door doesn't lock but sometimes it does

[Aquaticmind]

Hi all,
I'm having an issue with the rear passenger side door lock. Sometime when I lock the doors it will not lock, other times it does. Often if I lock-unlock-lock it will eventually lock, I have never had an issue with it not unlocking.

I don't know how the locking system works on these car and I was wondering if anyone had solved a similar situation or

03 JettaWagon , power locks.

 

[oilhammer]

There are two kinds of those cars. Ones with door latches that are bad, and ones with door latches that will be bad or have already been replaced.

If by some miracle your car has made it 18 years with all four of its original latches working and functioning as new, count yourself very lucky.

I have some 20+ doors total in my Volkswagen fleet of mostly A4 and B5 cars, and it is much like a game of whack-a-mole keeping all my cars' door latches working properly.

 

[hskrdu]

This is the primary thread for the OP:

Stupid door Switch!! $3 Fix!!!

I have my drivers door all tore apart. I am trying to fix my door switch. The one that tells you if the door is open or not and turns on the interior lights and the door light on the door. I have determined that the little switch that does this is bad since it fell apart when I removed the lock...

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[Aquaticmind]

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the door switch telling me if it is open or closed (those stoped working a long time ago). I am referring to the actual door lock getting stuck in the unlock position, requiring me to go manually lock it.

Is there any thing I can do short of tearing the door apart to try and fix the lock or make the situation better?

 

[oilhammer]

So your latches have been bad for a while then. And now, they are "more bad". They can fail in a variety of ways, the fix is the same: replace the latch.

Don't overthink it. Although since you've (I assume) let them all fail you may not want to spend $1k to get them all working again properly.

Ways they fail:

Will not lock.

Will not UNlock.

Will not alert the CCM the door is locked.

Will not alert the CCM the door is UNlocked.

Will not alert the CCM the door is open.

Will not alert the CCM the door is closed.

And driver's door only: will not work the external key cylinder on or off switching.

All of the data is available via the CCM via a suitable scan tool. And often if it is a lock actuator failure it will flag a DTC.

 

[Aquaticmind]

Gotcha, so it sounds like I should shoot for replacing all the latches sooner or later, and the lock not working is just the continuation of the deteriorating situation.

 

[oilhammer]

That is how I take it, yes.

It is your time if you want to take the latch out and try and take it apart ind fix it, as the actual failure mode(s) internally are almost always related to a bad solder joint or a bad microswitch. Too much effort to me to try that, though.

 

[Aquaticmind]

Good to know they could be fixed, but for $100 buck to swap out the unit, seems like it's worth the time saving.

From what I gather a junkyard unit is likely to also crap out, so a new unit seems like the way to go. ...