Happy New Year to you all! Haven't been on here for ages, mainly because the car's been faultless and I've stopped arsing about with the audio

 

Anyway, recently the red LED on top of the driver's door has decided to stay always on (annoying driving in the dark), and now when I switch the engine off, the right rear window goes down and it'll only go back up using the rear-door switch!

 

So after a search here I found there's water in the rubber bellow that feeds cabling out to the driver's door. Eptying it has helped but not always, so I think some water has found it's way into the wiring elsewhere.

 

I changed the window switch panel in the door for a spare I had, that made no difference.

 

I think maybe a broken wire is allowing the wetness to cause the issues, or it's soaked a connector somewhere down the line. Does that sound logical?

 

So if that's a reasonable approach (tell me if it's not), what's the logical order to start searching from the door gap? Should I take the inner door seal off and look in there? I don't want to break that seal if I can help it. Or is more likely to be somewhere in the car itself?

 

I have little idea about electics so I'll really just be looking for obviously wet / broken cables. Any tips of the best order to attack it would be helpful before I spend the weekend digging :'(.

I would start by finding out how the water is getting in to the door in the first place, are the door drain holes blocked at the bottom of the door?.

The fault could well be corrosion across the main door control unit connector, but unless you stop the water getting in, the fault will keep coming back.

Has the door filled up enough to pass water through the door shut trunking and down to the connector block in the drivers a post/ footwell area?.

I think it's just getting in where that rubber boot meets the door, the plastic receiver is a bit loose in the door so 1st job is to silicone-adhesive that back in place. I'm assuming it's just the vast amounts of rainwater passing through the door-jamb at the moment, I don't have any puddles in the cabin so I think the drain tubes are working OK.

 

I haven't looked for water filling the door, I'll check the drain holes and clean any I can see. Are they just cut-out slots in the base of the door?

 

If there's a connector in the a-pillar / footwell area I guess that's my next port of call, seems that's where water caught in the rubber boot would spill

 

Thanks for the help. I'm keen to do the job myself so I can learn something, but I don't want to just start randomly taking stuff apart. That would lead to me getting fed up and dropping it at the garage with half the interior panels on the back seat! :p 

 

The wife's car is having gearbox issues right now, so I also need to kill some gremilns without a big invoice :yes:

Unless the gaiter is split in the door shut, to fill the door enough to breach the gaiter level would take about a gallon of water, so I doubt the door is filling right up, but if the drain holes are blocked then it could be filling enough to submerge the main connector to the drivers door control unit.

 

In answer to your question, yes, there are a number of holes between the door skin and frame at the base of each door, I tend to use a medium plasitic zip tie to clear them as they are long, flat and do little paint damage if any at all when used.

 

Unfortunately, the connector pins on these units are not what you would call robust once they get corrosion in amongst them. Then tend to break off and short out causing all sorts of problems to both the control unit and the loom to the door itself in extreme cases.

 

I would pop the door card and CAREFULLY peel back enough of the inner liner without splitting it to have a look inside. If all is as it should be, then a VCDS scan may be needed for more info on what modules are or aren't communicating with each other.

 

There is a connector in the a pillar area by the bonnet release panel, but be careful how you seperate any wiring to check them as these connectors are moulded to the main loom and are not so easily repaired if broken in error, whereas the door looms replace as a section just to that door only.

 

Hope it helps

The door controller for all the doors and windows is located within the drivers door IIRC, if water has been getting in the entire ECU could be damaged.

If you check out this thread, on post #22 there is a picture which shows quite well what to look for.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/222541-central-locking-problem-help-needed/?hl=+drivers%20+door%20+control%20+unit

Many thanks for those extra links and info, I may be looking further into the door next time I'm home in daylight / dry weather depending on your opinions of what I've found since:

 

I had a dig around on Friday and discovered no signs of water / wetness inside the door (drain holes are wide open), nor inside the cabin near the door. Looks like water in the rubber gaiter may have been a leading me the wrong way. Or not, nothing is conclusive yet...

 

While I was removing the trim around the pedals I decided to do a little tidying of the cabling around a crossover that sits under the steering wheel. When I picked that up I started getting all 4 windows and the central locking going crazy. Following the cabling with my hand behind the dashboard seemed to affect it more. So my new theory is that I have a loose connector or damaged cable somewhere back there.

 

The audio system itself operates and sounds perfect, so I don't think my speaker / power wiring itself is dodgy. I completely removed the head unit and it's the same with that out. I checked all the connections as I reinstalled it too, nothing untoward there that I can actually see.

