Can I disconnect the central locking? Back doors wont unlock

[Groggy]

Hello Everyone,

 

The back doors on my Fabia have developed an annoying fault, they need a lot of encouragement to unlock! the nearside is particularly more troublesome than the offside. When you press the key fob or the switch the lock pops up (not all the way) then very quickly goes back down and the door remains locked....  After a 5 - 10 attempts they do open (although havent had the nearside open for weeks)

 

So I was wondering if I disconnect the central locks on the backs doors, could I operate them manuallly like an old car! or would this not work / cause any other problems?

 

If anyone has had a similar experience please advise, I'm also thinking maybey a good clean with some switch cleaner may help, But dont want to spend an arm and a leg on this!

 

I'm also going to fix the leaky back doors at the same time...... :p

[softscoop]

You need to replace the lock module.

 

If your car is 2003 or earlier, it will be dead easy as the carrier will unbolt.

 

Edited 27 January, 2015 by softscoop

[mannyo]

if you disconnect the central locking then the deadlocks will not work so the door will be always locked and fail the MOT as a result because it must be possible to open all doors from the outside.

[Groggy]

Thanks for the replys. the video is exactly what the offside door is doing.

 

the nearside door wont even open from inside anymore. When you pull the handle the lock goes up but the door wont open! Does anyone know how on earth i can get it open?

 

The offside door does open when you pull the handle from inside, so at least I will be able to get the door panel off to replace the locking mechanism. Any advise is very much appreciated

[SKYHAWK]

I got a lock if needed pm me cheaper than ebay

[Groggy]

Cheers PM sent.

 

Anyone have any suggestions for the stuck door?

[DanHarper]

if you disconnect the central locking then the deadlocks will not work so the door will be always locked and fail the MOT as a result because it must be possible to open all doors from the outside.

 

Surly not, what about old 5 door cars without central locking?

 

If the rear doors are disconnected from the CL its still possible to lock/unlock them from inside.

Edited 29 January, 2015 by DanHarper

[mannyo]

Surly not, what about old 5 door cars without central locking?

 

If the rear doors are disconnected from the CL its still possible to lock/unlock them from inside.

 

From the MOT testers manual

 

B.Doors

1.

Open and close the driver’s and passenger’s doors. Check that:

a.

each door latches securely in the closed position

b.

the driver’s and front passenger doors can be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle

c.

any other passenger doors can be opened from outside the vehicle.

 

Reason for rejection

 

.

a.

A driver’s or any passenger’s door does not latch securely in the closed position

b.

a driver’s or front passenger’s door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle using the relevant control in each case

c.

a passenger door cannot be opened from outside the vehicle using the relevant control.

[DanHarper]

From the MOT testers manual

 

"vehicle using the relevant control."

 

Can that include using the lever inside to unlock it before using the external handle to open?

[dylofpoke]

Surely the relevant control is the outside door handle, and this doesn't open a locked door, irrespective of central locking being installed, working or otherwise. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[fordfan]

"vehicle using the relevant control."

 

Can that include using the lever inside to unlock it before using the external handle to open?

Yes it can.  Get the back doors unlocked and disconnect the plug where it passes through the B post, you can then lock/unlock manually.  As long as they can be opened from the outside and they latch securely, they won't be a MOT problem.

[redsterman63]

Hi, I had the same problem and found a solution in this forum.  I saved the text as below - not my own work, but thanks to whoever posted it, it was excellent.

 

 Fabia I (2003) – Failed door lock on rear offside passenger door. Unable to unlock or open.

My procedure for removing door-trim-panel and the door-assembly-carrier from a locked rear passenger door frominside the car 


While fitting a new lock to the rear offside passenger door, the electrical plug on the lock shook lose when I closed and locked the door. This was my fault of course, as I now know, for not pushing the plug on the lock fully home until I heard it click. The end result was that the locked door could not be unlocked by any means, Thus I had to try and remove the door-trim-panel and the assembly-carrier from inside the car so that I could get at the lock mechanism and fix it.


I had seen a report on the forum that this trick had be done by a garage but, alas, there were no instructions. What follows is a description of how I did it in the hope that it helps someone else.


For excellent diagrams and other help please see “elemente carosarie.pdf”. The title page of this reads - “Workshop manual – Fabia 2000 ►”. This can be found at http://www.mediafire.com/?32vct1hmvx1rz . My thanks to the guy who posted this link on your forum. Also look at the Haynes Manual “Skoda Fabia 2000 to 2006”. I have refered to these two sources frequently. See the key at the end of this document for explanation of the * and ** symbols next to the numbered stages below and to which manual they refer to.


