Door Wont Lock - Dosent know when door is open

m_hac

Active member
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Location
Newfoundland, Canada
TDI
Golf, 2000, Blue
When I press the lock on my key remote the alarm sets but the lock dosen't drop into the door. I can still lock it by using the key. Also the car dosent know when the driver side door or hatch is open. If you leave the hatch or driver side door open you will hear the hatch latch lock and the alarm will set. The drivers door lock will not automatically lock, but alarm will set. Also, when you hit 20kms the passenger side door locks but drivers does not. Both doors and hatch open everytime with remote. My only thought is that the door sensors are busted, but that dosent explain why the drivers door lock will unlock with the remote but not lock... or does it? Can someone help me find the door sensors or give me advice on how to fix this? Thank you

oh yeah - 2000 Golf 2Dr. 146000kms. The passenger side door works perfectly. I hope I didn't jinx it by saying that.
 

Toronto_Vento

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
Two very common problems you should look at before getting too worried. Open the driver's door and look for a wrinkled looking hose (big) from door to the body of the car. It is actually a big plug. Twist it off and check the connections...my guess is that some have gone a little greenish. A little sandpaper will clean up these contacts quite well. I would then spray a little contact cleaner into the female part of the plug in the body of the car. Then apply some dielectric grease onto the contacts. Plug back in and see if things are working. If not, there might be a snapped wire inside that hose with the plug. This is a frequent thing in colder environments, and usually happens on the most used doors. If you have a hatch, a wire is probably snapped in that hose from the body to the hatch. I happens.

If you are reasonably handy, the job isn't too hard to fix. I used butt-connectors in my car to reconnect everything. I also cut the ones which weren't broken so that I wouldn't have to worry about them in the future.

Unfortunately, in the hose from the door, the access is tight. If you have the right tools you might be able to do things quickly. If not, you'll have to take the inner door off and disconnect some wiring so that you can pull the plug out further to get better access to the wires.
 

m_hac

Active member
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Location
Newfoundland, Canada
TDI
Golf, 2000, Blue
I hauled off the wrinkled rubber hose and there was just a wire running through it. I couldn't see or feel where it connected through the door hole.

Then I tried to take off the interior door panel and I have no clue how to do that. I found 3 Torx screws on the bottom and one phillips up by the mirror. Most of the instructions I found on the web said that there is usually some screws behind the arm rest but I couldn't get mine off. I didn't try very hard because I'm afraid of doing notcable damage to my car. I couldn't find any instructions specifically for a 2000 Golf.
 

pepper10

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Location
Manchester, NH, USA
TDI
:)2002 A4 TDI , 2006 A5:)
I think your problem is the door switch. Unfortunately, it's not an easy fix. It is located in the door latch and cannot be replaced with a VW part on it's own. VW makes you change the latch. A malfunctionning switch will prevent the driver's door from locking without the key. Do a search for this door switch. I recall seeing a post on how to replace the switch yourself with a radioshack part...
 

T_D_I

Active member
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Try this:

Open the door and look at the little jaws on the door that clinch over the U-bolt deal on the B piller.

Hold the inside door handle in the "open door" position while you use the side of your switchblade key to articulate the jaws open and shut (as if the door was being open and closed) spray some WD-40 in there too.

Jimmy it around for 30 seconds or so and see what happens. I had the same problem and this at least fixed the problem of the door not locking every time. My car doesn't know when the door is opened either (bad sensor) but at least it locks reliably now and I don't have to visually inspect it when I leave.

Apparently getting inside the door to fix the sensor is a real pain, and I am not going to bother.
 
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