A4 doors conundrum

[nagantino]

My A4 is behaving in a most peculiar manner. Some months ago the front passenger door would not open from the fob. It opens from inside. That problem went away. Last month the rear passenger door behind the driver did the same. It went away. This week it's the drivers door that will not open. I've researched it to no avail using all sorts of tweeks but no joy. One suggestion was to open the drivers window and simultaneously pull on the outside door handle while pulling the inside door release. No good, but, now the drivers door and the front passenger door are not responding to the fob. With my limited knowledge it appears not to be a mechanical problem but what could it be?  I had to clamber in from the rear to open the door tonight. 

Has anyone experienced this and did you find a solution?

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Gerard, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch :) 

The first thing I'd recommend, if you haven't do e already is change the key fob batteries. My second recommendation is having a diagnostic check carried out to see what fault codes flag up. 

One thing it could be is the central locking module but as a way out thought, when was your battery last changed? 

If it's an old battery then this could be causing some of the electrical systems to play up. Has the car gone flat lately? Or have you found any other electrical oddities which could help suggest it's the battery at fault? 

Cheers

Steve

[nagantino]

Steve,

yes the batteries in the fobs are old. I've always suspected them for peculiar oddities. The battery under the bonnet has never been flat but I've had a dashboard message saying the battery needed a long run. Hmmm. I'll try new fob batteries tomorrow. Hope it's a simple fix. Thanks for the advice.

Gerard

[Steve Q]

7 hours ago, nagantino said:

Steve,

yes the batteries in the fobs are old. I've always suspected them for peculiar oddities. The battery under the bonnet has never been flat but I've had a dashboard message saying the battery needed a long run. Hmmm. I'll try new fob batteries tomorrow. Hope it's a simple fix. Thanks for the advice.

Gerard

You're welcome :) 

Sounds like a plan. Change the fob batteries and then check the date on the car battery to see how old it is. The average life expectancy of a battery is around 7 years so if it is older than this, then it is probably due to be changed. Please keep us posted on how you get on :) 

Cheers

Steve

[Magnet]

Hello Gerard,

I'm very much with Steve, and not meaning this to be a personal criticism, I'm not surprised the fob batteries have not been changed - they are a very much taken-for-granted/ignored item. When you think these remotes save us the minor effort of putting a key in a lock many times a day yet we expect them to continue doing that year after year, and our only action when they get a rather lethargic is to press the button harder!! 

I'm from the school of simple thoughts and with anything like this, changing the of battery would be the first port of call, then changing them annually from there - but not with batteries from the pound shop! 

The car's battery may be its original, and if so, it is likely to have done the best of  its serviceable life after some 9/10 years, so I would take the car for an hour's run to ensure its charged then getting it tested. Halfords do this, and of course sell batteries, but it depends how much you respect your wallet. If the battery does need replacing, then personally I wouldn't buy a battery with less than 4 years warranty. It is possible that the original battery was by Varta or Bosch and there are some good deals going on the Internet on Varta batteries at the moment. I'm just about to buy one for a non-Audi and can let you know where I will be buying mine at a good price if it helps. 

I believe the locking is controlled by the driver's door mechanism, and it might be worth squirting some WD40 down into the area around the lock - it might help.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[nagantino]

Thanks chaps. Well, I set out yesterday to fix my problem with the doors. Here's what happened. I Googled the issue and noticed that the fob might need to be re programmed after a battery is fitted. So I went to Halfords. They checked the model on the computer and confirmed it needs to be reprogrammed. They would not touch it. They recommended taking it back to where I bought it or to Audi. Took it to where I bought the car. They would not touch it. They recommended taking it to BMW which was nearby or to Audi which is not near by. I decided to go to Audi. Lovely people and a fabulous showroom. I explained the problem and was told Yes the fob will need reprogrammed which takes several hours!  What!  Practically, that would mean not having the car for a day and a taxi journey also. But one of the guys asked to see the car. I showed him the problem and was surprised to see him use a diagnostic type tool that showed where the radio stations display. No good. He thought it might be the unit that received the signal/command to open the doors which sounded logical. If it's left with Audi it will be £60 for the first hour to find the problem then they will phone for whatever comes next. I don't mind that but it's the awkwardness of getting it to Audi. There is a guy near me though who is good. I might try him. 

So there. What about this reprogramming the fob thing? YouTube show an easy fix. Has anyone tried it? 

[Magnet]

Hello Gerard,

Can we take it you only have the one remote rather than the two that were originally supplied with the car, and if you do have the second one that that isn't working either? 

As you are now probably aware, there are documented procedures to be found on the Internet which guide you through the principles of supposedly re programming, and if you read enough of them then you will find there are subtle differences around a basic theme. My second remote doesn't open the doors anymore and I tried all of these without success, but you might be lucky if you study them all.

All things being equal, these remotes do not have to be reprogrammed at a routine battery change, but might need doing so if the fob battery remains low for an extended period of time, so the recommendation of regularly changing these batteries still stands. 

Back to your issue Gerard - positive suggestions:- Try to find out if there is an Audi independent close to you ( someone on here might know), and/or pay a visit to your local smaller scale car sales sites and ask there. These boys often have the knowledge of who does what with such things.

Good luck with getting it sorted.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[nagantino]

Magnet,

I took the fob to a localparts supplier today and changed the fob battery. No problem. The fob worked so I wonder what the reprogramming advice is all about. But the drivers door remains shut.  Yes I have two key fobs but both have never had a new battery from me. The Audi is 2008 so it's possible they have never been changed. I found a local guy, who I believe, is not a B/S artist. After talking to many, I think the Audi guy is right, in that a unit that receives the Open Command from the fob is at fault. Its booked in for Tuesday and I will report back on  my progress. Ho Hum.

Gerard

[Magnet]

Hello Gerard again,

Right, correct quality battery correctly installed seems to have solved part of the issue. Being cynical, the helpful Audi guy is the plant to get you signed up to bring the car into the dealer - bit as old as the hills is that one. Anyway, some will call it an overkill, but I always renew fob batteries with a car I don't know, since remotes are such hard working components and are often/ always overlooked even with FSH.

Back to your remaining problem. Before spending money, have you tried the WD 40 squirting in the region of the lock yet? Fully open the window and stick the nozzle down the side of the glass and give it a good dowsing. Might not do anything, but might just too! Lock and unlock the door with the key afterwards.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[nagantino]

Well it's fixed. I tried the WD40 but no go. It needed a new drivers door lock and cable. A local guy did the work.

Lock.  £104.18

Cable  £8.95

Labour  £80

VAT.       £38

£231.73

Many thanks everyone who tried to help.

Gerry