This is what I did to get the door to open;



 

1.    Open the front passangers door and slide the passenger front seat as far forward as possible.

2.    Open the working rear passanger door and get into the back of the car.

3.    * HM 11.16 – 24.7 Lift the seat squab next to the locked passenger door and unclip the wire hinge frame holding the squab to the car body. Remove the squab from car.

4.    * HM 11.16 – 24.11 & 24.12 Release the corresponding seat back and hinge it down. Release the retaining clip holding the door side of the seat back from its clip Lift free on ulatched side and slide towards side of car. Remove seat back from car.

5.    Wind the window of the locked door fully down.

6.    * HM 11.8 12.15a & 12.15b Carefully remove the small speaker assembly which is located in the inner door handle assembly. Begin prising it next to the metal pull handle, not the end next to door jamb. Remove it, and then remove the screw holding the handle to the door.skin Also unclip and remove the inner door handle and its plastic frame from the door-trim-panel. Remove the window winder.

7.    * HM 11.8 - 12.12 ,12.13,12.14 Remove the top covers from the arm rest and then remove the two screws holding it to the door skin.

8.    From inside the car grip the partially dismantled arm rest with a hand on each end of it. Sharply tug it towards you and away from the door The seven plastic fasteners should pop out their locating holes on the inside of the metal door and release the bottom of the door-trim-panel from the door. The trim-panel is still attached to the door by a plastic grooved molding pressed onto the metal edge at the bottom of the window opening.

9.    From outside the car reach through the open window and grip the door-trim-panel in the space previously occupied by the inner door handle. Make sure that the bottom part of the panel is tilted to allow the window winder shaft to clear the panel as it is lifted. Firmly pull the panel upwards to free it from the front of the upper metal edge of the door around the window opening. The rest if the molding can now be lifted clear by using the arm rest for purchase. Remove the door-trim-panel from the car.

10. * HM 11.10 – 14.3 At this stage the window should be down. Remove the large rubber cover from its place in the lower half of the carrier assembly to expose the plastic roll pins fixed in the door lifter. HM 11.11 – 14.4.b,14.6, Remove the plastic roll pins and hence free the window glass from the winder mechanism..(The Haynes manual shows you how to do this). Wind the window fully up and secure it in the closed position with sticky tape (Gaffer or Duct tape works for this).

11. * HM 11.10 – 13.14b The lock is located to the assembly-carrier by a plastic molding fixed to the rear top of the metal plate of the assembly-carrier. This protrudes into the door cavity next to the lock and has a tab protruding sideways from it. This tab slides freely into and out of a slot in the lock assembly. This tab is merely there to hold the lock in. place whilst the fixing bolts are screwed into the lock from the edge of the door. Note that these fixing bolts can only be removed when the door is finally unlocked and opened.

12. Wind the plastic window carrier down a little to clear the top of the metal carrier frame to ease withdrawl.

13. * HM 11.11 – 14.8 Remove the 8 fixing screws (or rivets) holding the assembly-carrier to the door.

14. Gently (i.e. do not force it unduly) tilt the assembly-carrier towards the inside of the car and unclip the cables by reaching in and pinching the pegs of the cable clips with your fingers to release them from their fixing holes. Press out the cable gromet and unthread the cable from the assembly-carrier.

15. It should now be possible to tilt and move the assembly-carrier slightly down and towards the front of the car and withdraw it from the door. The plastic locating tab, mentioned in 10 above, should freely withdraw from the lock assembly.

16. In my case I could now put the plug back onto the lock assembly and unlock the car and so open the door.

17. ** WM 58-1 pg 5 to 8 If the lock is still jammed due to an inoperative motor, it should be possible to release the dead lock mechanism (57-1 page 8 of Workshop Manual) by moving the lever, in the direction of the arrow by pulling the control rod to in the direction of the arrow. The diagram shows the mechanism in the open position. In the closed position the release lever connected by a short cable to the outer door handle is baulked and cannot be released. Pulling on the operating rod should release it. A small amount of restance should be felt as the motor is turned. Fortunately I did not have to do this but by trying with the deadlock lever on my old lock I think it should work.

18. Note that at each stage of this procedure it is worth checking if the door is still locked or if it can be unlocked by pulling on control rod or using key fob !

Key.

 

·         * See Haynes Manual (HM chapter and section number)

·         ** See workshop manual (WM section and page) pointed to by link given above in paragraph 4.