Pothole5000

Should be the same number of pulls for the rear doors too.

Make sure whatever pocket you have you're key in is turned towards the car. I've noticed if my keys are in my right pocket and I'm standing with the right side of my body away from the car the sensor cannot verify the presents of the key. If I turn and stand square to the car it work every time.

robermcm

I’ve found my thank you gift to you folks who helped me fix my car. This website.

https://www.mvwautotechniek.nl/en/electronics/

Fantastic, from basics of diagnosis to heavy weight canbus osiliscope stuff. And more. Awesome reading material for me in weeks to come!

jzw

Just curious, I also get fault message about exterior door handle sensor. But all my doors work. Does it mean it still might have a parasitic draw? This is the least thing I am worried about at this point. But will need to get to it sooner or later.

Pothole5000

Do the little black locking buttons on the handle also all work?

'10Q7TDI_Prestige'

If you have a trouble/fault code, then yes, it is slowly draining your battery due to the circuit is grounded. The initial topic of this thread only works for the proximity sensor, so be sure to check the function of all door handle buttons on exterior (each door) to see if any are grounded/nonfunctional. If so, best bet is simply to unplug the door handle from connector inside the door, which resolves both issues.

If the exterior door handle 'buttons' do not function to lock/unlock the doors, then they are also grounded and adding to your electrical drain. The way to resolve: disconnect the door handle's wire harness inside the door panel...this also takes care of the proximity sensor issue at same time if both button and sensor are bad on your door(s).

I finally unplugged the electrical connector from the base of the door handle inside of the door; it's pretty easy to do after watching online videos to see where/how to remove the door trim w/o breaking it, as those pieces cover the retaining screws for door panel, etc. I was a bit worried as only had a couple 'popsicle' stick, nylon trim tools, but that was all I needed. (and a T25 bit with extension to reach the fasteners themselves).

TIP: Pry at base of the door pull when removing the outer cover, do not pry at the top of it...likewise, pro only on the extreme right side of the wood/metal trim piece, as other side is 'hooked' in. There's a fitted plastic cover beneath the door panel, which has markers on it to show location of the clips/where to push in. I just used a trim tool edge to push in and release them until panel was removed to allow access to door handle base. Don't touch the upper electrical connector. The one for the door handle wiring is the bottom connector. I taped it up and secured after disconnection so won't rattle around in door.

SundanceGS

Hello all, I am a new member and just bought a 2013 Q7 TDI with the door handle sensor issues discussed in this thread. I apologize for the question, but I’d like to get some clarification regarding the initial “electronic vasectomy” discussed in the first pages here. I couldn’t tell with 100% certainty, does the clipping of the wire in the A pillar NOT solve the parasitic drain? Several folks said this worked for them but then the conversation seemed to shift to door card removal and unplugging of the sensor was required to fix the draining battery problem.

i appreciate any additional words of wisdom regarding whether the clipping of the wire does actually solve the problem or not.

Thanks!

4Driver4

Welcome!
I had to pull the panel and unplug. Pulling the pin at the hinge did not solve my issue.
Personally, I'd just cut to the chase and pull the panel. One and done.
Good luck.

SundanceGS

Great, that’s the information I was looking for… thanks! And thank you for the welcome! 🙂

'10Q7TDI_Prestige'

So the door handles have two basic functions; the embedded proximity sensor (which fails/grounds out eventually), and the exterior push-button, which serves to unlock/lock, so you don't need to have the remote in hand to lock car, etc. There is a third functionality also; pulling the door handle out slightly (double-pull) triggers a diff sensor, which unlocks the door if you have the key fob on you, etc.

The 'labotomy' is quick & easy, but only impacts the embedded proximity sensor; this is useful if your door buttons still work normally and the fault is only with the proximity sensor. The error messages actually state which component is bad and the location (door).

If you find a door where proximity sensor is faulted, but also the push-button on exterior is barely functioning or has become just a solid, unmoving mass, then going in through the door panel is a much better 'total fix' for the issue, as when you unplug the connector at the base of the door handle (and only for the base of handle), it resolves both the proximity and push-button failures in that door handle.

There will be 'open circuit' error codes stored for that door handle due to it being disconnected from the loop, but that's fine as it won't be draining power, and, as a bonus, the backup, double-pull opening feature will work better than ever, so long as you don't disconnect that sensor too by mistake, etc.

My suggestion is to test all the exterior door buttons to see how they are doing, then decide from there. I like having the exterior door buttons, as they are useful to me. I've only removed the door panel on doors when the exterior button is toast. To each their own.

SundanceGS

Ah, thanks so much, that’s great information as well! My door handle buttons all work fine… it’s the sensor that unlocks the doors when you touch the handle that don’t operate. I have this problem on three of the doors. The fourth one hasn’t broken yet. My codes are 00190, 00191, and 00193. Of course, I can still open those doors by pulling twice in the handle, which is perfectly fine with me. If deponning the 15 wire solves the battery drain from these sensors, then I’ll go that route first. I’ll remove the door cards if that doesn’t work… I’m not that great at putting trim pieces back together, so I’ll leave that as the option of last resort.

thanks again for the info!