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Driver side deadlock, possible electric problem


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My 2012 Skoda Superb developed interesting problem last week. Driver side doors, electric windows and mirrors no longer work at all.

 

In other words central locking has locked driver side doors (front and back) shut and I can no longer open the doors from inside or outside (some people refer this as deadlock). Same applies to driver side windows and side mirrors. There is no lock on outside of the driver's door so I can not open the door manually. Passenger side operates normally. In other words, it responds to central locking and I can still get into the car from passenger side. 

 

To me this sounds like an issue with fuses or electric cables, but I can not check the fuses since the fuse box can only be accessed when door is open. Removing door card when door is closed and locked is also very difficult if not impossible.

 

I would prefer checking for example the fuses before taking my car to local car service. Any ideas on how to get the driver side door(s) to open without breaking my car door to bits? 

 

There must be a way to open the doors from inside. With this design the car becomes a deathtrap in case of major electrical failure. 

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It's covered in the owners manual on page 40 titled "Emergency unlocking and locking of the driver's door" https://mediaportal.skoda-auto.com/resource/documentation/manuals/en/Superb/05-2012/Manual/B6_Superb_OwnersManual.pdf

 

It suggests there is a cap over the lock on the drivers door, you should be able to pop this off and use the key to manually unlock the drivers door.

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Fantastic! I got the driver door to open, which makes the current situation bearable short term. 

 

Now I just need to figure out why the central locking, mirrors and windows are not working on drivers side. To me this sounds more like a problem with the cables than fuses as central locking fuses are aligned differently (not driver / passenger side, but front and back). Already tried replacing fuses 23 and 32, but no joy. 

 

Anyway a big thank you to you Freedom!

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I think I've heard this can be down to a broken wire between the door and car, though if the fuse for that door blew you might get a similar fault.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 2 weeks later...

My superb developed fault on 20/01/18,the interior lights would not come on when n/s rear door was opened. This in turn led to no door open warning on maxidot and also same door would not lock with remote fob,the window on same door would not operate with door button or main driver console button. The alarm armed red light on drivers door was sticking on when car locked but then began flashing as normal about 30 seconds later,however alarm did go off when I opened faulty unlocked door. I took it to my trusted and brilliant Indy garage auto electrician today and he found that there was 3 broken wires on FRONT N/S door,these are situated inside rubber boot at inside of door. The car is only just over 2 years old (out of warranty as used as taxi with 71k on clock. He repaired these wires but recommended I buy a new wiring loom as wires are very brittle with insulation exposed(bone dry though) and who knows when they will break at brittle parts. All is well now and back to full functionality and I have ordered a new loom £109.53 + vat,auto electrician says any problems with rear doors and it's almost certain that the problem lies within the wiring on front doors as rear doors are only slave units,I hope this info helps

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On 23/01/2018 at 18:59, Errybee said:

My superb developed fault on 20/01/18,the interior lights would not come on when n/s rear door was opened. This in turn led to no door open warning on maxidot and also same door would not lock with remote fob,the window on same door would not operate with door button or main driver console button. The alarm armed red light on drivers door was sticking on when car locked but then began flashing as normal about 30 seconds later,however alarm did go off when I opened faulty unlocked door. I took it to my trusted and brilliant Indy garage auto electrician today and he found that there was 3 broken wires on FRONT N/S door,these are situated inside rubber boot at inside of door. The car is only just over 2 years old (out of warranty as used as taxi with 71k on clock. He repaired these wires but recommended I buy a new wiring loom as wires are very brittle with insulation exposed(bone dry though) and who knows when they will break at brittle parts. All is well now and back to full functionality and I have ordered a new loom £109.53 + vat,auto electrician says any problems with rear doors and it's almost certain that the problem lies within the wiring on front doors as rear doors are only slave units,I hope this info helps

Thank you for this. A concise answer and almost exactly the same issues as mine.

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God, I thought I left this problem behind me 20 years ago.

 

Cheap, cheap inferior cabling with poor insulation that ages in record time and goes brittle and flakes off. Inappropriate cable choice (too few cores and too coarse gauge for flexible use plus wrong insulation chemistry) and poor design of door to pillar connection (which should be staggered to increase door to pillar length and minimise bending/pulling ).

 

When did VAG stop learning the elementary lessons of the past. Or is it Skoda bean counters seeking cheap suppliers with no QA/QC?

 

End of rant.

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I 100% agree with you xman,it seems the bean counters are buying inferior wiring,window regulators etc to cut costs,surely we are ALL sitting with potential fire hazards as sooner or later these inferior wires will cause vehicles to ignite. Could this have something to do with cost cutting due to vag trying to recoup billions spent to USA and rest of world for compensation for the "cheat device" fiasco?,I sincerely hope not as IF???, this inferior wiring starts to cause vehicles igniting then the cheap option will defeat the purpose and cost billions MORE,I SINCERELY HOPE I'm wrong with that assumption.

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A taxi driver colleague also has an 2011 superb,he was telling me the central locking was not working and only electric window operating was his drivers door. He said he had taken it to 2 different garages and none of them were able to fix the problems. I told him about the Indy  guy I use at local garage and told him I would guarantee Craig would fix his problem. 5 broken wires n/s front door (within rubber boot on inside of BOTH doors) and 6 broken wires on o/s front door. At 170k and 7 years old at least those wires held up much longer than MINE done on my 15 plate which went at just over 2.5 years, Colleague is now delighted as all functions back to normal 

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This is an old, old problem. Alhambras, Sharans from 1996 suffered terribly. With mysterious electrical door/tailgate locking/window/alarm/lights/speaker problems, first port of call are the rubber boots where wire loom flexes.

 

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