Driver's door and fuel lock actuators

roni024

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL DSG
I just noticed a problem with my 13 Passat. After I start driving I hear a click and the door lock indicator is no longer lit and the driver's door (unsure of others) is unlocked. Also, when I use the fob to lock the doors the driver's will sometimes not lock. I suspect the driver's door lock actuator to be faulty and am sourcing a replacement. However, in checking all the other doors while the car is "locked" I noticed the fuel flap does not lock.
I saw a post from OilHammer that said (speaking of the fuel lock - shortened for pertinence):
"The little motor in there fails. It is pretty common now. Same piece the Tiguan uses.
The little motor just allows the pop out spring release to work or not, and it only allows it to work if the driver's door is unlocked. You can take it apart and disable it (so it always works regardless of the lock status of the driver's door)."
My question is, does the fuel lock rely so heavily upon the driver's door lock that having a faulty driver's lock actuator alone can cause locking issues with the fuel flap, or do you suspect I have two separate issues?
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
It probably failed unlocked long time ago and you are now just noticing. Just be glad it didn't fail locked with you standing at the pump.


Useless electronic garbage just waiting to break, disconnect the connector to the motor, its behind the carpet inside the trunk and be glad you'll never have to worry about it failing locked at 1am and you are running on fumes.

with Diesel being $2.05 at my local station this morning, who's siphoning fuel these days? Locking fuel door is just as useless as security lug bolts <end old man rant (at 33 and bald can I consider myself and old man)>

As for the door locks, its a known issue and you can open up the mechanism and clean the carbon off the cheap motor, or give VW parts $130 for a whole new mechanism. Therse a nice thread in the MKV folder, not sure if it's the same exact part but if your time is free, its a cheap fix.
 
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roni024

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL DSG
I think I'm with you on leaving the fuel flap lock inoperable. The OilHammer quote I truncated actually went on to say the fuel lock actuator is cycled every time you lock and unlock the doors and tends to wear the part out quickly. Like you said, it would suck to have it freeze in the locked position when it matters.

From what I've read on these forums, I think the MkV and MkVI/NMS door lock actuators are different in the sense that the newer ones cannot be disassembled easily. Please, someone tell me I'm wrong so I can save $100 or so.
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
Frankly, I'd be more concerned about some mental midget dumping something in these days . . .
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
Frankly, I'd be more concerned about some mental midget dumping something in these days . . .
Then its time to reassess where you socialize, live, work. ;)

But granted, no one can truly escape those that have defied Drawin.
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
Planet earth? Stupid appears to have no boundaries these days . . .

We live in a very nice neighborhood, but that didn't stop some jerk from spray painting a car in the drive 12 years or so ago, or the tagging on my fence 2 years ago. Scum often travels to 'play' . . . I've also lived in very rural towns (pop 5k) and still not immune. Now, with all the nuts and a TDI, seems like a bit of a target to the particularly deranged . . .
 
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jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
I have a few friends who got there TDI keyed- 1 of them drove his coal rolling Cummins while it was in the shop getting painted :D Lots of crazy aroud my work as well- its sad though as I can park my old civic anywhere, not the slightest ding over 10 years. park the TDI in the same crappy area once and boom, dented from a sidewalk fight after a thief was tackled beside my car.
 
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roni024

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL DSG
I wanted to post an update on my door lock actuator problem.

I decided to try and lubricate the mechanism before possibly replacing it. I loaded the actuator assembly up with spray silicone through the opening for the door release arm at the bottom of the actuator assembly, as well as some small holes I drilled in other areas to inject the silicone spray. It works beautifully! I'm not too concerned about moisture getting in the holes I drilled (shallowly, BTW) since the actuator assembly is not sealed anyway.

Caveat: make sure you route the cable for the door handle on the same side of the support pillar it came out of. Otherwise, you may be about to get on the highway, put your window down a bit, have your door pop open and your car DING at you, and have to hold your door shut until you get home, call your boss and tell them you'll be late to work, remove the door panel and realize how much of an idiot you are since the window is hitting the latch release cable. Not that it happened to me, or anything...
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
I had a failure of my 2013 drivers door latch and found it was a Mexico produced item. It was replaced with a Czech Republic unit. This problem has been reported on quite a few 2013's so perhaps VW knew the Mex units were not too good. I reported mine to nhtsa as mine prevented the door from latching.
 
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