Central locking fault

[pgf5312]

I've got a central locking problem on my 2003 Octavia 1.9 tdi - it's causing the windows to sometimes open/close on their own. The dealer says its because of corrosion on the control panel in the driver's door. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Many Thanks.....:(

[JonnyB]

Not exactly, but: the remote central locking function on my key fob stopped working a year ago; the dashboard shows that the driver door is open when it's not; and the one-touch electric windows up usually works but quite often gets a couple of inches from the top and then heads back down again. I don't know if that's related to your problem.

Are your windows opening themselves even when the car's parked up overnight?

[pdhealy]

Try using the search facility & type in "central convenience fault". It is a problem that is becoming very widespread. I had the central convenience unit & wiring loom replaced recently (04 Octavia).

[farside]

If you are lucky just the connector on the wiring loom is corroded, and the loom can be replaced quite easily (

[whitebakecase]

The plug you are looking for is a bit like a scart plug, and it attaches to a black box built into the window motor. The connecting bits will be browned if not rotten completely, and the water thats been held in will be causing electrical resistance between the pins, resulting in corrupted messages to the CCU and the random window problem you describe.

When you remove the plug, which is held on by some tricky metal clips, you will find a dirty puddle, trust me. If you'r lucky it will just be a case of a good spray of WD40, but if your not, the pins on the black box will also have rotted away, in which case its a case of repair or replace. I repaired mine myself by salvaging what was left of the pins on the black box, chopping the plug off completely, and hard soldering everything back together with a generous helping of silicone sealant.

I'll post some pics when i get chance, if your in my area i'm happy to carry out the repair for you

[whitebakecase]

this is the plug, you can just about make out the rusted contacts, and some water stains

[ATTACH]13694[/ATTACH]

and the back of the plug after removal

[ATTACH]13695[/ATTACH]

hope this helps

[pgf5312]

Thanks for all the helpful replies, especially "whitebakecase" for going to the trouble of supplying photos! I don't have a remote control central locking function - just the normal door key which operates everything. To answer JonnyB's question, yes, the windows are behaving erratically - including the passenger door window opening/closing when the car is being driven along - and while parked overnight! The garage is talking about replacing the "pins". I just hope that does the trick! Is there anything I can do while/after this job is done in order to insure against a repeat performance? Anyway, why does this problem happen? Is it rain water getting into the door somehow - or is it condensation/dampness? The garage suggests the latter but if this were the case then surely it would be a known problem and Skoda would re-design something in order to prevent it - or is that asking too much? Thanks again.....

[pdhealy]

I have been told to wrap the connectors in self amalgamating tape, but haven't gotten around to doing that yet.

[jr123]

I,ve just joined this forum lokking for help to sort out exactly this fault. Windows will open at random and cenral locking goes mad sometimes when driving along. The red light is staying on, the one on the drivers door next to the button, is this indicating this fault.

Thanks for the pics and info already supplied on this thread, I took the door apart on saturday and even with all swithes disconnected when unlocking the dor the windows still open, (magic).

Can you tell me where, exactly, I can find the offending connector block.

Cheers !

[whitebakecase]

^^^ its plugged into a black box fixed in the window motor. there is a loom clipped to the inside of the door. the constant door light / alarm LED appears to be the classic sign of the plug starting to rot, my long term cure was a shed load of silicone sealant and a stack of dessicant bags in the bottom of the door. i alo am told its caused by condensation, have to wonder if its worth taking the passenger door apart to see if the same has happened there... anybody know if theres another one of these things in the passenger side?

[whitebakecase]

this is totally from memory, feel free to correct me if im wrong, apologies its a bit crude

[ATTACH]13704[/ATTACH]

[whitebakecase]

oh, and i forgot, before you can remove the plug from the 'black box' you will have to lift the plunger on the top of the plug, it should end up like this...

[ATTACH]13705[/ATTACH]

took me ages to work that one out

[jr123]

When I looked at the door last Saturday I was able to take out the window switches and the speakers but couldn't get the rest of the door panel off in the time that I had. I pulled back the cover for the loom between the door and the body and discovered the damp/water.

