Hi Gents,

 

My low mileage 2010 Fabia estate tailgate is playing silly buggers. Started the other day when I shut the boot  after putting some shopping in and it wouldn't fasten. I bumped it down a few times with no effect. Drove home with the indicator light on the dash board showing I had a door open.

 

I pulled the door trim partially off and messed about with a screwdriver on the lock. At first the lock would not close around the shaft of the screwdriver, but after pulling around on the plug that takes power to the door lock, I got some improvement. The door would now lock - most of the time. I pulled the plug out and had a look at the plug - it is clean and bright. There are no water issues from the rear washer and all is dry and brand new inside the door, The car has only done 20,000 miles. I sprayed the lock plug socket and the plug with switch cleaner and wiggled the connection in and out. 

 

The door will shut, but it is not quite right, because when I press the opening switch on the boot door, there is a rat-tat-tat-tat sound from what I expect is a solenoid in the lock. Previously, pressing that door opening switch just made a single hammering sound - one 'tat' not a whole lot of them. I think it keeps rat-tat-tatting as long as I keep the switch pressed so something is amiss there.

 

I haven't had the whole trim panel off. It seems to hang up around the rubber pull strap for pulling the door shut and so far I haven't figured out how to take it right off and anyway I have been focussed on the lock and plug in socket of the harness to the lock. Do you think that the fault is most likely with the lock / solenoid, or with the wiring harness further up by the hinge  where it is bent by the door opening and closing over time through fatigue failures in the wiring harness?

 

As I am retired - I don't want to be buying new locks and bits only to find that the failure is a broken bit of wire that I could have soldered for pennies. )

 

Thanks for any advice from those who know about this kind of fault...... It seems from googling that VAG cars have a lot of these problems.

 

Cheers 

 

Tony

To get the boot trim off, Theres a torq screw in the hole where the rubber pull handle is. The trim can then pulled out from the bottom, and up and away from the top. The repetitive tat suggests the solenoids on its way out or something stopping it from unlocking so its trying multiple times. 

Thanks MrBurdon.

 

I'll need to buy a set of torq screw bits. I have a few but they are only small ones that came in a cheap Chinese screwdriver set. Had hoped I had a tarnished plug on the lock..... 

 

Short life these solenoids have then. 20,000 miles ain't long really. The car is like new and as I said - no water issue and brand new inside the door.

 

Cheers

My car does the rat tat tat tat thing every now and then

It did it the day I got it over 2 years ago but no trouble with shutting or locking

(Touch wood!)

I have had odd behaviour from the Hatch lock on Fabias.

 

Never dismantled to fix though.

Just locked and unlocked the car with the key in the lock a couple of times and the Hatch lock was back working OK.

 

Probably no use in this case, but might work for others or worth a try.

 

george

Thanks for the info Daz and George. I tried George's trick but the rat-tat-tat business is still there. It was worth a go though. If it is like Daz's car and just does the rat tat business, but works, I can stand it. If it breaks down and won't close or won't open - that's a different matter.

 

Cheers and thanks for the helpful hints. I was wrong before when I said the rattling would continue. It doesn't it just does it a few times and then stops when  I press the opening switch.

Iirc it's a t30 torq bit you will need.

It's the mech that pops the boot if like my mk1 there is a piece of trim around the pin in the boot floor. Remove this you will now see the mech. Get a long socket extension and give the lever a bit of a tap to realign it. As in hold extension loosely in your hand as if your going to stab someone like in the psyco film and hit the lock so that the extension slips in your hand