Mk7 elusive central locking problem

[Vee4]

I searched for other mentions of this without success. I guess it's an unusual problem, but someone with a better knowledge of the door locking mechanism may be able to figure it out. I have twice taken the van in to the dealer, requesting a warranty repair, and on both occasions they claimed 'no fault found', at which point they say they can't do anything such as changing the mech. Yesterday, before driving away from the dealer's yard, I was able to provoke the fault several times, but by then the 'warranty technician' had gone home. It is intermittent so I decided to throw it open to the floor because I'm not convinced I will ever get an answer from the dealer. They also said there was no oil leak on another occasion.

The problem:

I'm having an intermittent problem with the passenger door lock. When locked by a single press of the key, by pressing the locking tab on the driver's door handle, or by the anti-hijack locking, sometimes it will not open by pulling the handle, i.e. it is behaving as if deadlocked. This is inconvenient for me because I often have to park up against a wall and climb out of the passenger door, but it represents a safety hazard because a passenger would not be able to open the door in emergency. The door will deadlock and open normally with the key. There is sometimes an unusual grinding sound from the lock when it is operated from the outside, using the key fob.



The warranty runs out next week. Does anyone know if a pre-existing and previously reported fault is still covered after the end of the normal warranty period?

See also: viewtopic.php?p=933144#p933144

[furnitureman]

Sorry i cant help with this one but my van has just started doing it with the drivers door on the odd occasion as well as the sliding door so i hope someone on here will have some helpful info.

[Vee4]

I spoke to Ford Customer Care, as recommended by ake. I now have a 'crime number' and they are to call me on Monday after making enquiries. Since I've been complaining of this since June, I asked if the fault would still be covered by the warranty if it is not resolved until after the warranty expires.

[Vee4]

I'm going to have to give up on this one for now. The operator at Ford was very sympathetic and listened to my long explanation of the fault with great patience. She then phoned the dealer last Monday only to find that the 'warranty technician' was on holiday until Wednesday. After she spoke to the dealer it seems that they are not prepared to do anything because they have not seen the fault themselves.

The first time I took the van in for attention to this, I verified that the fault was there before handing in the keys in the morning. The second time, I was able to provoke the fault when I collected the van in the evening but by that time the 'warranty technician' had gone home, although I did find one of the truck technicians to witness the effect. I then drove round to the office, wound down the windows and climbed out of the rear door and offered to demonstrate to the office staff. This offer was declined.

This dealer did try to tell me on one occasion that there was no oil leak from the turbo air intake, until I performed the 'mother-in-law' test on the hose and demonstrated the results with two oily fingers in a Churchillian gesture.

If I have time, I may have a look myself. Any tips on removing the door trim and servicing the lock mechanism?

[JudgeDead]

How exactly do you get this fault to happen by locking it with key once then trying to lock it from lock tab at drivers door?

My possiblitys are..

1. New passenger door lock or try WD-40ing the lock as these are bad for sticking if not greased all the time sometimes if its went to dry you need to get a whole new lock is it hard to open with outer handle sometimes?

2. Check there is no water in plug at the lock ive had this before.



i had one similar to this and it was programing i think... customer ended up taking van away as couldnt wait but i put new substitue latches on all round, no joy then tryed resistance check on all door lock wireing and earths (i mean everything it took for fking ever) and then put BCM in it and it fixed the fault. so i then drove to the ford dealership near me (as our ids wasnt working) programed it then fault came back.... but i dont know if the fault happend during the drive or the programing ither way it made both ecus have this fault. =/

[Vee4]

How exactly do you get this fault to happen?

It is described in the OP above, but any of the three possible ways of 'single locking' from the inside can result in the passenger door appearing to be dead-locked. Opening from the outside is OK.

Thanks for the suggestions. I agree that it could be a mechanical problem - the lock does make a grinding noise you can hear when locking from the outside - or a contact problem. I think it is confined to the locking mechanism in the door.

Is the lock mechanism expensive as a spare part? I wanted the dealer to change it under the warranty, but you could say I reached deadlock with them and now the warranty has run out.