 

It was getting dark by then so I had to re-assemble everything. Right now the only signs of weirdness are:

 

      Red LED by the drivers door lock still always on

 

      The rear windows go down with the main switch panel but only go up from the rear

 

      Switch off the engine and something behind the glovebox or in the passenger door goes click,click,click,click,click.

 

 

All the windows stay up anyway, which is the least I was hoping to achieve.

 

 

With all that in mind, should I venture back into the door to check the connector mentioned in the link? Could it cause what I'm seeing?

 

Many thanks for your continued help :clap:

And check for broken wires inside the rubber gaiter to the drivers door. Not unknown and you may have been wiggling these from under the dash.

OK, I"ll do that. Now I have specific things to look for I can spend time narrowing it down.

 

I'll check that door connector first, if its shot I'll just point my spanner-man straight at it. No good me messing about with it, but I do what I can.

 

If the connector isn't visibly shot I'll try to isolate what cabling movements are causing issues. Fingers crossed I don't get sparks!

If you get a chance, post a picture of the wiring around the crossover. Did you fit the crossovers or were they already installed by a previous owner?.

 

If you installed them, where did yick up power and earth for them?.

 

With a few pictures, we may be able to assist you much better.

 

Hope it helps

 

Phil.

Cheers Phil, the crossovers aren't powered, just speaker cable in and out.

 

I extended the ISO lead out of the head unit with decent speaker cable, to bypass the car's standard speaker wiring. I tried soldering but ended up using in-line screw connectors wrapped in insulating tape. I pulled each one and they're still firmly attached both at the head unit and crossover ends.

 

The front crossovers sit one under the steering wheel and one behind the glovebox. With the music still sounding good I don't suspect my own wiring (which might be terribly short-sighted), of course it's possible I affected the car's wiring while I was arsing about with it.

 

I did once have a pair of amps and a sub too, but I got fed up with drivig along adjusting it. Now it's just a head unit feeding a component set in each corner.

 

It's looking like another Friday afternoon messing about with the car. I should clear out my garage and do it inside, but given the half-dozen bikes and a treadmill I need a dry day to do that too!

 

I'll report back on the door internals soon as I get in there!

With all the connectors that have been wet, I trust you have given them a good blast with wd40 and/or electrical contact cleaner to drive out all the excess moisture?

With all the connectors that have been wet, I trust you have given them a good blast with wd40 and/or electrical contact cleaner to drive out all the excess moisture?

 

That's a very good call, and when they are clean and dry, reassemble them with some non conductive grease (available in places like maplin)- to try to stop it re-occuring.

I'll order some of that contact cleaner & non-conductive grease so I've got it handy.

 

I haven't actually found any wet connectors yet, the water in the rubber boot looks like it'd run harmlessly out through the base of the door. I know it needs to be kept out, so I've applied some silicone grease around the boot to help stop any more getting in. I'll make a better seal once I'm confident the issue is fixed.

 

Next step is look at the suspect connector in the door. If I find missing / broken connections that I can't fix myself (very likely), what functions won't work if I leave it unplugged? Will I just be manually unlocking and lose the electric windows?

 

It's the one mentioned is this rather excellent post: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/222541-central-locking-problem-help-needed/?hl=+drivers%20+door%20+control%20+unit

As it appears that you have almost ruled out water as a cause, the next stage would be a continuity check on the door loom wiring with a multimeter.

 

I would gradually trace the wiring continuity back in stages until you get lucky with a break.

 

If that renders little results then a vcds scan might help, but don't forget, if the loom has continuity problems, then that will skew the results of the scan.

 

Once you locate where the problem exists, there are loads of guys breaking octys on here so you may source a good used part from one of them.

 

I will be honest and say I am unsure what effect will happen if you leave the door loom disconnected, but I would assume that the anti theft/immo system looks for an unlock signal from the door to let the car start, but perhaps someone with better knowledge in that area could advise you better on here than me.

 

Hope it helps,

 

Phil

Cheers Phil, I'll get exploring soon and see what I can see. When I pull that plug I'll soon see what stops working!

 

Also, "continuity check on the door loom wiring with a multimeter". Errrr yeah sure, I recognise some of those words...

 

I'm more of a practical theory man rather than actually being able fix stuff. I'll just be narrowing it down as far as possible before handing it to my spanner-man! He's extremely good but likes to be given direction.

 

 

Also, "continuity check on the door loom wiring with a multimeter". Errrr yeah sure, I recognise some of those words...

