Re: '01 S, pass. window not dropping when openning/closing door

My '01S now regularly (over 90% of the time) doesn't drop the window when u go to open the door, and thus is also up when u go to try to shut the door. I think it has to do something with the lock mechanism that's in the door. At least that is where I am going to start.

The window performs the correct functions when I go to put the top up or down. However, it is a little slower than the driver side window.

I also have the weird 'beep-beep' when I go to unlock my car with the fob, and the central lock light on the dash is almost always on now. I am thinking of starting with the lock mechanism as a place to start. Does the bentley have a way to diagnosis this?

I wonder if something has crapped out inside the lock, and it may be moisture related, as when it was intermittent earlier in the summer, I think it happened more after a rain.

Has anyone tried to take apart the lock/lock actuator?

Peter

I did mine about three weeks ago, mine had a collapsed piece in the window regulator. The piece was blue and looks like a cable adjuster on a motorcycle clutch lever. The piece being broken allows for slack to develop in the regulator, therefore the 12mm drop is used up taking up the slack. I changed mine and I'm golden again. You need to remove the air bag, so be care full as driving the car with the bag out puts on the airbag light. Ask me how I found that out! Mike put it out last week. If you need a hand bbm me.

I don't hear anything though when I pull the passengerside handle though.... I should here an up/down shouldn't I?

Does Randy only sell complete doors? I found a lock assembly (Worldpac) for $217 cdn.....

I can't work on it yet.... Jetta is out of commision, waiting for a hose from Part Source.....

P

assembly proved to be bad. The tech hooked up the PST2 and ran a few tests to see if a lesser (and cheaper) lock/switch assembly was at fault but it proved to the be the most expensive component. I'm on the road and the old lock is at home but AFAIK the lock is not servicable. I can't recall the cost but the assembly was expensive. Roughly $400 and there's an hour's labor or so to get to R&R the thing plus some computer time to clear the error codes in the security system and verify there are no other problems.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Well. Today Passenger window worked fine all day.. Couldn't replicate the stuck window thing for any of the trips today. Also central lock light stayed off all day. Under the driver seat feels dry.

of any odd behavior. Then out of the blue I'd get in the car and head away from work and the door lock led would come on. Often I'd have a co-worker in the car -- I give him a ride to the BART train station -- and I'd ask if he pushed the door lock button. No he had not. Or I'd get out of the car and lock the car with the remote button and the horn would sound. I'd suspect the center console and open the driver's side door and reach in and open and close the console and then lock the car and no horn would sound.

This went on a long time before the passenger side window would either fail to go down when the handle was pulled or worse go down then back up once the door was open and the handle released. It was only when this last symptom was an every door opening event that I had the cause looked into.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

apparently it affects 996's as well (they use the same lock actuator?) There is a blog posting on it.... and the author came to the same conclusion, the nonhandle microswitch in the door actuator is likely the culprit...... (When it was really bad, neither the inside or outside door handle would get the window to drop.

P

And it's likely either the microswitch in the door or the lock unit, which can be fussed with until it works acceptably.

Check under the driver's seat for moisture for the most likely cause of the other problems.

I've got my Jetta running, and out of the garage and have time to look at the Boxster. Well it's been not acting normal, windows working as they should, no central locking light.

I hate electrical gremlins.

perhaps there was moisture in the door that overwhelmed something electrical. Don't know where you are, but there has been a heckuva lot of rain and general humidity in some areas of the country.

On the way home from work today, the boxster did it's phantom central door led on, as well as the window not dropping when the door handles were pulled.... It was warm and sunny today, and think it may be related to temperature.

I decided to open up the door and take a look.

Window would do a phantom up and down when I touched the wiring harness near the connector which plugs into the door actuator. Everything felt dry, no corrosion could be seen. Looks like one of the contacts in the connector was making intermittent contact. I hate wrestling off the connectors, blind.


red arrow points to suspect connector. I used the smallest slot eyeglass screwdriver that I had and was able to reshape that connect to make it a bit tighter, and match the other snug looking connections. I also stuck my finger in the matching connector on the actuator side and gave a gentle push on the male tangs to hopefully get them seat better in the connector.

#2. Microswitch in the door actuator was a little out of place. It looks like it may have shifted a bit over time. I pushed it back into place blind. I did this while it was still in the door. It may have shifted less than 1/16th". Enough that the cam wasn't making full contact when the door latch was in the closed position. Keep in mind, the microswitch probably only has 1/8-5/32" travel between on and off. I am not sure if it will stay in place on it's own. I will keep an eye on it, and if it fails again I'll see if it is because the microswitch has shifted. I'll likely have to actually take the actuator out and epoxy it in place. There are people with Audi's who have found microswitches from digi-key that they rig to the door actuator. Looks like the microswitch is about a $6 part, but not available as it's own item from the dealer.

Advise to have a decent size dental mirror, or something like that. I had a small handheld mirror from my wife's toiletry bag that I was able to use to see inside the door cavity. Also electrical contact spray cleaner would have been nice, however, mine is missing. I think it might be in my wife's car, as I just fixed her master power lock switch this weekend.


Hopefully it's fixed and the repair lasts at least a year or 2. (this would help me decide if it's what I fixed was the actual problem, vs the problem just temporarily going away on it's own.)

P

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Link to more info on the door latch microswitch