New actuator and now the door won't open.

3128 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Bradleys, Apr 29, 2015

Bradleys

Discussion Starter · Apr 19, 2015

So, my daughter has a 2005 Convertible and the door stopped responding to the lock / unlock commands from either the fob or the in door switch.

Easy problem to fix, I ordered a new door mechanism and did the swap. Everything hooked up fine until I shut the door... And that was it, the door is closed and will not reopen. (Passenger side)

I managed to remove the door handle and pull directly on the cable - no joy...

Something is wrong with the new mech and it simply will not release the door.

The only think I can think of at this point is to use a sawsall to remove the backer plate form the backside of the B-pillar. Assuming I can access it!

Any thoughts?

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red99

· #2 · Apr 19, 2015

There is a spring that needs to be preset during the latch installation. See the .pdf at the end of this thread:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/questio...ew-beetle/61315-door-handle-double-pulls.html

Others have had door-won't-open problems as well:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/questio...le/50341-help-doors-wont-open-inside-out.html

http://newbeetle.org/forums/questio...new-beetle/60384-opening-unopenable-door.html

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Bradleys

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 29, 2015 (Edited)

Well, that was annoying but not that terrible of a job. I ordered a new actuator, backer plate and screws - the place that sold me the first actuator was really good about the return.

I pulled the rear seats out and the side pannel to access the rear of the B pillar and the backing plate. The beetle is a convertible and the first thing I noticed is the bottom bolt was easy to acces but the top one was a little tight.

4 inch grinder with a cut off disk and the bottom bolt was cut off... I grabbed a small angle cutoff wheel and put a slot in the back of the bolt and used a stubby screw driver to drive it the rest of the way out.

Top one I just grabbed the small angle grinder and just kept nibbling away. I couldn't get a screw driver on it so I ground it down as thin as I could and then popped it with a large punch pushing it through.

It took a little fiddling and the screws left a scratch in the door jam, but the door finally opened. Probably the hardest part was getting the striker plate removed from the lock mech. I have a small air jig saw that I was able to get in there and that did it. Then it was just a process of removing the old mech,

I installed the new lock mech and tested it several dozen times before I finally raised enough courage to close the door! And viola - it worked!

Since I had the rear interior out I used the opportunity adjust both the rear windows and then finally put everything back together.

The door now locks and unlocks as expected!

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billymade

· #4 · Apr 29, 2015 (Edited)

Wow, good job! So, you accessed; the striker bolts from behind and removed them? Thus, you could then open the door? Good job!

So, was the new door lock assembly; defective?

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Bradleys

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 29, 2015

billymade said:
Wow, good job! So, you accessed; you accessed the striker bolts from behind and removed them? Thus, you could then open the door? Good job!
So, was the new door lock assembly; defective?

I am not sure what was wrong with the mech I installed. But yeah, when I closed the door - that was it! I will never install another door lock without testing the thing first!

But yes, after a bunch of research and testing this was they only solution - remove the striker plate by grinding off the bolts from the backside. All said and done, it only cost me about $20 for a new backer plate and bolts - so it wasn't an expensive issue, haut very annoying!

But now my daughter has a car and all doors open, close, lock and unlock!

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