows motor and the connector on the lock and they are fine - no corrosion and completely dry.

So next suspect is the lock, there is no sound coming from the solenoid - is there away of checking the feed to the lock? should I be looking for a +12v across the pins or is it someone more subtle like CAN

Many thanks...

Edited to add - forum search is my friend. Looks like it might be smashing the lock off :(

Edited 3 December, 201114 yr by BogBeast

Try soaking the lock and any openings in it that you can find with WD40 then try hitting the handle on the outside while pressing the unlock button on your remote. If the lock motor is not too far gone it may open for you.

Mine is working again having had a good dose of WD, but I have bought a new one, just not got around to fitting it.

Hi mate, when i bought my MK1 estate the drivers didn't lock off the remote and there was no obvious noise or sign that the lock motor was even trying to work.

First check was on the wiring loom that goes into the door encased in the rubber boot. When i exposed the wires one had broken so i just re-soldered and heat shrinked job done all has been working fine since, may worth a check before taking a hammer to it

steve

IGNORE THIS- not read OP properly!!!

Edited 3 December, 201114 yr by steveo82

Thanks to for all advice.

Repeatedly unlocking and re-locking and it was clear solenoid was not operating (no clicking, no vibration, no nothing)

Tapping the solenoid repeatedly with a pin hammer and getting my other half repeatedly unlocking and re-locking using the console button

resulted in a grinding noise and eventually it freed up enough to pop.

I will see if I can strip it down and give it a clean and oil, else its a new one.

I checked the door loom where it crossed from the pillar through the boot and it was fine. connector got a load a contact spray and the boot and wire got a good spray of silicon just in case.

My ns passenger door went into unlocking mode a couple of months back, I guessed one of my daughters sweets had melted & glued the important bits within the door. I invested in a can of Wilko Easing spray oil (WD40 to those with the cash) and one spray later - sorted.