Are there any hidden screws, clips etc, to remove before I start pulling at the door panel and ruin it.

Working this weekend so will have the car available on Mon & Tue to play with.

Help much appreciated so far, now I know it won't cost me the dealers quoted £300+ .

[mbames]

If you have a Haynes manual it covers removal of the door pannels.

There are some screws behing the main door "handle" bit, and various ones around the side. The tweater unit simply pulls straight out (horizonally - into the car)

[Goochie]

Can those who havent done so already, please vote http://www.briskoda.net/forums/octavia/door-locking-door-open-convenience-ecu-problems/73891/

[jr123]

Problem fixed, condition of connector block as described above although in my case I have used excessive quantities of WD40 on both the connector block and the pins. By simply working the connector block into and out engagement of the pins using the plunger, has in my case cured the fault.

Fault cured but obviously not the cause. as previously mentioned I did find water in my wiring loom between the door and the chassis and wonder if the water could be tracking up the cables.

Happy for now, great forum, thanks for the help.

[Lee Davenport]

i was told by the main stealer today that because the remote will not unlock the drivers door and the drivers door mirror will not defrost that the wiring loom for the drivers door is nackered and needs replacing as will the convenience sensor for the electric window (which still seems to be working perfectly) all this is going to cost me over

[eddies]

I would pop the mirror glass off first and check that you have power going to the heated mirror connections first. Could be just a faulty heating element in the mirror glass. Replacements available from GSF for a reasonable price.

[KenONeill]

Hiya. What you say isn't impossible but...

Which dealer are you using? I can think of 2 that seem plausible from Forres; one's ok and the other are cowboys!

[Lofty]

Wooo Hoooo -i love the search function.

Having endured a 45 mile drive in 2c temperatures this morning with my passanger window opening and closing almost constantly, it looks like if found the reason why (or maybe one of the reaons!)

Im gonna pull the drivers door panel off tomorrow, and find this damned connector and check for the corroded pins!

Hopefully it'll start getting to the point that i can fix some of these stupid annoying problems that plauge the Octavia?

[Lofty]

Small update - spent a good couple of hours on old "shonky the skoda" this morning, removed the drivers door panel, found a couple of random loose screws (which explains some of the door rattles LOL), then peeled back the foam membrane to have a look at the wiring.

As i expected the wiring connector block to the window motor was full of moisture, with green festering mess across the terminals. Luckily the "male" pins were all intact and not corroded excessivly. I cleaned both parts of the connectors up with aerosol brake cleaner and then liberal doses of WD40, and i worked the connector back together quite a number of times. Touch wood the windows functionality is back to normal, the main window switch pack is now working properly as well.

We took the oportunity to change the drivers door catch mechanism, and lo and behold the door ajar warning light now works, as does the puddle light, courtesy light and lights on warning buzzer.

Why oh why skoda use such a crap design of multiplug on the drivers window motor? The way its designed, its always gonna collect water in it?

Anyway, we decided to have a look at the same connector in the passanger door - ironically, that was absolutly 100% dry and tight. Still gave it a clearing out with wd40 and put it all back together.

Fingers crossed that'll be the end of the sillyness with the windows and the locking.

I might invest in a drivers window rubber (or scraper seal) to try and reduce the amount of water getting inside the door to start with? Anyone else done this?

[mikey9]

Same prob here with me in Inverness.

Found all windows open in a sideways gale this morning - after C locking drivers door started playing up on Friday.

Just got door apart (snapped tweeter mounting clips off!) and down to the connector in question and found the middle pin on at the lowest part (where the water was! - althought here wasn't much) has snapped off. Socket itself looks ock - although where the end of the pin is (perhaps tis the oxidation I blew out with WD40) I don't know.

How much of the big black box in which the plug inserts is the "Consumer (in)Convenience Unit?"

Should I just go ahead and source one (scrapper or new?) and replace whatever comes?

Cheers in advance.

Mikey

[bjorgi]

I opened a hole in my box and solder a wire from other side of pin, then wired direct to the wire in loom, taped over hole on box then wee fiber glass over the tape.

Few hours and a four-pack of beer