central locking/ drivers door lock playing up

[bearproof dave]

hi there
drivers door lock is not responding to remote central locking. when operated manually all doors lock as they should. all other doors respond to the remote cental locking as they should.
have stripped door down and nothing appears to be obviously broken. the car has had an on-going random alarm problem for some time. could this be related?
scanners dont seem to like speaking to this car so no luck there.
im planning to replace the complete drivers door lock/actuator. is there anything else i should check first i.e is the wiring a common thing to fail?
ive seen brand new door lock?actuator units on ebay for £30 from "okzam automotive parts". looks to be genuine. anybody had any experience with this seller.
also, am i right in thinking that the locks are different on a 3 and 5 door car.
mine is a  5 door, s reg mk4 golf gttdi

any help would be appreciated
cheers

[hardmonkeys]

Sounds like the control module in the door...apparently it's a common fault the mk4..VAGCOM can confirm this. Mine has faulty control modules on all 4 doors lol

Just make sure you check the doors before you walk away from at night

[bearproof dave]

am i right in thinking the control modules are built into the catches?
the pass side rear sometimes pops back up again when manually locking. i guess this one could do with replacing aswell.
im in the habit now of manually locking the drivers doors twice (according to the manual, this disables the alarm system). seems to do the trick.
im hoping by changing the drivers door catch/module, it will help with the random alarm problem.
cheers for your help

[hardmonkeys]

Yes, I think so, I'm new to mk4s too, so learning still :-)

[brewey]

There is a chance that you can fix the modules by re-soldering the connections. If you take the module out you will be able to see if the solder has cracked/ broken which is causing the fault. I'm not saying it will 100% be this but it is certainly something I would try before going out and buy new modules.

There is a guide somewhere which tells you the pins most likely to need heating, if you do a search you should find it, I will say however that the module is buried deep within the door skin, meaning you have to remove everything which is a PITA but not too hard, just make sure that you secure the window with some duct tape before you take it all out so it doesn't disappear and shatter.

[hardmonkeys]

This is useful information, like I say I need all 4, so it's worth ago isn't it!

Thanks

[brewey]

Yeah, the price would soon rack up. I think the guide I used may have been on Vortex but I can't remember it being too hard to find.

[hardmonkeys]

I need a decent soldering iron, I'll be giving it a go i think

[beppe2672]

Here's a link for the door module fix.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=86403.0
I've had to do this to 3 of my door modules, it sorted the dramas! You'll also need a m8 spline bit to remove the door module, don't try to use a torq bit! It'll round off and you'll never get it out!

[hardmonkeys]

Thanks Beppe, I think I've got the tool bit..