Manually locking rear door T5 2012 Multivan

[Bob Bob]

Strange question.

Until getting around to repair the drivers side door closed sensor (ie warning light constantly on. Vehicle will remote unlock but not lock) I need to be able to lock the rear swing up door. The book says manual locking for the tailgate is via key in socket, of which there is none! Is there an internal lock like the side door? (My rear door has had its panel replaced.) If not how?

The turn and hold on the drivers door doesn't trigger central locking either.

Tnx

[Sunny43.5]

I dont think the 2012 model is the same as eariler versions , they used to have ajunction box under the drivers seat . This was where the wiring for the central locking was annd they used to get corrosion on the pins of the plugs . Spraying some contact cleaner would fix the problem . Is yours a T5 or T5.1 ?

[Bob Bob]

Pretty sure it was my doing. I sprayed some silicon lube into the door catch and overdid it. It failed straight after that. Tried spraying contact cleaner into the same place but no help. I will however have a play with the junction box (drivers seat) and the fuse block (passenger seat) I am also tempted to hot wire it "closed" at the wiring loom in the door because I don't feel confident pulling it all apart. Have to figure which wires!

I dont know the difference T5 vs T5.1. It's a CAAB 75KW diesel.

[Umai Naa!!]

2010-2015 is T5GP, which is odly referred to on forums as T5.1, T5.2 and a few others.

[Syncrotek]

2012 is T5.1 or GP, or facelift model, it can get confusing, the Germans usually call our T5 a T5.1 and GP models T5.2.

It sounds as if you might have the common door lock actuator fault, usually easiest to replace the whole unit complete, rather than
messing about fixing the micro switches. There are plenty of sellers of those on eBay now, cheaper than genuine, and seem to be
reliable enough. The Brickyard UK has How To's for that job. You can temp lock the rear door, have to take trim panel off,
move lock rods.

[Sunny43.5]

There is a how to on the forum as I did a couple last year or earlier , should be the same door lock as yours .http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...=door+locks+t5 Its a long post with lots of complaining but you can get an idea on what to watch for if you decide to pull it apart .

[Bob Bob]

Thanks for all your comments. Sorry this is kind of long.


This is a live in permanent camping van so I cant really risk disabling it. I was hoping to find a way to manually lock/unlock the rear door as I get camping/food etc by that route.


I have seen the brickwork site. I am however not convinced (yet) that the ailing sensor is in the drivers door. The passenger and slide door also turn on the warning light. I did read however that the vehicle will not central lock with the drivers door unlatched, not really knowing whether that also applies to the other doors. Perhaps someone would try that on theirs?


For reference I did some logic/wire probing on the 6 way cable that goes to the lock unit. Three of the wires were thicker than the other three so I assume they area higher current carrying for the actual lock solenoid. Of the others the Y/Bk toggles 11.2V/frame ground when the manual key is turned to one limit or the other. Both other wires (Gn/Y and Blk) stayed at around 1 ohm above frame no matter what I did with latch or key. I would surmise that these two are either a loop (unlikely) through the microswitch, or one of them is pulled up to 11.2V when locked.


I might try cutting one of these two in turn hoping that there is a pull-up on the control unit. Otherwise I may use a 1KOhm pullup to 12V.

The lack of activity on the two wires seems to indicate that the switch is faulty, but if all three doors are electrically joined at the control unit this may not be true.


I find it strange that it decided to fail on the silicon spray, but that's life I guess!


Thanks again.

[Sunny43.5]

You may be able to rig up a simple pull cord or cable on the inside of the tailgate if thats all you need to open at this time , the earlier ones on the Transporters had a hole in the original tailgate trim and there was a lever inside to release the tailgate . If its been recovered or modified it may have been covered up , or as a multi van they never put the hole in the trim but it could still have the lever inside . Plus the T5.1 had the separate unlock on the keyfob for tailgate only , I know my idiot son unlocked the tailgate on ours at band practice one night put the keys on the rear floor shut the tailgate and it relocked it self DOH I had to drive 40km to bring spare key .

[tdi]

Wow just learnt about a new feature on my T5.1 that I didn't realize I had.I'm talking about just being able to unlock the tailgate separately.
My friend in Sydney was similarly impressed when I made him aware that keeping his finger on the lock button will automatically close the front door windows if they have been left in the down position.

[Bob Bob]

Wow just learnt about a new feature on my T5.1 that I didn't realize I had.I'm talking about just being able to unlock the tailgate separately.
My friend in Sydney was similarly impressed when I made him aware that keeping his finger on the lock button will automatically close the front door windows if they have been left in the down position.

Also works on opening too. Just click once to unlock then about a second later hold the open button down and the windows open. Handy for letting out hot air from 20-40m away.

[Sunny43.5]

Just remember if you only unlock the tailgate and then close it it will lock instantly , make sure you keep your keys in your pocket as like my son you could be faced with a real problem if far from home . Yes remote opening and closing is different from earlier models , my old 2005 T5 has the function but only if you use the key to lock and then hold in the lock position to close the windows .

[Bob Bob]

Just worth a mention, the drivers door microswitch decided to start working again yesterday. ie it was stuck for about 4 weeks and now works reliably again. About 2500KM of which maybe 200 on quite bumpy dirt roads. Only thing I did to it was occasional verbal abuse!

Cheers!

[philosophrenic]

I tried unlocking the car, open and close all the door, then locking the driver's door with the key, all doors are locked including the rear gate. You might need to check the wiring of centre locking

mine is 2012 comfyline T5.1(facelift) should be exactly the same as yours.