Tools for door latch removal?

[pa32dude]

I'm planning on disassembling my door this weekend to troubleshoot door latch problems, and I am wondering what type of bits I need to deal with the three odd bolts on the end of the door: the little one behind the rubber plug that holds in the lock cylinder and the two big ones. They look like some kind of weird spline drive, I tried all the the bits in my "security bits" set but no matches. A Torx T-20 seems to fit the little one OK, so I might get away with that, but nothing close on the big ones.

Thanks in advance...

[Caveman]

I know this doesn't answer the question, but what were you having wrong, or what was the car doing?

[pa32dude]

Doors stopped locking with remote (but they unlock), "auto-lock" when driving stopped working, locking door with key is now definitely all manual.

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by pa32dude

I'm planning on disassembling my door this weekend to troubleshoot door latch problems, and I am wondering what type of bits I need to deal with the three odd bolts on the end of the door: the little one behind the rubber plug that holds in the lock cylinder and the two big ones. They look like some kind of weird spline drive, I tried all the the bits in my "security bits" set but no matches. A Torx T-20 seems to fit the little one OK, so I might get away with that, but nothing close on the big ones.

Thanks in advance...

You need a 12 point "Triple Square bit set" for a lot of different areas of the Beetle. Some of the Autoparts stores carry some limited sizes. Some might even carry a set of the smaller sizes. Or you can order a set with ECS tuning:
Home Page > Search > Triple Square > ES#9011 "Long Reach" Triple Square Driver Set - S15-HBS1406T

This is a long reach set. You can check around someone might have a regular short set as well.

I found this set on Amazon which is cheaper and has 10 bits which will be all that you will ever need.
http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-10-Piece...7606136&sr=8-1

[pa32dude]

Thanks! I'll try to look around for those locally.

[pa32dude]

No trouble finding the triple-square bit, they had them at Baxter's (local auto parts chain), I guess NAPA has them at some stores as well. FYI, the bolts that hold in the door lock assembly take an 8 mm bit, the one I got cost just under 4 bucks and has a 3 inch shank that fits into a 1/2 inch socket. I was able to use a T-20 on the small bolt that holds in the lock cylinder.

Disassembling the door was not too difficult, between the Bentley and this post:

How To: Door panel, window regulator and door latch removal

Biggest problem I had was that the last person who removed the door carrier torqued the screws pretty tight and I had to drill one out. I noticed he didn't put all 11 of them back in either, there were 4 missing.

Based on some posts in other VW forums, I disassembled the lock module and checked for bad solder joints, unfortunately they all looked good. Based on an ohmmeter check it looks like the microswitch that senses if the door is latched is broken. One of those posts talked about replacing it with a switch from Radio Shack, but that looked like a dicey proposition. I'm not 100% sure I could get the module back together in working order anyway. With hindsight, I wouldn't recommend attempting to repair it unless you are REALLY careful taking it apart and are broke enough to not want to buy a new module.

So I had to drive my kids' beater Subaru to work today and will swing by the dealer to pick up a new lock module. $199!!!