Hi

 

Got at 2002 Superb MK1. Convinience unit has started to show gremlins, most of which I'm happy to ignore as it's so old, even with 175,000 on the clock, drives so smooth.

Interior lights don't work at all, central locking fob works occasionally, but the doors lock on the key in the door.

My issue now, just before the MOT is due, is that the intermittent rear door locks have failed completely. Doors are locked and shut, with no feasable way of getting them unlocked and open.

What I want to do, if at all possible, is get the doors unlocked, and open, then change the mechanism to a manual operation. Lock by pushing it down and unlock by pulling the handle and open on the second pull. Is this achievable? By removing the power supply to the module in the door once it's open? I could fit new actuator units, but what's the point if the convinience unit is just going to play about even more the older the car gets? Who needs central locking anyway?

 

So far, I've got the rear seat out, both door cards off, now trying to remove the metal plate that the electric windows are fixed to. How do I get this plate off while keeping the window in situ? I've heard of people doing something to the rivets on Passat forums, but this seems extreme, and a pain to put back together. And the clip on the bottom of the window riser slider. Believe it can be removed, but can find no instructions on reassembly. Once this pin is removed, can the window be raised and taped in the up position while the plate can be removed leaving the window and it's grip to slide out of the runner?

 

Thanks in advance

Alan

5 hours ago, alanmwoods said:

So far, I've got the rear seat out, both door cards off, now trying to remove the metal plate that the electric windows are fixed to. How do I get this plate off while keeping the window in situ? I've heard of people doing something to the rivets on Passat forums, but this seems extreme, and a pain to put back together. And the clip on the bottom of the window riser slider. Believe it can be removed, but can find no instructions on reassembly. Once this pin is removed, can the window be raised and taped in the up position while the plate can be removed leaving the window and it's grip to slide out of the runner?

The rear window never drops below the lower edge, so you should be able to pull it back up and secure it to the top edge once the pin is out. After that the plate+mechanism should be removeable.

 

5 hours ago, alanmwoods said:

What I want to do, if at all possible, is get the doors unlocked, and open, then change the mechanism to a manual operation. Lock by pushing it down and unlock by pulling the handle and open on the second pull. Is this achievable? By removing the power supply to the module in the door once it's open? I could fit new actuator units, but what's the point if the convinience unit is just going to play about even more the older the car gets? Who needs central locking anyway?

To my knowledge (I'll check tomorrow on my own car) the rear door locks should work that way even when powered. I know the front ones do. Are the rear doors child lock on by any chance? if not, and the interior handle does not unlock the door, it's probably a mechanical issue rather than electronic. Either inside the lock mechanism or the lever that's being pulled by the interior handle could be the cause.

 

As an aside, you mention the convenience module acting up. This sounds a likely result of water ingress, which can cause other issues if left untreated. I'd get this checked and fixed.

 

After a long struggle I can now say I have two opening, manually locking/unlocking rear doors.

Being a Superb, those lock actuators are even more recessed than a normal Octavia or Passat.

Once I'd removed all the door components, a forced entry was effected, to the point where the door catch was accessed from inside the mechanism to open the door.

Two actuators from eBay purchased and fitted, checking all working as it should. In a much happier place, now that this MOT failure hasn't rendered the car to the great big scrapyard in the sky.

I'll be adding some extra pointers to the YouTube videos that helped me get so far. So if a Google search has brought you here, also search YouTube for some handy videos.

What I will say to anyone is, if your door locks start to play up, just replace them while you can still get the doors open as they will jam shut on you before you know it and the job is 500 times harder from the inside out.