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Thread: Lock microswitch problem / Door-open signal failure / Car may lock you out / May affect other VAG vehicles

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  1. Re: Lock microswitch problem / Door-open signal failure / Car may lock you out / May affect other VAG vehicles 
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    Anyone know why my drivers side passenger door doesn't show up as open on the dash, won't lock, and the window won't go up, have found a doner car to maybe strip all the wiring out of and change to mine, but don't really know how to or what to do, have had the door card off, no visible damage. Thanks
     
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  2. Re: Lock microswitch problem / Door-open signal failure / Car may lock you out / May affect other VAG vehicles 
    #22
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    Hi , on my car (seat cordoba 1.4 16v 2003 model) i have problem to the rear right door The door remain locked when all other door opened, do you know if this problem who described is relevant to the problems you refer;

    Στάλθηκε από το SM-G900F μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
     
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  3. Re: Lock microswitch problem / Door-open signal failure / Car may lock you out / May affect other VAG vehicles 
    #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by djgilson View Post
    It’s been said before, but it’s worth repeating. Don’t leave the car with the key in it if you have these symptoms:
    Car locks itself when it shouldn’t
    Lights-on warning buzzer stops working
    Dashboard door-open display stops working
    If fitted, the door-edge warning light and door courtesy light (puddle light) stop working.

    These are all symptoms of a failure of the door-open signal, which may be due to a problem with the door lock microswitch. Whatever the cause, you risk being locked out of the car - which is especially embarrassing when the engine is running, as I discovered the hard way.

    My experience of the problem On my car, a 3dr A3 8P, the problem turned out to be that furry plastic was interfering with the action of the microswitch. It proved perfectly possible to do a repair, contrary to the received wisdom that you have to replace the complete lock. For the gist of the repair, skip to the sketch later in this thread, or for the whole tedious story, read on.

    The diagnosis Owners will be well aware of the priceless feature that if you unlock the vehicle but do not open a door, it will re-lock itself after a time delay - a frequent source of frustration and unkind thoughts about the idiot who thought this was a good idea. That’s when it’s working properly.

    But if it does not receive the signal that a door has been opened, the system will re-lock itself after the given time, come what may.

    On my car, the problem was intermittent. If any door other than the driver’s door was opened, the system worked OK. Only the driver’s door sometimes failed to send the correct door-open signal. It’s not surprising that the driver’s door should tend to give problems first, since it is used the most.

    My vehicle has the red warning light on each door edge, which comes on when the door is opened. It was apparent that the light failed to come on whenever the door-open signal failed. This was a really useful trouble-shooting aid - much easier to watch the light than wait for the doors to re-lock.
    Attachment 33482

    Many vehicles have just a reflector on the door edge, so don’t assume there’s something wrong if it doesn’t light up, as I did with my newly acquired A4 recently! If you only have reflectors, you will have to use the lights-on warning buzzer or the dashboard door-open display to monitor what’s going on. Note that the interior overhead light is not a useful monitor, because it’s not dependent only on the door-open signal.

    Anyway, with the door open, I could open and close the lock by manipulating the latch plate. When closing the latch the light would always go off correctly.
    Attachment 33483
    Latch closed, light off.

    When opening the lock, (by lifting the exterior handle), the light sometimes failed to come on, and this failure seemed to be linked to a reluctance of the latch plate to spring to the fully open position. When I encouraged it into position manually, I could just hear the click of a microswitch. (You need good hearing and really quiet surroundings for this. A stethoscope might help, but then you run out of hands to hold everything........) When the switch clicked, the light always came on. This suggested that the switch itself was OK, and the problem was friction in the mechanism.

    If the problem is not intermittent If the door-open signal refuses to trigger, there is less scope for diagnosis with the lock in situ, but it may still be worth exploring.

    If when you open the lock the latch plate springs fully open, you will need to restrain it manually and allow it to open slowly while listening for the microswitch. You can then repeatedly operate the microswitch by jiggling the latch plate. If the light can be persuaded to come on sometimes, this would suggest an intermittent contact within the microswitch. If it refuses to come on at all, this might also suggest a poor connection or a broken wire outside of the microswitch.

    If you don’t hear the click at all, this could imply the microswitch button is worn down, or the switch mechanism is broken, or background noise is obscuring the click, or perhaps you are deafer than you thought.

