Door Lock Module Question

[U4ick]

Got a problem on my right rear door.....will not lock or unlock with door switch or key fob, have to manually lock or unlock it.

Removed the door card and stuck the probes of a 12v test light into the back of the connector plugged into the door regulator on the blue and purple wires which according to the schematics is a direct line to the motor in the door actuator. Fortunately ( or unfortunately ) the light lit for a second when opening or closing the door with the key fob.

Removed the door lock and set it on my work bench and tried applying power from a 12v power supply to the two pins in the connector socket that go to the motor. No worky. Deciding that the only answer was that the motor had failed, out of curiosity, I opened up the electrical side of the door lock and removed the motor and the screw drive mechanism. Now, testing the motor, it worked flawlessly, both directions. Examining the drive, I see chunks of a light orange, plastic, biodegradable type material in it and scattered in the interior of the housing. I clean it up and put it back together and now it is opening and closing without issue!

I'm not sure whether to trust it or not. I tried putting the pieces of the material together and the best I can tell is that it was some kind of bushing but where it went I could not figure out. I have not been able to find out what this is by google or you tube. If anybody else has been down this road before...."enlighten me".

 

[Windex]

LIkely getting weak, or has a dull spot on the commutator. I would order another one and have it ready to go when it eventually fails

 

[dhangejr]

I’d guess this is interesting to you like it is me …I’m having a similar problem with my drivers door. I did replace the actuator about a year ago to solve an issue where the alarm did not arm. IIRC there’s exactly 4 micro switches in the door lock but I’m going off long memory now

 

[irvingj]

Very nicely done video! Love this guy's clear, sharp close-ups.

Wish I had done that when I disassembled my driver's door window control; had some issues, but all good now, with no new parts at all.

 

[U4ick]

’d guess this is interesting to you like it is me

Yeah, I guess it is, and I guess I'm just getting my geek on, but when you really start looking at it, it's amazing the amount of engineering detail and circuitry that went into a basic need to lock and unlock doors. I've got a 2001 Civic with 278,000 miles on it and it has all the original door actuators and does everything the Jetta does but without one hiccup. It does have the 2 wire button in every door jamb instead of the micro-switch though. Comparing the two, the underlying principle of everything in the Civic is KISS. The only drawback.... it rides like a roller skate and there is very little you can do to improve it, it's also boring to drive.

I guess VW came out with a new and improved version of the door lock in 2002 and pretty much eliminated all the cold solder joint issues with a heavier duty circuit board and simplified the lock-unlock operation by doing away with that copper slip-clutch apparatus. In fact, the only door lock issues I've had to deal with on my 03 was the micro-switch on the mechanical portion of the lock that I replaced with the Omron switch with the metal bar. This issue that I'm having with the RR lock I'm thinking now was caused by the carrier being at the end of it's travel and on the micro-switch limit was not allowed to go any farther in one direction and some of the crumbled rubber debris that I was talking about earlier was wedged in the gears and not allowing it to go in the other direction. Over time, getting blipped occasionally with voltage, burned a spot on the commutator and it went dead. That's only a hypothesis, but still, I wonder, what in the hell would posses someone to put a bushing or grommet or whatever, inside a sealed container where gears are meshing and a screw-drive carrier is moving back and forth, made out of some material that is going to decompose and scatter debris everywhere? It's like the guy said to Dirty Harry....."I jus gots to know".