bad luck followed by good luck on rear door lock

[s7gpt]

had a few issues with passenger rear door which I traced to the actual lock itself, any way ordered a second hand part, stripped door down only to find i'd got wrong part which ended in a C and my part number 8k0 839 015 does not. Rather upset I put everything back together and now for first time in ages have a perfect working door so guess it must have just been a loose connection.


Part going on ebay, hope it sells :p

[Spitz62]

Hi s7gpt, I too have an intermittent problem with not being able to open the rear offside door from the outside. We think it gets worse when the weather is damp or frosty but as I type it's still not working despite the spring like day yesterday.

How difficult a job was it to strip down the door (and put it back together)? Do you have any idea what connection might have been loose? It's been a frustrating problem to have so any pointers you can provide would great. Thanks.

[Spitz62]

Sorry, forgot to add our car is an A4 Avant 2008.

[s7gpt]

I started with replacing the door handle sensor part number 4g8 927 753 - fairly easy job with good instructions on the web - this did not resolve so I then ordered the door lock part number 8k0 839 015 ( you will need to strip your door to see if you need the part ending in C or not as two types ).
Stripping the door down was easy but you do need a special tool for getting door card off, just search ebay for door card removers, they look like funny shaped flat pliers. its a tricky job getting the wire for the door handle lock back on and also getting to the lock unit as its behind the inner door so working a bit blind. That said with patience its not too bad.
As for finding the faulty connection etc use VCDS which should give you some pointers.
Given the age of your car, that its weather related and if its a keyless model my money is on the door sensor as the old ones used had a tendency to get water damage and i'd just order the sensor ( make sure its a black one and not clear as these are the new ones )
PM me you want a sensor as I may be able to help ;)

[gdallas]

had a simillar issue with my rear ext door lock. mine was the extneral cable, kept jamming. part was only 8 quid from audi which was a newer revision than the one i had so presumable they realised it was prone to jamming. mine was a nightmare to fix though as i couldnt open the door from inside to carry out repair due to child locks being on!!! there were alot of sweary words. took ages, proably the most fiddly thing ive had to reslove. satisfying when fixed though

[Spitz62]

I started with replacing the door handle sensor part number 4g8 927 753 - fairly easy job with good instructions on the web - this did not resolve so I then ordered the door lock part number 8k0 839 015 ( you will need to strip your door to see if you need the part ending in C or not as two types ).
Stripping the door down was easy but you do need a special tool for getting door card off, just search ebay for door card removers, they look like funny shaped flat pliers. its a tricky job getting the wire for the door handle lock back on and also getting to the lock unit as its behind the inner door so working a bit blind. That said with patience its not too bad.
As for finding the faulty connection etc use VCDS which should give you some pointers.
Given the age of your car, that its weather related and if its a keyless model my money is on the door sensor as the old ones used had a tendency to get water damage and i'd just order the sensor ( make sure its a black one and not clear as these are the new ones )
PM me you want a sensor as I may be able to help ;)

Many thanks for this. I'm going to find myself a few hours on a weekend soon to tackle this and hopefully get it sorted once and for all. I'll update with how it goes!