    Audi diagnostics / VCDS There is always the possibility that the failure of the door-open signal is due to an electronic failure either within the lock or in the central-locking control unit. I have no knowledge of VCDS, but I assume it should be able to tell if this is the case. Perhaps someone can confirm? But I would always look for a mechanical failure first.

    The solution On my vehicle as I say, friction in the mechanism appeared to be the problem. Application of WD-40 to the latch plate did not help.

    The microswitch is not available separately, and Audi quoted nearly £100 for a new lock, or about £230 fitted. It must be said that the lock incorporates the central-locking solenoids and components, so it is quite a complex mechanism. No doubt it includes a number of buried microswitches, but the one we are interested in turns out to be easily accessible once the lock is removed.

    Plenty of incentive then to try a diy solution. First we must remove the lock.

    Removing the lock The procedure is in the Haynes Manual. It’s quite complex because of four connections to the lock which have to be removed, those to the lock cylinder and the exterior handle being particularly tricky to get at. For this reason, the procedure includes removal of the window glass and window frame, the lock cylinder and the exterior door handle, as well as all the door interior trim.

    I have to admit that I didn’t have the benefit of the Manual at the time, so I removed only the door interior trim and kept the window fully up throughout. This forced me to remove the lock connections entirely by feel in a very limited space, and re-attach them in the same way - almost impossible, and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have loads of time and unlimited patience. The Haynes method involves a lot more disassembly, but is less risky to your sanity.

    I’ll not dwell further on the procedure, just include the odd photo.

    Attachment 33484
    Attachment 33485
    A method of levering off the black plastic inner panel which seemed to work.

    Attachment 33486

    Attachment 33487
    The easy bit, removing the lock fixing screws - 8mm XZN (12 spline) bit.

    Attachment 33488
    Attachment 33489
    The lock removed.

    The repair With the lock removed, the microswitch is found on its bottom edge, held in place by a spring clip, so is easy to detach. The connecting wires between lock and microswitch prevent you from moving it far, but that’s OK.

    It was immediately clear that the microswitch is operated by a cam on the latch plate. The latch plate is plastic-coated and the problem was that the plastic coating had shredded where the microswitch bears on it, so that furry bits of plastic were interfering with free action of the cam and microswitch.
    Attachment 33490

    The solution was simply to cut away the plastic coating locally with a knife, so that the microswitch could bear directly on the metal cam.

    Removing the plastic left a gap between cam and microswitch, so I had to relocate the microswitch closer to the cam by a mm or so. There are two round plastic locating pips on the microswitch which had to be trimmed with the knife, as shown. I then added packing under the microswitch to hold it in its new position. Needed a bit of trial and error to get it right.

    Then it’s just a matter of putting everything back together.

    Conclusion Not the quickest or easiest of jobs, but satisfying , as it cost nothing. The lock has been operating successfully for over a year now.

    Design fault or one off? I have no idea how common this problem of shredding of the plastic coating might be. My A4 appears to have the same sort of plastic coated latch plate and I imagine a similar arrangement of latch plate/microswitch may be used on other VAG vehicles, and maybe across the industry generally. The problem appeared on my car at about 5 years/85,000 miles. If anyone out there has a comparable experience, I hope they will share it with the Forum by posting a reply.

    If the shredding problem happens a lot, it would seem like something of a design fault. Of course if the industry can charge for fitting a new lock each time, it won’t be in a hurry to do anything about it.

    Replacing the microswitch If the switch ever needs replacing, I would have hopes of finding a not-too-dissimilar replacement from component suppliers such as Maplin, though one might need to be inventive with the mounting. Again, if anyone has experience of doing this, I hope they will post a reply.

    Inability to disable the alarm sensors Another consequence of a door-open signal failure which should be mentioned is that the alarm disabling switches stop working. These are the two push-buttons which allow you to
    a. disable the interior monitor if you want to leave a pet in the car
    b. disable the vehicle movement sensor if you want to leave the car on a ferry or tow it away.
    You will not be able to disable the sensors using these buttons, but at least this should be apparent because the little light on each button will fail to light up. The only alternative I can think of is to leave the car unlocked - not very desirable, and an extra incentive to get the problem fixed before the need arises. Many thanks to Forum member Roosterman for highlighting this aspect of the problem.
    Hi there
    I have the same issue with my 2003 8p A3, i sprayed the lock with WD40 stuck a screwdriver and moved the lock and the light came on but it dont when i open the door, what did you use to pack it out with?
     
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