new beetle door problem

just wondering if anyone has any ideas on this one...

yest morning the beetle door didnt open properly, i managed to get it open then once id got to alford it would shut again but not lock on the key fob, but you could lock it with the key (central locking wouldnt work though) , well on investigation the sensor / switch on the door latch mechanism was on all the time so the door card light was on (common prob and same on mk4's) , so i sniped the wire which turned the light out, and would let me lock the car on the fob. on reassembly of the door / window reg etc i tested the door would open shut ok which it did no probs, then i shut the door, then locked it on the remote and since then even though it locks and unlocks it wont let you open the door from the inside or outside.....

so its tuned into a nightmare, theres no way youll get the door card off inside the car to see if i can release the latch some how and popped the car to louth vw and there not overly sure on the best way to approach it with out maybe damaging other things....

so any idea how i can pop this car door open?

its a 2001 vw beetle

cheers

Ok firstly the few things i thought about is i think the door is locked in dead lock. Had a similer problem like this with a vauxhall that came into college today but we managed to fix it with the door open. So really we first need to think of a way to get the door open. Is the passager door all ok i locking ad unlocking???? Is it defo the lock on the drivers door that is at fault? Basically there are 2 option here, first is to try and locate where the dead lock system runs from and see if there is a way of trying to reset it (this is quiet a common fault in all cars, so it most likely will have something to reset it), the other thig that might have happened is when you have shut the door is has kinked a wire which is now earthing out and causeing the car to stay locked. Can you not put the window ad start to strip the door card down from the top? at least to have enough access to try and unlock the door.

got no chance of getting in mate, the beetle has a massive steel window reg panel behind the door panel , same as mk4 golfs (as thats what the car is based on) , deffo no wires trapped, im a perfectionist when it comes to stripping stuff down and repairing as its my job, i know what your saying about the deadlock side of things, if i pushthe button down on the passenger door and pull the internal handle it takes one pull to raise the pin / unlock , then you pull the handle again before it lets you out, so it works on some kind of rachet system with in the latch mechansim, bit after many pulls of both handles etc i think the door latch is totally foo barred and im going to need a replacement anyway which isnt a problem to fit , im just stuck at getting the door to open!


have just done a google search and found some info , some one else had a similar problem and had to remove rear seat, then remove rear quater trim to get into panel, then they ground down the bolts that hold the latch clip to the b post and drilled them out... so looks like its going to be a messy time consuming job i thinks.....

gonna have to stay how it is till ive moved then ill get new bolts etc and give it a try...... , its a ball ache for the mrs to be climbing over passenger seat etc to use the car, not ideal but still useable my main worry is if she has an incident then there no way of getting out that side

At least you get a nice view of her arse everytime your taking her somwhere

caistor_bmx wrote:At least you get a nice view of her arse everytime your taking her somwhere

Always seeing the positives in a bad situation

Put a notice in the window saying "In the case of an accident please use other door to get me out"

Mate i really feel for you, those doors are like they came off a tank, i will ask some of the tech guys at college tomorrow and see what they say, some of them might have ideas.

dukes of hazzard anyone

caistor_bmx wrote:At least you get a nice view of her arse everytime your taking her somwhere

haha i wouldnt mind mate but after having our 3 kids and not being the slimmest its not a pretty sight lol.....

THEDUBFATHER wrote:

caistor_bmx wrote:At least you get a nice view of her arse everytime your taking her somwhere

haha i wouldnt mind mate but after having our 3 kids and not being the slimmest its not a pretty sight lol.....

So climbing over is thwart with danger, both for car and passenger alike?

well have ordered new latch / mechanism bit and two new bolts ready for when i drill the latch catch pin out from the back....

pick the bits up and attempt it on saturday..... should be fun..... not

lol

Good luck mate, sounds like it could be a mare of a job.

yeah can see it being an utter ball ache.... lol

well got it sorted yesterday, not as bad of a job as i had thought,

removed rear seat, removed rear quater panel trim then the speaker, ground down the threads on the bolts that hold the door catch pin in place, then center punched and drilled them out, with a bit of bending of what was left of the bolts the door came free, then it was just a case of fitting the new latch / midule to the door and setting it all up.

so if any one has this issue on a new beetle , or possibly a 3 door mk4 let me know and ill offer some assistance!!, the vw garages didnt know how to approach it, but i did and it worked without wrecking the door trim panel or the window reg panel.

THEDUBFATHER wrote:"then it was just a case of fitting the new latch / midule to the door and setting it all up"

This is a good news story, thanks, very helpful in bringing down my blood pressure.

I still wonder what exactly was the root cause. I too had the same sequence of events - refitting the window mechanism panel and the lock assembly (at dusk in a car park) and on closing finding that the deadlock was working oh so well, locked shut.

I don't believe that the unit has become defective, but rather that I have made a silly installation error (so I can avoid fitting a new unit once I get the door open once more).

Any thoughts on the root cause?

Tom

I did find this as a possilbe root cause, but sadly not mine: the wire connecting the latch mech to the door handle can be set too taught
Its on the newbeetle dot org forum under 'help doors wont open inside out' post no. 19

TTT wrote:I did find this as a possilbe root cause, but sadly not mine

Fess up time.
This failure mode was exactly what actually stuffed me up initially, then compounded by one other well intentioned and reasonably well informed decision, then hey presto, big b**s up.

I did end up also following the same strategy
Open up quarter panel
hack of visible part of bolts on the retainer plate for the door striker plate
Centre punch and then drill out bolts (NON TRIVIAL) these are stainless steel so not easy to machine, awkward to hold, drop through and spin etc. etc. UGLY!
Bend over and punch/chisel the last bits when all further drilling is pointless.

Total time for two bolts about 6 hours (plus two hours shopping)

Pics linked here
http://newbeetle.org/forums/questions-issues-concerns-problems-new-beetle/60384-opening-unopenable-door.html#post837394