Frozen door locks

jjb299

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Location
Wilkes-Barre, PA
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI
Hey all,
I've been having problems with my driver's side door locking mechanism over the past few weeks. Many times, when it's cold in the morning, the door won't unlock. I hear the solenoids in all the other doors go off, but the driver's side door is silent. Even using the key in the keyhole won't make it budge. I had to climb through the passenger side a few times now.
I called my dealer and they didn't need much convincing at all. They said "oh yeah we've had a few of those in this week" because of this issue. They said the locking unit is a sealed unit and will need to be replaced. So I'm making an appointment now (under warranty).

So, has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I should know before dropping it off? I know door panels can be difficult to remove without destroying those plastic tabs.
 

Trolleyvw

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 3, 2013
Location
Buffalo ny
TDI
2013 jetta TB 6mt
There's another thread on this that I posted to. Others were saying that they sprayed some grease/lube in the door handle and lock mechanism.

I've been having that issue with the cold weather and I fortunately don't NEED to open the one and only door that it happens to because when I did the first time, the door stayed open and just bounced off the door frame when trying to shut it.

Don't know if any of this helps
 

Doug3

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Location
MA
TDI
2015 GTI Autobahn
On cold mornings, my door would open OK, but then it wouldn't fully close because the latch mechanism was frozen. A blast with a hair dryer fixed the problem temporarily. I finally used some Loc-Ease graphite spray and haven't had a recurrence.:)
 
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RebelTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Location
Boston, MA
TDI
2016 Audi Q5 TDI, 2016 BMW 535d Xdrive
Hey all,
I've been having problems with my driver's side door locking mechanism over the past few weeks. Many times, when it's cold in the morning, the door won't unlock. I hear the solenoids in all the other doors go off, but the driver's side door is silent. Even using the key in the keyhole won't make it budge. I had to climb through the passenger side a few times now.
I called my dealer and they didn't need much convincing at all. They said "oh yeah we've had a few of those in this week" because of this issue. They said the locking unit is a sealed unit and will need to be replaced. So I'm making an appointment now (under warranty).

So, has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I should know before dropping it off? I know door panels can be difficult to remove without destroying those plastic tabs.
I had the same issue in my 2013. Dealer got it working, but told me VW had re-designed the lock. I took it back a week later and had it replaced. VW and locks don't seem to get along.
 

Paradoxjr

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Location
Fort McMurray, Alberta
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI - Highline
I just had this problem, good thing I had the VW 5 Start Extended warranty - $600 later - The door would not close until I defrosted it, then it would NOT lock at all. They had to replace the entire locking mechanism.

So it sat at work for 14 days unlocked, while I worked... Pissed me right off.
 

Cincy_TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Location
Cincy
TDI
Passat SE TDI
Owned a 77 Audi Fox, my first car that the locks froze on it several times a year during the winter. Probably the same design
 

FVWVWF

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Location
Canada
TDI
Sold - 2012 TDI Highline Manual
This just happened to me.
Morning, had trouble opening the car. Then could not close it. After trying for 30min, I called Road sidee assistance. By the time they came, the door thawed out and I was able to close it. So I went to work.
Leaving work...same thing. This time the door would not open at all from the outside (the door handle is in the 'open' position as if got stuck while being pulled)
I can only open the door from the inside which means I have to crawl through the passenger side.
Got an appt. with the dealer tomorrow.
 

jjb299

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Location
Wilkes-Barre, PA
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI
Update

*Update*

Thanks for the replies. I had forgotten about "lock de-icers" because I honestly never had to use them before. Whenever I saw them on the rack near the check out lanes, I always said "who would need that? how does water get into a key hole?"

So I just tried lock de-icer and it works now. I sprayed some into the keyhole and inserted the key and cycled the lock a couple of times. I definitely noticed a difference putting the key in. Before it would stick and jam and I couldn't get the key to turn. Now it works like it should.

Before I jump to conclusions and cancel my dealer appointment, I will see how the rest of the week goes. It is supposed to be in the single digits at night for the next week. I'll update this thread if the lock freezes up again.
 

jjb299

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Location
Wilkes-Barre, PA
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI
Update to the update

**another update**

So the lock de-icer doesn't do crap when it gets down to 0 degrees. The lock is totally stuck.
This is where is gets really funny. Listen to this: so the door lock is stuck in the locked position and I cannot open the door. I have to go through the passenger side. This morning, I noticed I forgot to shut my lights off from last night (probably because the door chime didn't go off because I never opened the driver door). The battery is dead so naturally I want to pop the hood to get a jump from another car. Wait wait! Some of you may know where this is going...
Everyone look at their MKVI hood latch. Notice anything? Like how the driver side door has to be open to pop the hood!!! Priceless.

Getting it towed now. Also getting a loaner until this stupid lock issue is fixed. I hope it's a new lock design and they're not just putting back in another lock that will freeze again.
 

