Hey everyone Im new to forum so Im pleased to meet you. I bought A 1998 Audi A4 Quattro acouple weekes ago. To my dismay, the locking mechanism is malfunctioning. When I hit the remote to open the doors, they wont. But, it does turn off the alarm. THe alarm does set with the remote also but the doors wont lock. I have to lock the doors manually and also open them. I also noticed that the locking button inside the car on the door also does not work. Does anyone have any idea what may be wrong?????? Thank you.

 

Sounds like you may have a problem with the vacuum pump that operates the door locks.

 

Yeah dude, exact same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. Definitely the vaccuum pump. If you listen near the truck (I believe on the passenger side) you'll hear the mechanism trying to engange the locks when you hit the buttons. I was initially worried that this would drain my battery, but I think it shuts itself off after about 30 seconds of spinning.

I can't give you an estimate on cost 'cause I took it back to the dealer...I'm on the last leg of my certified pre-owned warrenty, where they'll replace "manufactuer's defects," and apparently it fit the criteria.

Everyone, is this the type of thing that typically breaks throughout the life of a car? Is there anyway to prevent it from happening, other than the obvious "don't lock/unlock your doors so much"? I mean, thats what its designed to do, after all....

But anyways Dave, might be worth checking if the dealer will replace it for free, but I kinda doubt it.

 

If you have access to a VAGcom have someone run a diagnostic on it to see what is wrong