Hi,
I own a Golf mk3 GTI and last week, the central locking decided to play up. When I turned the key on either the drivers side or passenger doors to lock or unlock the car it would not lock/unlock the opposite door, But it would lock/unlock the petrol cap and boot so it wasn't an immediate problem. When I locked/unlocked the car the central locking unit in the boot would make a long whirring sound for about a minute and then stop.
So I thought this to be the problem. I opended it up and noticed the sound is coming from the motor inside the cylinder section of the unit. I followed the pipes as best as could without ripping apart the whole car to identify which ones were for the doors, boot and petrol cap.
I then tested the unit to see if when the key is turned if it blows air out to unlock and sucks air in to lock, and it worked fine. So it could be that a pipe is blocked or split? If it was split it would make sense because not enough air pressure is getting to both doors, petrol cap and boot to unlock them all at the same time.
I then disconnected everything and tested each one by one. so drivers door, passenger door etc. to do this i blew down each pipe to see if it unlocks. This worked! So I ruled out any blocks or splits in the pipes.
I then played around with the mechanism on the unit (oops) there are two white cogs/discs that sit over a metal pin. See pics.
I didn't take note where the cogs sit before I moved them (again oops). Do the cogs sit either side of the metal pin not touching? Or does one cog touch the pin and the other doesn't? As both cogs sit on a rod that moved in and out I'm guessing as the key is turned? Not quite sure because I couldn't see this happening when I tried to understand what those 2 cogs do. Can some one explain how they work?
Now after playing with the mechanism. If I lock/unlock the car it only unlocks that door. It no longer locks/unlocks the boot nor petrol cap
After about 3 hours of breaking it even more I feared the motor will burn out so I stopped and I am hoping some one can suggest what's going on?
In addition to all this I also have a alarm on a thob that up until this all started, unlocked everything by the button as well as deactivating/activating the alarm. Now it only deactivates/activates the alarm. It will not open any doors, petrol cap or boot.
At the moment I have taken the central locking unit out, permanently locked my boot, the petrol cap is always open and I have to lock/unlock each door manually
Hopefully that explains everything, sorry for the long post.
