Battery died, now my keyless fob only unlocks the driver side door.

[sharpie510]

Hi all.

I recently went away on a trip and didn't drive my 2002 New Beetle for a few months. When I returned, the battery was dead so I recharged it. Now, when I unlock the car, only the drivers side door will unlock. It used to unlock both doors when the unlock button on the remote was pressed twice. Did my central locks lose a programmable setting? Is there a way I can fix this myself? I just received a VAG COM (generic OBDII cable). Can I fix this with the shareware version (rel 4091s)? I just ordered the bentley CD, but I don't want to wait to be able to reset my locks. Can someone tell me what I need to do to restore my central locks so both doors will open on the second press? Do I need to input a new code value for the locks? Sorry for the really basic questions, but I haven't yet installed VAG COM (was planning on waiting for the CD).

Thanks.

[Steinola]

Originally Posted by sharpie510

I recently went away on a trip and didn't drive my 2002 New Beetle for a few months. When I returned, the battery was dead so I recharged it. Now, when I unlock the car, only the drivers side door will unlock. It used to unlock both doors when the unlock button on the remote was pressed twice. Did my central locks lose a programmable setting?

I'm pretty sure that the behavior you describe (unlocking both doors when the fob is pushed twice) is standard, default behavior. So it doesn't seem right that, even if the CPU lost power and blanked out any special settings, that it would go back to anything other than it's defaults.

I wonder if there's something else going on... like, while the car was sitting, perhaps the passenger side door lock froze up or shorted out. Does it unlock when you use the electronic button on the driver's side door? If not, then it's the lock mechanism and not the central locking system at all.

[sharpie510]

Hiya,

Yes, the door lock switch in the car will lock and unlock the passenger door correctly. It's only with the remote that doesn't work (i.e., pressing the fob twice will not unlock the passenger door).

Oh, one more bit of info: the fob will lock the passenger door. It just won't unlock it.

[Mik]

You have to push the unlock button twice to unlock the passenger door and trunk. Our beetle was like that from day one. I have a different car where you can configure that behaviour by pressing lock + unlock simultaneously for a few seconds. I never bothered to check, but I bet its the same for the Beetle.

[Steinola]

Originally Posted by Mik

You have to push the unlock button twice to unlock the passenger door and trunk.

I'm pretty sure that's what sharpie said (twice) that they're doing, isn't it, Mik? But I'm confused... you're saying that if you push the button twice, your trunk also unlocks (in addition to the passenger door)?

I've never heard of any kind of setting you could invoke by pushing keys on the fob, but I suppose it could be worth a try. Because I'm pretty stymied as it is. Pushing the unlock button once unlocks the driver's door, and pushing the lock button locks all the doors... so you know it's not a reception/range issue and your fob batteries are working. Pressing lock on the fob locks the passenger door, so you know the passenger side locking mechanism is working okay (isn't shorted). Pressing unlock on the door unlocks the passenger door... so you know the electric unlock is working.

Sharpie, I guess your original assumption that it's a VAG-COM setting somewhere is the only thing I can fall back to at this point Have you browsed through the settings yet?

[sharpie510]

No, I have the bentley cd on order. I hope it comes with all the codes. Anyway, you are right when you say the fob should unlock the driver door on first press and all doors (ie, the passenger door) on the second press. That's the way it USED to work on my car. Now, it will never unlock the passenger door.

Well, it's going to the dealer on Monday. I hope it's covered by the 5 yr warranty.

[Steinola]

You shouldn't need the Bentley manual to browse through the settings.
The VAG-COM software should sort all the settings into categories... and it should be fairly easy to spot which one(s) are related to the central locking system (if there are any).

[1999 BEETLE]

Hey all, I decided to get new batteries from radio shack today,both my remotes do nothing ,I bought the car 2-3 months ago and have never been able to use them ,is there a reprogramming needed if batteries went dead in remotes?


thanks and enjoy the weekend !