VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum banner

Random central locking issues - Winter only

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Bennymassive 
#1 ·
My T5 AXD Caravelle gets random central locking issues in Winter, then works properly again in the spring. The drivers door always opens on the fob. The front passenger door sometimes works with a groan. The rear sliding doors sometimes work on the fob, but one or more of the front and rear passenger doors often remained dead-locked. I stand more chance of getting the doors open with the door switch and I noticed yesterday that none of the passenger doors opened on the fob, or door switch, but the all opened once I had started the engine and tried on the door switch again. I checked the wiring under the drivers seat yesterday and the the floor is dry and the crimp was good with no corrosion. Any ideas? Could this be due to a low battery in winter or the locks sticking due to thicker lubrication in the cold? It seems like the signal get through to all the doors, they just don't always open. Once the weather warms up all will be good again.
 
#2 ·
Quick update. Issues were due to the actuator in the n/s front passenger door. It always sounded laboured and was the worst affected door. Replaced with a second hand unit (actually second, second hand unit as the first was duff). All the doors now work perfectly. So the issue with front passenger door, was also affecting both rear sliding doors. I noticed I can't communicate with the central locking module with VCDS, but I will ignore that for now, as it all works.
 
#4 ·
I checked that first. There was no corrosion on the crimp joint or the connectors. I was starting think there might be an issue with the module itself. However, the unit in the passenger door seems to have cured all the issues. I haven't actually tried to connect to the module since fitting the new actuator. I will try again in the morning.
 
#6 ·
That's correct Benny. The door modules on the older vans are only fairly 'dumb' slaves and can't be interrogated by VCDS individually. Almost everything is seen and done in the conv unit, door lock positions and locking options like selective locking and the 'doors lock at 10mph' thing.

I didn't notice your original post but I had the same thing with the driver's door. It worked fine in summer and sometimes in winter but more likely refuses to open (unless I banged my palm on the door while pressing the remote) or it made a groaning noise and unlocked slowly. I took out the window glass and metal plate/motor and sprayed the lock from every angle I could. It has been fine since.
 
#7 ·
I have always just accepted that I need to lock the van several times in winter before all the doors were locked and unlock it several times before most of the doors were unlocked (if I was carrying passengers). The front passenger door gave up completely in the cold weather (locked shut). I managed to get it open spraying half a can of WD40 through the rubber grommet and decided to change the unit before locking again. I got a genuine second hand unit and the front passenger door works perfectly now and I don't have any issues with the rear doors either now.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top