rikardo79

Hi guys,

after couple hours what I spent on the forums I decided to post my prob here.
I have Audi A6 Estate 2001 1.8 T (UK).
I have a problem with lock/unlock the car.
I can't lock/unlock car manually by turning the key inside the driver door lock. I only can lock/unlock with key by pressing the buttons-remotely. And also that sometimes won't work too. Or sometimes its lock/unlock itself without touching the buttons.
And also when I drive and I tried to lock all doors from inside by pressing button on the drivers door thats won't work too but not always-its just lock/unlock really quick.
Any ideas if it is electrical or mechanical problem?
Couple weeks ago I had a problem to shut the drivers door so I sprayed the mechanism a lot with something like WD-40 and after that all that problems started.

Any help would be much appreciated!!!

johnkk

I have a hunch that your lock mechanism is failing. I recently had some of your problems, lock/unlock without doing anything and intermittent door not latching problems. Then I lost the door open chime, footwell lights, etc.

I ended up replacing the lock mechanism. You have to remove the door panel, window carrier, and loosen the door handle/lock cylinder, to be able to get the mechanism out. Took a couple of hours.

You might also have a broken lock cylinder. There is a little "T" shaped extension from the cylinder that engages the lock mechanism. It is not too strong and can snap. That is why I loosened the door handle cylinder, to provide clearance for this part to get the mechanism out without breaking the cylinder extension. As I understand it, if you do need a new cylinder, you will need a separate key for the driver's door, unless you want to buy and new ignition key mechanism and trunk/boot cylinder to match the new driver cylinder.

rikardo79

Thanks for the info.
I checked the locker mech. - mechanical + electrical part.
It's seems to be fine, I can't see any broken part,all the microswitches work. all cleaned and sprayed with the grease spray,fitted back and it's still same or worst-the system not detect the door is open and the footwell light not comm on,inside light,no info on the display on dash board and is lock automaticaly after couple sec.
So I will buy a secondhand locker from ebay today and will change it sometimes next week.Hope so it will help.
Will report next week

nickcarguy

I have been living with a broken driver door contact switch/latch for a couple of years. The mechanism works fine, it locks and unlocks. But the micro switch is shot. I get no footwell light, no door open chime/ icon, etc.
I've been putting off replacing the latch as not sure how much labor is involved. Door card has been off - that's the easy part.
Anyone have a DIY on how this is done?
Remove the entire window frame/carrier? Any assist would be appreciated.
tks

rollerton

Door latch's seem to be a weak spot in all modern VW / Audi's I've owned.
For our 99' A6 I figured I wouldn't be too far ahead replacing my used latch with another used one, and I don't wish to know what new one costs.
The simple and reliable fix is to install a regular door 'pin' - like on every older car that turns on the dome light when the door is open. I used one I had off a very old VW bug.
I tied it into the ground wire from the *red* courtesy light on the aft edge of the door. Open the door, the door pin grounds, the whole circuit it completed, everything works as it should.
Cost = free. Took about 40 minutes to do start to finish.

nickcarguy

Cost for a new latch assembly from Audi in Bergen County NJ is $236! And that's supposedly a discounted price. I know, I have one on order.
If the car wasn't otherwise perfect I would let it go. But have waited long enough. No lights, no alarm sensor, Doors re-locking becasue the driver door sensor doesn't know the doors been opened after unlock.
Going to tackle it this weekend.
I did connect ground wire to the footwell light, and it lit. So I'm fairly certain my problem is the famous latch-micro switch has gone south.

Redneck Truck

Can't you replace the microswitch in the latch for like $3? Get on TDIclub and look up this fix, just in case it's the same as the a6's. For the MK4 vw's (and it wouldn't surprise me at all if these had the same setup), it's just a microswitch that fails quite reliably, and you replace it for super cheap.

rikardo79

Hi all,
finally I managed to fix my problem.
I bought secondhand door lock mechanism from ebay. I leave the original mechanic part which is OK and changed the electrical part where all microswitches are.
Now everything is OK, all functions like light on when door open, door open detection on the dash screen, etc..
Thanks all for help

OOOOya

Search...there's an article somewhere detailing the process. The guy who did it rebuilt the electrical side (motors) of the latch and did a pretty good job of detailing the door dis-assembly IIRC.

If you can pull the door card, you can certainly do the rest. Removing the window frame is required, but once you get beyond the apprehension it's very easy. Be sure to mark where the wedge-shims are or you will have to fiddle with the window frame alignment on the way back together.

I replaced a door latch in each of our C5's a couple months ago. I bought a pair out of a 2004 model off ebay for $80 shipped. Easy.

Here's a Slideshow I just put together with some pictures I took during the process

OOOOya

The problem, from what I saw replacing 2 latches in 2 different cars, does not stem from the switch. The feeble plastic switch gets broken after the rubber coating on the latch the switch rides on gets warm & tears. Once the rubber coating is torn, it's only a matter of time before the button on the microswitch snags and breaks off. On one of my used replacement latches, I creatively installed a small length of shimstock to ride between the torn-rubber-latch and the microswitch.