[A4] 1998 A4 2.8 Quattro - Problem with door locks .. (Venkat Ratnam)

[Jonathan]

Hi Venkat,

I have a similar intermitent problem with my car. I have a 96 A4, I think 
their locking systems are the same. (Feel free to correct me).

First thing first though:
For your biggest problem, the fuel cover being locked, that is surprsingly 
easy to solve. Open the boot and take everything out. Also take out the carpet 
that covers the spare wheel.
Then closest to you, where the boot closes is a plastic decal. There are 
button head screws in that on the inside verticle. Take allthose screws out 
and remove the plasitc decal. be gentle with it!
Next on the side where the fuel cover is, remove the "carpet" wall. There 
should be some more screws holding this in. They have the same surface finish 
as the wall so well camoflaged. Use a good eye to find as many as you can and 
remove them. Then VERY gently peal it away towards the centre of the car. If 
it won't come, find the point of most resitance and there will be a screw you 
missed!

Behind there should be various pieces of sheet metal and a few other do-dah's. 
What you are looking for is what looks like a poice of wire coathanger running 
towards teh front of the car and slightly off horizontal. (Been a while since 
I've been in there, I can't remember if it is hiden by some sheet metal or 
not) Anyway, you want to find this wire and gently pull it towards the back of 
the car.

This wire is attached to a pin which locks the fuel cover. If your central 
locking system has truely failed, once you have done this, it will forever be 
unlcked until you push it back, or you fix your central locking system.


Second thng, diagnosing and fixing central locking system.
While you were doing the above, you may have noticed a wierd solid pump 
looking thing in the bottom of a well. Much like where the spare tools are, 
but on the other side of the car. This is the heart of your central locking 
system. When you lock your car, it whould whir as it blows or sucks (it does 
both of these regardless of whether it is working or not, just different 
defnition... hehehe...)  Oh, yea, your whole locking system is probably 
pneumatic. Another check it to disconnect the tubes running into. out of it 
and blow/ suck on them - to check continuity of the pipes.

If it whirs then it is not an electrical problem. If it doesn't, try a 
multimeter to see if the pump gets a signal. It probably will, and it will 
probably be your pump, replace it and pray.

If the car doesn't unlock/ lock as you blow and suck on the tubes, you 
probably have a leak. I would recomend having a close look at the doors areas. 
Again replace any tubes you suspect leak and pray.

If the pump gets no signal at all, it could be a broken wire or it could be 
some electronics somewhere in the aether of your car :(

Email me back if you didn't undestand any that

Cheers

Jon


>
>    1. 1998 A4 2.8 Quattro - Problem with door locks .. (Venkat Ratnam)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:16:06 +0000
> From: Venkat Ratnam <venkat14 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [A4] 1998 A4 2.8 Quattro - Problem with door locks ..
> To: A4 A4 Fans <a4 at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <BAY102-W39F0B40F062C66315B7A75C9FF0 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> Hello,
> I have the following problem. When I press the remote to close all the car
> doors, I hear the beep but the doors don't close or open automatically.
> Even if I use the key to manually lock or unlock the doors, only the front
> driver side door closes (and I hear the beep). I have to open and close all
> the other doors manually. I ran into a bigger problem now. The door to the
> gas tank doesn't open at all for the same reason either with the remote or
> with the key. Any ideas on what you think is the problem?
> Thanks.
> Venkat
>
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> End of A4 Digest, Vol 70, Issue 2
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