FVWVWF

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Location
Canada
TDI
Sold - 2012 TDI Highline Manual
Im getting a new lock mechanism myself. Cant open the driver side door from the outside.
 

mac5155

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Location
PA
TDI
2011 Jetta
**another update**

So the lock de-icer doesn't do crap when it gets down to 0 degrees. The lock is totally stuck.
This is where is gets really funny. Listen to this: so the door lock is stuck in the locked position and I cannot open the door. I have to go through the passenger side. This morning, I noticed I forgot to shut my lights off from last night (probably because the door chime didn't go off because I never opened the driver door). The battery is dead so naturally I want to pop the hood to get a jump from another car. Wait wait! Some of you may know where this is going...
Everyone look at their MKVI hood latch. Notice anything? Like how the driver side door has to be open to pop the hood!!! Priceless.

Getting it towed now. Also getting a loaner until this stupid lock issue is fixed. I hope it's a new lock design and they're not just putting back in another lock that will freeze again.
Oh man, im sorry but I laughed. Aren't you able to pull the inside driver door handle to unlock it?
 

jjb299

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Location
Wilkes-Barre, PA
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI
Final update and done

OK. The dealer replaced the door latch/lock mechanism. I'm not quite sure which part it was. But they said that this has been a problem with a lot of cars. They said the lock has a grease in it that has some sort of water content that will freeze up. I thought grease didn't have water in it, but whatever. They said the new lock uses different grease and shouldn't freeze up anymore.
I've been using the car for a couple days and no problems. The drive side locks just like it should. It's been 15-30 degrees. More 0 degree weather coming. Fingers crossed.
 

Revpeach

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Location
Monticello, IA
TDI
2012 Jetta
My problem is a little different. My electric door lock works okay except when the battery in the fob goes dead. That's when I found that when I insert the key in the lock, it spins 180 degrees and does nothing. There is no resistance, like it's not connected to anything.
 

pturley

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2008
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
TDI
2012 Jetta, 6m; 2001 Jetta, 5-speed (Died far too young! 278K mi.)
15F outside, the passenger door froze up this morning... ...I am dealing with it now. The handle was a bit stiff when I opened it, now it is stuck unlatched meaning I can't get to work this morning.
 

Paradoxjr

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Location
Fort McMurray, Alberta
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI - Highline
Use a heat gun or a hair dryer to heat it up. Then clean it and use graphite lube to fix it. The grease that VW uses is too thick in the winter,it also gets gummed up.
 

pturley

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2008
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
TDI
2012 Jetta, 6m; 2001 Jetta, 5-speed (Died far too young! 278K mi.)
That's what I needed to do. My heat gun is too hot. The wife isn't very happy I had her hairdryer outside all morning though.

I made it to work, two hours late.
 

Paradoxjr

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Location
Fort McMurray, Alberta
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI - Highline
I used a heat gun when I was out of town, and then my wife's hair dryer when I got home from out of town. Good thing I didn't have to stop and pee on my 5 hour drive, I would have been stuck at some gas station looking for a heat gun or hair dryer :(. lol

I hope it is fixed now, I cleaned and lubed it yesterday, was +3C here. (that is somewhere above 32F)
 

mincanada

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Location
edmonton AB, Canada
TDI
2011 jetta tdi
Add another to the list...has happened multiple times...the worst part is that my car insists a door is ajar so even though I can open and close the door, I can't lock it....hairdryer works, but what a pain....add in my randomly " frozen" or seizing wipers below - 15c and I hate winters
 

Paradoxjr

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Location
Fort McMurray, Alberta
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI - Highline
Add another to the list...has happened multiple times...the worst part is that my car insists a door is ajar so even though I can open and close the door, I can't lock it....hairdryer works, but what a pain....add in my randomly " frozen" or seizing wipers below - 15c and I hate winters
Mincanada - take it to Norden, hand them $500 and they will replace the locking mechanism like they had to do to mine last year.
 

wbclassics

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Location
Syracuse NY
TDI
No TDI - VW Bought it Back (Dec 4th 2017)
Just had my 2013 Jetta into the dealer for a passenger door lock issue that occurred this past Friday. The passenger front door would not latch shut, and although it was very cold out, it wasn't a frozen lock.

Burdick VW ended up replacing both drivers and passenger side latches assemblies under warranty. Although I'm still not pleased that twice in 6 weeks my relatively new VW has spent a 4 day weekend in the shop, and of course, loaners are never available. This is actually the third warranty related item since November. Glad it happened while I still have ~1800 miles on my bumper to bumper factory warranty.
 

mac5155

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Location
PA
TDI
2011 Jetta
It's actually pretty easy to take apart the handle and mechanism, and I HATE dealing with door panels, etc. We had it off in about an hour, and back on in about a half. I ended up having to replace the cable as the end snapped out of it. I soaked the MF'er in water resistant silicone lubricant, so hopefully no recurrences. The part from the dealer ran me about $32.
 

tdi_514

Active member
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2014 Jetta TDI DSG
late to the party but I guess it's not just me.
I did notice though when I'm driving and put my hand on the handle inside, the driver side is cold and I can feel almost like a little draft where the passenger side's door handle from the inside is warm. Could this be a design flow or some sort?
 
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