Very Confused Why My Audi Locked When Idling in the Driveway...

[Quattro_Junkie]

Hi Audi Fam,

I'm in need of your help. Last weekend the worst thing happened - I got locked out of my car and it ended up sitting there idling for over three hours as we waiting for AAA to stop by. Here's the play by play of what happened exactly:

• I turned on the car to warm up in the morning because it was freezing...
• I existed the car for literally 3 - 5 seconds max and realized I needed my jacket so I proceed to open the driverside door.
• Now all the doors are locked...
• Of note, the trunk was open and remained unlocked even when I closed it because it was snow - I found this to be odd since everything else was locked up.

Does anyone have any idea why this would happen? It is my understanding that my car's doors and trunk would lock up after a couple of minutes when the car is off, or if I were to start driving and reach 10-15 MPH. I'm just stunned it would lock itself when the car was just idling in the driveaway...

If this has happened to you or someone you know or know of a solution, I'd be extremely pleased to hear your suggestion! This happened to me when I first bought the car three years ago (when the car was off), but at the time, I was convinced I did something to lock the car. I did some digging on the forums and read that the key fob battery should probably be replaced and I'll definitely do that (I believe I did that a while back), but I'm not convinced that's why it automatically locked on me when running.

Any help would be much appreciated!

[EvolutionArmory]

Once you unlock your car, if you don’t open a door, the car should lock itself.

This is just a theory but maybe the contact switch for the drivers door is faulty and did not register as being open. So when you started your car and got out, it locked itself.

You can check door contact switch with VCDS. I’m sure you can check it with the display too. Does the door show as open when you open it?

[tloft4]

it doesnt lock itself until you go over a certain speed. and it unlocks when you open from the inside. never had this happen and i leave mine all the time

[Nor_Cal_Driver]

If the trunk was open, why did you not enter through the folding rear seats?


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[tloft4]

dont they only open from the rear seat side?

[AudiKilla]

I have a similar problem haven't really found a fix yet. It could be related to the red light in the door, it's broken maybe open circuit is causing the problem?

[Dino11]

My car did this to me yesterday as well.

I was lucky though, I was at home and used the spare key to get it unlocked.

One of those things that makes you go mmmm.

[EvolutionArmory]

Door contact switch....

Check it out. Does the door show as open on the cluster when you open the door or on VCDS if you have it?

[A4_PimP]

My old Passat battery died after sitting all winter. I was locked out because the driver door lock was removed by the PO. After that happened I always leave one of the fold down seats open it's up just not pushed back to lock. No one sits in my rear seats so it's not a problem.

[oVeRdOsE]

Once you unlock your car, if you don’t open a door, the car should lock itself.

This is just a theory but maybe the contact switch for the drivers door is faulty and did not register as being open. So when you started your car and got out, it locked itself.

You can check door contact switch with VCDS. I’m sure you can check it with the display too. Does the door show as open when you open it?

but if the engine's running it shouldn't lock the door , right?

I could test this, but its not something that I normally do, I mean let the engine running while Im out .

- Always keep the plastic key in your wallet or hidden somewhere outside the car.
- dont warm up the engine. I mean its -24°C here (-11°F) and most people don't warm the car since we are suit up for cold days and running cold cat, well, hello co and nox for our little comfort...

[EvolutionArmory]

but if the engine's running it shouldn't lock the door , right?

I could test this, but its not something that I normally do, I mean let the engine running while Im out .

- Always keep the plastic key in your wallet or hidden somewhere outside the car.
- dont warm up the engine. I mean its -24°C here (-11°F) and most people don't warm the car since we are suit up for cold days and running cold cat, well, hello co and nox for our little comfort...

Once you unlock your car, if you don’t open the door within a certain time, it locks itself again. If the door contact switch is not registering the door being opened, it should lock itself even if you start the car in theory.

It’s Soooo super easy to prove or disprove this and I wish someone who is having this issue in this thread would simply turn their car on and see if the cluster shows that the door is open when they open it.....

[Nor_Cal_Driver]

but if the engine's running it shouldn't lock the door , right?

I could test this, but its not something that I normally do, I mean let the engine running while Im out .

- Always keep the plastic key in your wallet or hidden somewhere outside the car.
- dont warm up the engine. I mean its -24°C here (-11°F) and most people don't warm the car since we are suit up for cold days and running cold cat, well, hello co and nox for our little comfort...

Why not warm up for 1-2 minutes. Isn’t that why the engine has the kick down after a cold start?


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[tloft4]

Once you unlock your car, if you don’t open the door within a certain time, it locks itself again. If the door contact switch is not registering the door being opened, it should lock itself even if you start the car in theory.

It’s Soooo super easy to prove or disprove this and I wish someone who is having this issue in this thread would simply turn their car on and see if the cluster shows that the door is open when they open it.....

if you are saying your car will self lock while off after x amount of time that isnt true. yes my cluster works, mine doesnt self lock while driving until a certain mph, so going slow on a road then speeding up 30s later, you will hear the lock.

[EvolutionArmory]

if you are saying your car will self lock while off after x amount of time that isnt true. yes my cluster works, mine doesnt self lock while driving until a certain mph, so going slow on a road then speeding up 30s later, you will hear the lock.

I already explained it like 3 times :)

I just timed it with my own car. If you unlock your car with the fob and don’t open your door within exactly 1 minute, the car locks itself back up.

What I’m suggesting is that maybe the door contact switch isn’t working or was stuck.

I’m suggesting that maybe the car was unlocked with the remote, the car was started, and the door was closed with the car unoccupied as he was just warming it up. I’m suggesting that maybe the door contact switch is faulty and didn’t register as the door ever being opened and the car locked itself.

Does that make sense now? It is a feature of the locking system. I know this to be true because well, I just timed it with a stop watch 😉

[tloft4]

just did as well and will agree to that. i usually leave mine double unlocked and in that state, it will not self lock. only driver door unlocked, 1 min, relocked itself

[EvolutionArmory]

And I don’t believe there is an actual plunger type door contact switch. I believe it’s part of the door locking mechanism.

[a1dan_87]

Once you unlock your car, if you don’t open a door, the car should lock itself.

This is just a theory but maybe the contact switch for the drivers door is faulty and did not register as being open. So when you started your car and got out, it locked itself.

You can check door contact switch with VCDS. I’m sure you can check it with the display too. Does the door show as open when you open it?

Can confirm. If you don't open a door, it WILL self-lock.

I found this out trying to get the car on a jack, and after unlocking the car it would lock itself again (setting off the alarm when I got the jack under it, mind you) until I opened the door after unlocking.

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[marakalastic]

Can confirm. If you don't open a door, it WILL self-lock.

I found this out trying to get the car on a jack, and after unlocking the car it would lock itself again (setting off the alarm when I got the jack under it, mind you) until I opened the door after unlocking.

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This only happens if the car is OFF. If the car is running, the self-lock is not on a timer.

[KJack]

I only have one key so I get paranoid about the door locking while running. Whenever I leave the car for a moment I always roll my window down just in case.

[Nollywood]

My car won’t self-lock if the ignition is on, or the engine is running.

I also turned off the self-locking at speeds above approximately 9mph with VCDS. I don’t like cars that lock me in. I prefer to seize that control back, and lock it myself from inside if I so wish.

It’s also a bad idea to leave an engine running unattended. In some states, it’s actually an offence.

[EvolutionArmory]

See post 14 and 16. Replacing the door lock was usually the first step for us at the dealer. I didn’t know there was a potential software update so that’s good info to have. Thanks for the TSB. It could be useful for the future. 👍🏻