Stuart's Volkswagen Golf Mk 5/V Forum

found you on the web whilst researching why all of a sudden indicator lights do not flash on LOCKING the car .They flash on unlocking and everything else is normal.Any ideas?
Thanks for the secret tips on the MKV
Regards

Mark

Hi Mark,

I suspect that the indicators not flashing when you lock the car indicate that the alarm is not being set for some reason. This could be due to a couple of reasons but I think the most likely culprit will be a faulty micro-switch in one of the doors, the hatch or most probably, the bonnet catch. See http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5/sticking_bonnet.php

Let me know how you get on,
Stuart

Hi Stuart,
Many thanks for getting back to me .I have had a visual inspection and lubricated as much as possible with wd40.I have found ,with the help of your comments that I think the alarm is being set as the red interior door lights are flashing and set when locking. It is just the exterior visual indications that do not work. Is it easy to gain access to the door/bonnet/hatch microswitches? If so I will attempt it. Another question ,if I took the car to the garage and they put their diagnostic box on it would it be able to pinpoint the fault? The reason I ask this is that they charge an arm and a leg just to plug the thing in !!
Yet again many thanks
Regards

Mark

Hi Mark,

You usually don't get the exterior indicators to flash on locking the car if any door other than the driver's door, the hatch or the bonnet is not shut correctly (or the car thinks they are not shut correctly). The red LED on the inside of the driver's door will still flash quickly about 5 times before slowing to about 1 flash per 10 seconds or so. I should have said that the failure of the exterior indicators to flash, rather than meaning the alarm is not set, means that not everything is as it should be. It is a warning for you to check the doors.

Gaining access to the micro switch for the bonnet is not too difficult but I'm not sure about the other ones. I think the switch for the doors is built into the lock assembly themselves and so I don't think you would be able to check those.

As for whether a diagnostic check would reveal any faults, I'm not sure.
Your car is behaving just like a door has not been shut correctly and so this might not be sufficient to log a fault. Are you sure that all your car's doors are indeed locked after locking the car with the remote? Does one lock sound different to the others?

My car did have a faulty door lock (see
http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5/drivers_door_lock_replacement ) and this did cause a fault code to be logged. But this is not the same problem as you report.

The door locks on Mk V Golf's are prone to failing after a while and the sticking bonnet latch is very common. The exterior indicators not flashing on locking is not a common problem and so I think your problem is either down to a faulty door lock or the bonnet latch.

Let me know if I can help further,
Stuart

Hi Stuart,
Firstly , thank you yet again for taking so much time in helping me with this problem....it is very much appreciated.
I will go through the door lock mechanisms and see if there is anything obvious. I did have a problem with the rear left nearside doorlock about six months ago.The problem being intermittent unlock. and the garage fixed it. I was there as they did the job.It was removed and we had a look and could get it to work after having sluiced the mechanism with wd 40......it has worked perfectly ever since and saved me £120 for a new one! Will look into that .

Many thanks
Mark

Hi Stuart,
Just to let you know problem solved............the rear nearside door lock yet again failed ..have just had the lock replaced now all is well.
Thank you yet again for your diagnostic help.

Best regards

Mark