I’m nearing the point of cracking up. For the last two years my driver’s door lock hasn’t worked off the fob and there’s no power to the wing mirror.

So far I’ve

• Changed the ccu for a second hand unit
  
• Changed the control unit in the door – second hand
  
• Had an auto electrician check the wiring – he said it was okay and there’s power to the lock
  
• Tried two different door locks – one was second hand, one at a VW dealership so brand new
  
• Wired in a totally different loom
  
• Checked the earth down in the driver’s footwell
  
• Visually checked where the door loom connects in the footwell
  

There’s no water ingress in the door control unit and all the fuses are fine. If I disconnect the door lock the red LED flashes when everything is locked. If connected, there’s no life in the LED. If it weren’t for the lack of power to the mirror, I’d assume a micro switch issue in the lock.

So, does anyone have a pointer, pearl of wisdom or stroke of genius as to what to do next? I’m aware that by buying second hand parts I may be buying faulty parts, but was assured that they worked before hand.

I would really like to have my door and mirror working again, but don’t have the money to give to Skoda to sort it.

Advice welcome

Thanks,

Have you checked behind the 'A' pillar trim?

Does the central locking work from the key in the driver's door?

No, don't think I have checked there. The locking works fine off the key in the door.

When you say behind the pillar, do you mean the plastic trim that runs from the headlining to the dash?

The piece of trim below that, that runs up from the floor

Yep, that's off at the moment, so no bonnet release either. What am I looking for then?

Behind the lower left 'A' pillar, there is the earth connector and one of the power connectors.

Behind the lower right 'A' pillar, there is the other power connector.

By right and left I assume you mean when looking at the front of the car? I've cleaned up the earth connector tonight and done a visual check on the power connector, both in the driver's footwell. I'll have to wait 'till tomorrow to look at the passenger side. Can the passenger side connector affect the drivers door then?

No. Right and left is when you are sitting in the car facing forward.

Okay, so there's something to check in the passenger footwell too then. Thanks so far, I'm okay with oily bits on the whole, it's just electrics that a bit like voodoo to me.

My friend had an issue recently with his windows not working properly. He trailed the same route you did. Ended up being that there was a wire getting in the door hinge, sometimes shorting the system.

Thanks for that. I think that I may need to enlist the help of another electrician. The bloke that came to me was a bit vague as he said he never has to work on Skodas because thay are so reliable. In all his years he reckoned he'd only worked on one other Octavia and that it was probably a case of plugging the car in and resetting the system. I tried to tell him that this was quite a common issue, but it fell on deaf ears.

Which wire was it that cause the problems in your girlfriends car then?

What year is it?

Power windows front and rear?

If you scan the CCU [46], are all the door controllers listed?

Thanks for that. I think that I may need to enlist the help of another electrician. The bloke that came to me was a bit vague as he said he never has to work on Skodas because thay are so reliable. In all his years he reckoned he'd only worked on one other Octavia and that it was probably a case of plugging the car in and resetting the system. I tried to tell him that this was quite a common issue, but it fell on deaf ears.

Which wire was it that cause the problems in your girlfriends car then?

So, was he flown out to you from the skoda factory to tell you that?!

Hope you find the problem, I can well imagine after 2 years it would have me solving it with a gallon diesel distributed evenly throughout the car... followed by a lit match carefully positioned on the wiring loom of the driver's door....

I'll be watching this thread as my sister has had exactly the same problem with her Seat Leon for the past 3 years (remote central locking not working) although it doesn't have electric mirrors. It went to and fro to the local garage about three times and they replaced a few bits which didn't make a difference, new batteries in the fob and checked all the wiring, eventually they started talking about replacing the CCU at which point I told her it would be cheaper to just live with it so she's had to open the drivers door manually then unlock the other doors from inside. Not great as she's a child minder.

p.s. when you press the remote to unlock is it not unlocking any of the doors or just not unlocking the drivers door?

If it's not unlocking ANY of the doors then try re-coding the key. There's instructions on here somewhere. Not that that has helped in our case with the Leon :(

What year is it?

Power windows front and rear?

If you scan the CCU [46], are all the door controllers listed?

Its registered as of March 2006. However, when faffing around in various places behind different buts of trim I keep finding stickers and date stamps which suggest mid 2005 for manufacture.

It does have the power windows front and rear, but I haven't had it plugged in for a while now. I'm waiting to have that done, there are a couple of people in the area who have the facility, so it's a matter of waiting.

p.s. when you press the remote to unlock is it not unlocking any of the doors or just not unlocking the drivers door?

If it's not unlocking ANY of the doors then try re-coding the key. There's instructions on here somewhere. Not that that has helped in our case with the Leon :(

Three of the doors open off the fob, just not the driver's door. I have lived with it for a while now and am used to blipping the fob and then opening the drivers door with the key. I guess I could live with it for another two years, but I really am fed up with it. I know it's not a major issue comapred to some people in the world who have more to worry about than this, but it's still annoying. It's a good job the Missus doesn't need to move the mirrors when she drives, or we'd have had to sort it sooner I guess.

p.s. If your sister sorts hers, let me know!

mac11irl, it has tested my patience and I have considered the petrol option occasionally. Trouble is, I love the car too much to burn it.

For cars with CCU for electric windows front/rear

Each door has only 5 connections to operate the central locking/windows...

Power (30al) - Red/Yellow - via F38 - connection behind lower 'A' pillar trim

Power (30a) - Red/Brown - via F37 - connection behind lower 'A' pillar trim

Earth - Brown - connection behind lower 'A' pillar trim

CAN-Bus - yellow & black - changes to correct colours behind dash (lilac/white & lilac)

With ignition on...

If lock/unlock (key or armrest button) works for other doors then CAN-Bus is OK.

If window operates at normal speed then the earth is good and Power (30al) is good.

Measure the the voltage at Power (30a) at the window motor connector whilst applying a 5W load. If voltage is good then fault is in the door.

This is brilliant advice. I just need to find someone to have a look with me who has both some relevant testing gadgets and some knowledge on electrics. Thanks so far as it's all good advice and nice to know some people are more clued up than the so called pros round here.

Thanks for that. I think that I may need to enlist the help of another electrician. The bloke that came to me was a bit vague as he said he never has to work on Skodas because thay are so reliable. In all his years he reckoned he'd only worked on one other Octavia and that it was probably a case of plugging the car in and resetting the system. I tried to tell him that this was quite a common issue, but it fell on deaf ears.

Which wire was it that cause the problems in your girlfriends car then?

He may be a bit poofy but Ross isn't my girlfriend haha!

Don't know which one it was, but it was shorting the circuit and causing the windows to stop working or causing the buttons to switch sides. so O/S was N/S and vice versa.

He may be a bit poofy but Ross isn't my girlfriend haha!

Don't know which one it was, but it was shorting the circuit and causing the windows to stop working or causing the buttons to switch sides. so O/S was N/S and vice versa.

Doh! Sorry about that. That'll teach me to read things properly in future.