Passenger rear door on 306 will not open

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 23 Mar 2009, 09:28

Hi all,

I have just sold my other halfs old 306 to a very good friend of mine. I wanted to sell it to somebody i know, so they could get the benefit of a much loved and cared for car, and I could still play with it!!

Imagine my annoyance, when I was washing the car down, just before I was about to take the car over to my mate, and I tried opening the rear passenger side door to wash round it, and it wouldn't open.

The central locking has gone faulty on that door, so I tried opening it from the inside, no joy, tried pulling the locking button up, still no joy. So the door is stuck shut.

I have taken the car over to my friend, but I will have to sort this problem out for them, as it's a safety concern.

Any ideas how best to remove the door card without damaging it with the door shut, and do you have any idea what the issue could be and how best to resolve it?

Any help would be very greatfully recieved, as this was a tad embarrassing to say the least!!

Many thanks as always,

Rob

sparky33 · Post by **sparky33** » 31 Mar 2009, 23:49

Not much help but sounds like the dead lock is on.

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 20 Apr 2009, 11:19

Finally got round to looking at this for my mate who now owns the car, and I too believe that the deadlock is on.

Does anyone have any clue as to which wires I could put some voltage through to try and release the deadlock, as I have a feeling it is down to a broken wire at the hinged part of the doors loom.

Also does anyone know if this is just a case of running a straight 12V off a battery down it, or is it controlled by a lower voltage, and which wires do I need to choose to send a 'open' signal to it. It has 5 wires i think running to it, I have a list of the colours, but not with me now unfortunately, so can provide that info later if required.

If anyone can help I would be most grateful, as it is really stressing me that I unwittingly sold a non fully functional vehicle to a friend!!!

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 23 Apr 2009, 12:37

The wire colurs going to the central locking at the handle end of the door are 1x Red
2x White
1x Yellow / Green
1x Yellow

If anyone could help me by letting me know what wires in what order i could try putting a voltage down to see if the pops the dead lock, i would be most greatful...HELP PLEASE!!

George · Post by **George** » 23 Apr 2009, 23:19

I've no idea mate. I've never had a 306.

Here's how I would tackle this.

First thing with strange electricals, disconnect the battery for a while and see what happens when you re-connect. Shouldn't hurt anything unless you've lost the radio code.

I take it you've managed to remove the door card as you've identified the number and colours of the wires?

I would take a look at the set-up on the opposite door, then test the wiring in that door for current as the system was activated. If the colours were different on the opposite door, I would then note the position were the "live" wire entered the multiplug. I would introduce 12 volts into this wire. If I was worried about introducing 12 volts into this system (and I'm not) then I would cut the live wire feeding the opposite door, attach a bit of wire the width of the car and feed that to the problem door.

Without recourse to expert help, and this question has been up here for over a month now without suggestions, then.........

A bit brutal maybe, but my next course of action would be to take a look at the possiblity of removing the lock, or mullahing the door after checking with my local breakers yard for one of the same colour.

Isn't a not opening door an MOT failure?

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 24 Apr 2009, 10:02

Thanks George, that is a great help.

Yes I managed to get the door card off with the door closed, without to much effort, so I'll do as you suggested and take the other door card off and take a look at that one. The drivers rear door lock still operates as it should, so as you say, that is going to be a good place to start to get to the bottom of what wire is for what on the other door.

Fortunately, the mate i sold it to is fairly handy when it comes to electronics, so he should be able to assist with the fault find I guess.

Yes, if all that fails, then I will be on the hunt for a Diablo red rear passenger door, as i'll be attacking the original with a angle grinder.

Unfortunately, as the door is shut it is incredibly hard to get into the locking mechanism from inside the car, so I think hap hazard drilling inside the door when i can't see what i am drilling into is going to be a bit of a no no, as I would fear somehow drilling into the body of the car or similar by mistake, which would not be good.

And yes, I believe that a none functioning door (except the boot) is a MOT failure, as it has a direct impact on safety for passengers trying to exit the car in the event of a crash or similar.

Thanks again.

Rob

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 18 May 2009, 16:23

I am getting rather bemused by this problem now. The door still won't open and tried playing with wires etc and still no joy. Does anybody have any idea how I could drill the locking mechanism in order to get the dead lock off?

I am on the hunt for a diablo red door if anybody knows of one (Rear passenger) as my last course of action is the angle grinder and attack the door until it opens!!! I really really don't want to have to do that to it.....I may cry having to do such damage to an otherwise mint car.

Please help!

Thanks

Rob

George · Post by **George** » 19 May 2009, 00:03

I was hoping you were back with some good news.

Theres a similar thread on the Citroen forum, but the suggestions are getting a bit brutal same as this one!

Did you find any power in any of the wires as the system was activated?

You could try ALL the wires across the back seat of the car?

Maybe we've been barking up the wrong tree here?

Try using lashings of WD40 as the fault may not be electrical at all, but rather mechanical?

Other than that I'm right out of ideas.

George · Post by **George** » 19 May 2009, 00:09

Consider removing the door handel (and glass) if using the long chisel method suggested on the Citroen thread, that may give you a second angle of attack on the lock.

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 02 Jun 2009, 14:56

Thanks for the info George.

In the end, I admited defeat and got the angle grinder out and cut a big hole in the door round the door handle area. Once the lock was in plain view attacked the plastic with a hammer and screw driver, and it was indeed dead locked, but it came free after I could see what was going on inside and managed to pop it.

I picked up a 2nd hand door from ebay for £60 delivered and it was a perfect match colour wise.

I still need to change the electric motor mechanism out of the replacement door, to the original manual variety. The door came off a much later face lift model, and except for a few bits that had to be removed, or swapped it was OK.

I have left the central locking disconnected as I fear it may happen again. I have also adviced my mate to NEVER dead lock it.

Was very brutal to have to destroy a perfect door, no blemish on it at all until i attacked it. Shame, but it had got to that stage.

I just hope if anyone else has this issue, they can fix it without resulting in what I regarded as vandalism.

Cheers,

Rob

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 02 Jun 2009, 15:51

wow Rob!.. that is a shame

George · Post by **George** » 06 Jun 2009, 17:35

Ooh ouch!

Sorry that my suggestions didn't help any.

Nuneatonrob · Post by **Nuneatonrob** » 09 Jun 2009, 12:28

Thanks guys. I was sorry i couldn't get the job done without the suggestions. I was hoping to be able to report back saying that a suggestion had helped, but sadly it was not to be.

Oh well.

Thanks anyway!

Rob