Driver Door Lock Not Responding

[BrandonJames89]

Over the past few months I've had an issue with the doors and key remote. Randomly when I would lock the car with the remote or unlock it I would get a double beep and the drivers side lock would either not open or attempt to lock then unlock itself. I could use the key to close the door when this would happen and it worked as expected.

Both doors also needed almost a fast double pull to get the mechanism to release as well like something was catching on the lock. This was worse in very hot weather and it didn't want to open sometimes.

Yesterday I took the door panel off and removed the driver side lock assembly to attempt a repair. When I reinstalled it and connected the battery the lock button on the dash was lit up and would not let me turn it off. With the door closed I can turn it off and the locks attempt to move but it immediately lights back up and the car double beeps again. Door handle operation seems smoother now and all other functions like windows and indexing are working. The big issue now is that the driver door is not locking at all. It will not respond to the key turning or the button on the remote (I do hear the motor run with the remote though).

The repair included checking all the solder joints, checking continuity, cleaning connections and lubing mechanical surfaces in the mechanism. What part of the assembly has control over the lock itself (a specific microswitch etc..)? It seems like something wasn't done right during reassembly of the mechanism. Any help or instructions to check for reassembly would be appreciated. By the way after I lock with the remote the trunk and hood latches do not release and the passenger door is locked, only the driver side lock mechanism isn't closing.

[sb01box]

there's another thread with similar problem. for my 01 box,the lock light would go on and off intermittently, but only during driving. and depending of the state of the light, the car would/would not lock and beeped once.
root cause was cold solder joint in the door lock mechanism. I found this by wiggling the main harness going into the door mechanism.
this is how i found the cold solder joint.
this may or may not help in your case, but ...
good luck

[BrandonJames89]

Originally Posted by sb01box

there's another thread with similar problem. for my 01 box,the lock light would go on and off intermittently, but only during driving. and depending of the state of the light, the car would/would not lock and beeped once.
root cause was cold solder joint in the door lock mechanism. I found this by wiggling the main harness going into the door mechanism.
this is how i found the cold solder joint.
this may or may not help in your case, but ...
good luck

Thanks for the response. I checked the circuit board and solder connections with a digital multimeter and everything seemed to be working fine. I visually checked them as well and didn't notice any cracks so I'm thinking something was installed wrong. I'm wondering if anyone knows exactly which part of the mechanism would cause these symptoms.

[BrandonJames89]

So I attempted to install a VW door lock assembly that I found new for 35 dollars just to try it out because it looked nearly identical. Turns out it was the same except for an 8 pin connector when my boxster has 9.

I took the original one apart again and fixed the reversal of the microswitch engagement piece and the car will at least lock again but I noticed that the key in the door does not do anything still.

Does anyone know what could be causing this? The lock cylinder feels the same when rotating the key it just doesn't respond to it. The remote works fine however.