Help - door not opening

Racing Tortoise · Post by **Racing Tortoise** » Wed 31 May, 2006 07:53

I've just had a call from the friend of mine who looks after my car while I'm away to say that he can't get the door to open. He's tried opening it but there isn't the usual loud click as it unlatches.

Now ordinarily I'd assume this was due to a flat battery but the current battery is a heavy-duty job and less than a year old, and apparently he can see the immobiliser light flashing away happily so he doesn't think that's the issue. So I've packed him off to have another try (not least on the other door!) and equipped with the instructions on how to open the door if the battery is dead.

However, until he gets back to me does anyone have any clues as to what might be amiss? Do the doors need a lot of power - ie more than the immobiliser? The car hasn't been used for a month but is in a garage. Could the door have failed? I shouldn't have thought the lock has seized, since I greased everything about a month ago when I last used the car. In addition the doors were stripped down and renovated at the last service about 6 months ago.

Nik Rite · Post by **Nik Rite** » Thu 01 Jun, 2006 19:54

Dear Teatray, got me thinking! Is there any resistance at all when the button is pressed even with different key positions in the barrel? Does the other button feel differet on the other side? Do the emergency door latches work by turning the key?My gut feeling is that this is NOT a serious problem. Nik

Racing Tortoise · Post by **Racing Tortoise** » Fri 02 Jun, 2006 07:50

I don't know - I'm having to do this by remote and I haven't heard back yet. What are the emergency door latches?

Nik Rite · Post by **Nik Rite** » Fri 02 Jun, 2006 18:28

Never used them myself but Im sure there are Bods out there who know more than me about them. But basically you turn the key past its normal open or possibly locking position and that should undo the door latch if there is a power cut. Can anyone out there give more advice ? NIK

Racing Tortoise · Post by **Racing Tortoise** » Mon 05 Jun, 2006 09:53

Ok the problem seems to have solved itself. When my mate went back yesterday to have another try, it was working again.

However he said that in the gloom of the garage he noticed a tiny blue spark from the lock (he described it as being like the one you sometimes get with light switches in houses) the first time he turned the key. He then operated the door a few times to be sure and it continued to work fine and he never saw the spark again.

Are there any known short-circuit-type faults that this could be the result of? Or could water in the lock do this (unavoidably the car was garaged shortly after being washed - it was that or leave it filthy)?