intermittent door switch - BEWARE!

[i_sabberton]

I hadn't been too worried about my 993's intermittent door switch, and considered it minor problem. After all what's the worst that can happen... I've just found out. I got locked out, with the keys in the ignition and the engine ticking over. My spare keys were in a safe place, a safe place that happened to be nowhere near where the car had locked itself.

The door switch triggers more than just the interior lights, it releases the door locks if they have been locked from the inside. Be careful that you don't get out without unlocking the car! If your door switch is unreliable ensure that you don't trust it to unlock the doors.

 

[Pickled Piper]

I have done exactly the same. Luckily I was at home on my driveway. I didn't realise it was due to the dodgy door switch.

Thanks for the advice.

pp

 

[Mark Elder]

Ouch - did not realise how lucky I have been!

I'll be cleaning my intermittent driver's door switch this weekend[8|]

 

[Porker993]

I don't understand what happened. What is the "intermittent door switch" ?

How did it lock the car when you were not in it ? Are you talking about the remote "plipper" ?

Or the central locking switch on the centre console ?

Or the interior light switch (located on the door shut) ?

Or none of the above ?

Sorry for being dim, but I feel it might be important.

 

[Mark Elder]

ORIGINAL: Porker993

How did it lock the car when you were not in it ?

It's not happened to me (yet) but I can see how it could easily:

Get in car and drive off
Stop at lights in rough area of town and decide to hit the central console door lock button
Stop somewhere and get out of car (normally at this point you hear a loud double clunk and you think "what's that, oh yes I locked the doors and never unlocked them")

However, if the door switch is faulty (I somtimes find the interior light does not light when I open the door to get out), it will not unlock the door if it uses the same electrical signal.

I've never seen this happen so I did not realise you could get out with the door still "locked" - but I now can imagine this happening to me and just swing the door closed not remembering I've locked the doors some time earlier....doh - keys in ingition - nightmare.

 

[Pickled Piper]

Exactly as above.

Luckily I was on my driveway.

pp

 

[Porker993]

Thanks Mark - that's a bit clearer,

Mark

 

[zrcg1]

Done the very same, at a motorways services -- hit the lock button while I had a nap..... got out of car for something and shut the door with keys in ignition - big mistake. Luckily i'd left the sunroof open so I dived in to get them. Could have been very tricky otherwise.

A squirt of WD40 under the rubber caps on the door switches has sorted mine..... although I now always look up to make sure the light comes on when I open the door now to check the switch works ... even if I take the keys out!
Chris

 

[edelschmetterling]

dived in through the sun roof. Brilliant! Just brilliant, what an image! []

...on a more serious note, thank you for the warning. Gosh, that could have happened to me so many times. (The getting locked out bit, not the diving through the sun roof bit) []