D3 Remote Locking Failure Repair

[Mully]

Hi all... recently had the remote unlock function die again and this time it wasn't the battery in the fob. Thought it might help someone else looking for the now well known wiring fault due to water ingress.

Below are photos of thefactory joint causing the drama, the removed joint and the resulting fix. I wrapped the resoldered join in amalgam tape so it will probably not happen again and cable tied it to the top of the loom to keep it out of the water that I was actually surprised to find so much of. All now working.

These join is on the passenger side (Oz vehicle) and you need to remove the pillar trim panel to get the plastics out to get access to the loom.

Hope this helps someone else. Mine is a 2005 HSE D3.
Cheers.

[Geedublya]

Do you have a sunroof? If so the water is probably the result of a blocked drain.
I had the same problem with my D3 and found it always occurred after the car was left out in the rain and then would come good after a week or so. I re-soldered the connection that you did and cleared the blockage from the sun roof drain which resolved all the problems.

[Mully]

Hey mate....no sun roof here. Would like to find where all the water gets in from though...

[sheerluck]

Have you got roof bars?

[Mully]

Ahhh.....is THAT where it gets in??

[sheerluck]

I took my roof bars off last weekend (to replace the long trims that run front to back) and found standing water underneath.

However, take a look at your A-pillar trims. There is a TSB out with a repair kit containing some new seals and fastners.