Hi there, for a long time my rear drivers side door has been locked and will not unlock.

I have taken the card off from inside but I still cannot open the door.

What I need to know is will this prevent my car from passing its mot next week?

I had exactly the same problem with mine at my MOT back in 2010 and it passed, I did query it with them first and they said only the front doors have to be openable from the inside and outside. Things might have changed in two years of course...

Mines been deadlocked for ~18 months now, MOT was in Jan and all they pulled me for was a duff foglight, I reckon you'll be fine.

Mine passed last year but I heard that the test may have changed recently.

Also I have an amber engine light on but the engine runs fine.

Cel is now a fail!

Remove bulb lol

They make sure all the bulbs come on at start up.

Looks like I have to pay for diags even though I know there is next to nothing wrong.

On the government website I can't find anything about dashboard warning lights, therefore surely they can't fail a car if they don't give notice of rule changes!

Had a read through the current MOT manual last night, it does say that both front doors have to be openable from the inside and outside and that the rear doors have to be openable from the outside. So unless it's just your interior handle thats not working, or unless you get an MOT tester that can't be bothered to open the rear doors (and they usually do to test the rear seatbelts) that's going to be a fail :(

The grey wire (pin 17) and yellow wire (pin 7) from the door controller (attached to the window motor) go to the lock motor. If you BRIEFLY connect 12v to these wires the lock will usually open.

This may make me sound like a novice but, how do you apply the 12volts? I am no good at auto electrics.

A spare car battery with two lengths of wire attached will get you your 12v supply. Caution though as although it's only 12v do not short it out on anything !

A common way of doing it is to take a lead from the lighter socket. BRIEFLY connect the two wires from the lighter socket to the lock wires. If it doesn't work one way, swap the wires over.

exactly the same on my 54 vrs. luckily on MOT it opened. I have got a new motor but as for getting the door card off from the inside without breaking anything . . . is this possible? will remove seats before to give better access but are any screws hidden / only accessible with door open?

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/112185-door-card-removal-from-deadlocked-octavia/

I got my rear door card off by removing the grab handle then the window switch and speaker surround, then if you tug on the plastic card the clips "should" come away allowing you to get the vinyl centre card out. You should now have access to the doors mechanisms.

Please let us know how it goes and how you fix the lock.

Also how much did you pay for the door motor?

exactly the same on my 54 vrs.  luckily on MOT it opened.  I have got a new motor but as for getting the door card off from the inside without breaking anything . . . is this possible? will remove seats before to give better access but are any screws hidden / only accessible with door open?

yes its possible, i did this not so long ago on another members car, its a pain tho, and i had to physically break the old motor mechanism out as it had jammed and would not undeadlock.

How did you break the motor and will the door be able to be shut with it broken?

with my hands and a lump hammer, once its broken, no, so you need a new lock mechnism to put in (assuming thats faulty)

Also on my driver door when the door is open the warning light does not come on sometimes. Just wondered if this could be related somehow. As this would mean an electrical problem not mechanical.

thats the micro switch in the door lock mechanism, that sounds like its broken its solder joints, which works sometimes and not others.

Thanks for your suggestions but I am still having problems.

I cannot get the door to unlock by using the lighter socket. Is there a way to test that there is power in the wires?

use a multimeter,live to socket, earth it on the door strap, that should work. Try to do it with ignition on, and check the fuse too.

I got my rear door card off by removing the grab handle then the window switch and speaker surround, then if you tug on the plastic card the clips "should" come away allowing you to get the vinyl centre card out. You should now have access to the doors mechanisms.

Please let us know how it goes and how you fix the lock.

Also how much did you pay for the door motor?

payed £117.98 from Skoda i think . . decided best to buy new as a 2nd hand one may also fail. Will be attempting soon so will let you know how I get on.

Had a bit of success today. The door is open, for how long I don't know.

I kept hitting the lock motor with a dead blow hammer whilst simultaneously operating the doors on the key fob, after a while the deadlock released and I was able to open the door.

I have covered the lock motor in wd40 in an effort to stop the solenoid sticking again. Don't know how long it will last though.

I have covered the lock motor in wd40 in an effort to stop the solenoid sticking again. Don't know how long it will last though.

My nearside rear door would sometimes not unlock for several weeks at a time during the winter; sometimes it would unlock using a double key press - the first took off the deadlock and the second would unlock it, accompanied by a graunching noise from the motor.

In the spring I sprayed the motor/lock assembly with much ptfe+oil lubricant and it has not failed since. The graunching noise has reduced too but not entirely gone.

I have not yet put back the 7 torq screws on the trim nor the difficult to remove handle trim just in case.

So far the lubricant is working fine.