Windows, central locking, light clicking - door bellows wiring doesn't seem to solve it?!

[StuW]

Now reposted here as I accidently put it in the "Guides" section - sorry!

 

 

Hello all,

 

I'm Stu, recently moved to Cornwall from Sheffield with my 58 Roomster. We love it, have had plenty of adventures and looking forward to many more (soon!). I have been lurking and reading on the forum for a long time but finally joined today to post this.

 

I have what seems a very common Roomster problem - the electric windows are stuck. I also have other problems - the driver's side rear door is stuck locked, and the drivers door only opens with the key (i.e. not on the central locking button or keyfob). There is also a clicking noise from the drivers' side front light, which may or may not be related.

 

In an effort to solve the windows problem I took the door off and found a couple of broken wires in the bellows. I was pleased. Soldered them back together and thought the problem would be solved, but nothing changed.

I thought I must have missed a break, so next I tested (with multimeter) continuity between the wires on the plastic door loom connector to the corresponding place inside the door (the whole door card is off so it is relatively easy to follow the wires). To my disappointment they all seem connected, so I don't understand why I am still having the same problems.

I would like to ask a couple of questions...

 

1. Do those with experience think the door lock and window problems are linked? And the light perhaps?

2. Is there anything wrong with my assumption that if the wires connect from the connector to their end points in the door, then the bellows wiring is fixed?

3. If so, what do I try next? Earth?

4. If earthing is a good thing to check, does anyone know the common colours Skoda use for earth?

 

Apologies if that's a long question, just wanted to be clear

Thanks very much for the help so far (via old posts) and thanks in advance for anything anyone can offer here!

 

Cheers,

Stu

[SurreyJohn]

I don’t want to state the obvious, but if the wires were broken, did anything short out and the fuses blow, and fuses need replacing now damaged wiring fixed

 

It seems to be a general problem with older roomsters that wiring looms are quite weak and brittle and the flexible sections at door & tailgate prone to early demise

 

[StuW]

Thanks John. No problem stating the obvious! I did check the fuses after the soldering and they are all OK. I did wonder about relays though. They are in a tricky place to access up behind the panel above the fuses, so I haven't removed any to test or check - I don't actually know whether the windows or door locks use relays in fact.

 

Thanks,

Stu

[Breezy_Pete]

Earth wiring is generally brown.

 

51 minutes ago, StuW said:

the drivers' side front light

Not sure what you mean by the above?

[StuW]

Great, thanks Wino. There are lots of browns - I will do some testing between them and a good ground to see if the earthing is OK.

 

The light noise I mentioned occurs when I switch from dip to main beam. There is a fast clicking from the light. I wondered if this could be to do with the motor for the height adjustment and may be somehow related to the other wiring problems. I can live with that one for a little longer if necessary, but it would be nice to solve the doors/windows in time for summer (and MOT)!

 

Thanks again all

[stratosg]

There is a vast possibility that your lock is malfunctioning. 

[StuW]

Thanks stratosg. I'll see if I can take it out (I need to look in the garage for the correct size Torx bit as I couldn't see it last night) and test it.

[StuW]

I've had another look at it this evening. The door lock seems OK as far as I can tell. All the connections are still unbroken from inside the door to the back (i.e. car side, not door side) of the connector. The brown wires all have a connection to earth and the red ones mostly show 12V. The only strange thing is that one red and black wire seems to be connected to ground, which seems unusual given the colour (does it?)

 

One more thing if it brings anything to mind with any of you is a low (continuous) beeping sound coming from somewhere in the engine bay when the ignition is on, before starting. It's hard to tell exactly where it comes from but could be the headlight or could be somewhere further back - or even the back of the bulkhead. Does the beep mean anything?!

 

Thanks!

[StuW]

Put it all back together as the car needs to be used this morning, sadly nothing has changed! I even tried the new Comfort Control Unit/Module that I bought before I discovered the broken wires, to no avail. If anyone has any thoughts I'd be very grateful, otherwise I'm taking a day off and working on on the kit car instead - no doors, windows or locks to worry about there so the wiring makes much more sense!

 

Thanks again all, hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

[Breezy_Pete]

The motor inside the door lock sounds like it is not working.  

Try hitting the open button on the fob just as you physically simultaneously start to unlock drivers door with the key.  That may give the motor a 'nudge' via the gears and possibly make it spin up.

[StuW]

Thanks Wino, I'll give that a try when my wife returns with the car.

[StuW]

Thanks, sadly no joy trying that either. Maybe when I have time I'll next try getting inside the door lock mechanism and see if I can at least get some WD-40 in there. I have also read about the need to sometimes reset windows after the battery has been disconnected by turning and holding the key in the lock and unlock directions while reconnecting - I will try this too. I still believe they are all related though, I just can't work out how yet!

[Ben2019]

Hi 

Had a similar issue to this a while back, have you checked your battery, I know it sounds mad but sometimes if the battery is faulty or not charged enough there is not enough voltage allowed by the car into the ancillary electric system, it tries but fails.

Had the same thing happen to my fathers renault, a good off car charge and things worked ok.

Maybe worth a try....

[StuW]

Thanks Ben, good thought. I put it on charge last night and will measure the voltage and give it a try this evening!

[StuW]

Still no joy. Thanks for all the advice so far! The car has gone to Falmouth for it's MOT today and I've asked if they have any ideas on what's happening... Fingers crossed!

[ChrisTids]

Sorry a bit late in replying to this. We had exactly the same issue with rear driver’s side door lock (no issue with the windows) on our 08 Roomster, I found that I could unlock the door from the inside if I timed pressing the unlock button on the centre console simultaneously with pulling the door latch. I concluded that I needed a new lock, I’ve seen new units in the UK priced at around the £200 mark and some of the second hand prices are around £70 for a lock that may not be any better. In the end 6 months ago I imported a new unit from Slovakia for around €100. This solved the problem but sadly that door and I guess lock were destroyed when the car was written off a few weeks ago.   

[StuW]

Hi Chris, Thanks for taking the time to reply. The car has been in for it's MOT and the rear door lock was the only one of the problems identified as a failure, so we have had a new lock put on as you did. The garage were pretty good actually - £110 fitted for the new lock including breaking the old one off (I guess the fact the garage owner lives 2 doors down from us maybe helps). So at least we can now open the rear door... Still no improvement in the drivers door or the windows though, so I think I'm back to scrabbling around in the door wiring and trying to find more broken connections!

Very sorry to hear about the demise of your Roomster :(

[StuW]

I thought I'd seen another reply here (as well as Twinys helpful comment on warming the PCB in the other thread), but anyway, I now have a working driver's window at least! I fitted a new switch (and fuse, don't worry!) which powers the motor directly which has got around the problem. So it clearly was something to do with the PCB and Twiny's suggestion may well be the solution.

Thanks again all.