51 Plate VW Bora Central Locking
Hi all,
My 1.9 tdi VW Bora has been a great car but over time the central locking is bit by bit failing.
First the front passenger side door stopped popping up ( much to the wifes annoyance ), then the rear passenger door did the same and to cap it all my front door sometimes pops up but mostly doesnt work at all now. The passenger side door just simply doesnt work whatever I try.
If you try and open the handles from inside they wont work either. I did take off the passenger front inside trim off to see if I could see whats up but quite frankly I have not got a clue.
I now resort to opening my front door with a key 75% of the time and then getting in and pulling the black plastic passenger side ( with trim hanging off ) to get the wife in. My 3 1/2 year old just scrambles over my front seats to jump into his car seat in the back. All very frustrating.
I took it to my trusted ( cheap ) local garage but they wont touch it, recommending an alarm specialist ?
I dont have bags of dosh at my disposal and the local VW dealership just frowned and tutted and said it could need a new central locking system at worst but wouldnt know without looking at it. ( They quoted a ridiculous "worse case scenario" price for a new central locking system and I dont like using dealerships anyway due to high costs).
I am now left with a working boot and an occasional working front drivers side door.
I live in Maidstone Kent.
Any advice please ?
Thanks Claire.
Will send them an email now and of course mention you and the team.
But if anyone else wants to help here please post away.
Was wondering how much this headache is going to cost ?
what about removimg the fuse that controls de locking system?
Cheers ears,
Its not the fuse as its still attempting to pop up the locks. Makes the noise / goes through the motion but nothing happens.
Well nothing happens the majority of the time ( as posted - sometimes the drivers door pops up ).
Incidently, the drivers door always locks when using the key remote ( the others dont ) and the alarm works fine.
Any alarm / lock specialists out there ?
Anyone, please ???
I had this on my old Bora. Started with one rear door, then the other and finally the passenger door. VW wanted over £500! Took it to a local guy in the end that did it for about £150 if I remember correctly. It's not the alarm but a fault with the door release.
If the locj i making the right noises as if attempting to operate, I'd have thought the problem would be of a mechanical nature and therefore possible to see what is wrong, i.e. is something sticking or jamming, is a linkage broken or worn, is a joint or something loose. If you've already popped the inner door panel off I'd have a really good look and also see if the lock can be opened manually by pushing/pulling the relevant rods and levers. All this should help you to find where the problem lies.
Good luck!
I've owed a few VW's and had issues with one of them. The central locking system on my VW's is operated by a vacuum pump located in the boot under the carpet behind the rear light cluster. Sounds like you could have a leak in the vacuum system somewhere, or a dodgy pump.
You will be able to locate the pump by opening the boot and attempting to open / lock the car with the cental locking. You should hear a whirring noise of the pump operating.
The pump should have small plastic hoses coming out of it, going to each door. Check that these hoses are still attached firmly to the pump, and where the tubes enter each door. If you open your doors, and look at the 'hinge end' you should see a black rubber flexible tube between the door and the frame. This rubber boot takes all the speaker wires/power wires and vacuum tubes from the car into the door. You can normally remove the rubber tube by twisting - if you are able to do this, you can check if the tubes are still attached properly at this connection.
The above is not for a Bora, but various Golfs.
I've owed a few VW's and had issues with one of them. The central locking system on my VW's is operated by a vacuum pump located in the boot under the carpet behind the rear light cluster. Sounds like you could have a leak in the vacuum system somewhere, or a dodgy pump.
You will be able to locate the pump by opening the boot and attempting to open / lock the car with the cental locking. You should hear a whirring noise of the pump operating.
The pump should have small plastic hoses coming out of it, going to each door. Check that these hoses are still attached firmly to the pump, and where the tubes enter each door. If you open your doors, and look at the 'hinge end' you should see a black rubber flexible tube between the door and the frame. This rubber boot takes all the speaker wires/power wires and vacuum tubes from the car into the door. You can normally remove the rubber tube by twisting - if you are able to do this, you can check if the tubes are still attached properly at this connection.
The above is not for a Bora, but various Golfs.
Cheers all,
Binman - thanks - Im no mechanic but this does sound like a viable solution to my problem and I will have a look at the weekend. Sounds a little complicated but will give it a go, Im a bit heavy handed to be honest so will probably loose patience with it all.
I did look at all the rods etc ( which work when I use them manually ) but cant see an obvious problem.
Knew you guys would give some valuable advice eventually.
Any honest repairers out there who can help and live near Maidstone Kent please ? Sounds like I need to pay someone who knows what they are doing ? ( But Im not paying £500 !!! )
Our colleagues on What Car? may be able to help on this - they have a helpdesk that you can contact here:
wchelpdesk@whatcar.com
Tell 'em we referred you
Group PR Manager - Computers Unlimited;
Former Group Editor of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision and Whathifi.com
Twitter: @ClareNewsome