 

 

I like that , seriously though, you are getting into fairly complex diagnosis with an electrical multimeter territory now, so it may be wise to show him our suggestions, point him at the car and let him do his stuff.

 

Feel free to ask if you have need of more info.

 

Phil

Gave the car to my spanner-man today along with guidance to the door control unit and it's possibly being corroded. He found exactly that and sent this piccy:

All the pins were intact so he cleaned and reassembled it, nearly everything is working now!

The switches now control the correct windows instead of random ones and they stay up when I switch the engine off too, so that's all good....

What's not working is that locking / unlocking the car with the remote affects all but the driver's door. Likewise the door-lock switch inside the car does nothing to the driver's door. It was working this morning.

To lock and unlock the car I now have to put the key in the door like some kind of animal :0

Anyway, the red LED light by the door lock isn't shining either, where it was either always-on or working properly before.

So this might be connected to the door control unit issue, searching here it sounds like a dodgy connection somewhere. Disconnecting the DCU doesn't seem to affect the action of the the door locks one bit, so I'm tempted to suggest it's a different issue.

One question: Does no LED on the drivers door mean the immobiliser is non-functional?

Next, do I just need a replacement door control panel or is it Auto-Electrician time?

The spanner-man is having it back next week to do the auxiliary air pump and a gearbox oil change (other stuff I'm not getting around to), so it be great to finish the week with everything done!

Many thanks for taking the time to read, even more if you're able to help!

Looking at that piccy, I would be tempted to think that the unit itself in the door does not look at all well and may be the cause. Is he still getting voltage passthrough on the affected pin connections on the unit?.

 

It may be that the unit was on it's last legs, and disturbing it has pushed it over the edge. best way to be certain now that the connection has been cleaned and remade is a vcds scan and see what codes return to guide him better. Shame you are so far away as I would have scanned it for you.

 

Bowders on here has had issues with door microswitches before, so he may be better informed as to how they manifest themselves.

 

Still, it is starting to head in the right direction, so chin up and keep plugging

Cheers for that, all he had time for today was the quick clean. He hadn't even tested it when I arrived and took the keys back! He has got diagnostic stuff so we'll get it scanned and go from there.

Might as well start a new thread requesting some non-FUBAR parts. Be good to have spares to use on the day, he can decide whether to repair or replace.

Thanks again, I'd be clueless on my own. I'm just happy the windows stay up right now!

Find out what you need -  if anything then get back on here. There are several members breaking cars on here at the moment, and their prices are VASTLY cheaper than main agent prices. Unless you really want a new part, a known good used part is a good plan.

 

A spare door loom and control unit is never a bad thing to hold as spare on these cars, as is a door lock mechanism or two if you get a good price deal.

Took a step backwards today, found this in the DCU plug...

 

Send Oet a pm, he may have one to help you, I've bought many things from him and his stuff is good quality used. Or if you wish, try one of the others in the for sale section - Devonutopia is breaking a vrs, but I think he's sold his driver door complete, but I may be wrong.

 

If I were you, I would renew the door loom too, but it is your call really.

 

Hope it helps

 

Phil

Took a step backwards today, found this in the DCU plug...

 

 

I see that as a step forwards as you have a solid reason for something not working. Maybe you can bend the pin back and all is well.

 

There is endless threads on the issues with doors as these cars are getting older and to get the exact problem diagnosed is not always easy as although a lot of symptoms are common they don't always manifest in the same order

 

let us know when you have that fixed as that could well be the cause of the issue 

 

By the way "Checking for continuity" means checking to see if there is an electrical connection between two points. If a wire has come loose or something between the two points, then we say there is no continuity or there is an "open circuit" -- there is no electrical connection.

just as an aside, when you get the next unit, I would use an non conductive grease in the plug when it is reassemled, for several reasons -

 

1 - It seals out moisture so will give you an extra layer of protection which may stop it from happening so quickly in future.

 

2 - It assists in helping the plug to go on easier, so the chances of bent and broken pins are reduced as everything moves easier.

 

3 - If you do need to dis-assemble it again later on, it will come apart with less protesting, as the corrosion should be reduced or even eliminated.

 

I use this - http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/servisol-multi-purpose-silicone-grease-50g-tube-re90x , but there are other products that do the same thing out there too. This just my personal opinion/experience, which has been gained over the years, but I really hate tracing down wiring faults due to corrosion, so when  I find one I tend to try to keep it gone for good,

 

You;re getting there now, hope it helps

 

Phil.