# How disable autolock and save your door lock modules from a quick death



## Notabiker (Mar 30, 2019)

Posted this at the obdeleven forum. I LOATHE autolock crap as it kills the door lock modules quicker and it's annoying to get out and go to the other side of the car and it's locked even though you unlocked it at the start of the drive. 

How to turn off the AUTOLOCK that happens when you start driving.

Central Electrics 09
Adaptation
ZV Autolock
Menuesteuerung ZV Autolock-Unlock
Change to adjustable

Code 31347


On car
Menu
Vehicle
Settings
Opening and closing
Central locking
Uncheck the Lock Automatically box

You can change any time you want

I tried changing the first one in zv autolock to not active as that's the menu item that translates to the correct one but it didn't do anything. It's currently at not active and I'm just leaving it so if the above doesn't work then change the first option to not active (automatisches verriegeln bei geschwindigkeit)


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## Hfqkhal (Oct 14, 2018)

Well auto lock only actuates and locks when you get to a certain speed then when you stop and put into Park it unlocks. I doubt that you will get out of the car while moving and also for sure if you want to get out of the car you will be in park which unlocks the doors and you can move. Now as to the unlock feature you can set it in the car menu to unlock all at once or selective. Unlock all is for all to be unlocked at once and selective is for the driver main door and which ever door the key is close to. Now to the main thing the auto feature really will not do a thing to shorten the life locking mechanism have had it on cars that are over 10 years old and still work as it should and honestly I have not heard from anyone who has this feature ever say the locking mechanism broke down because of that.

Just in case, this is a safety feature so when you are in the car it locks and if someone wants to open the door to rob or carjack then that person will find the door is locked and will be denied access to the car which is in my opinion it trumps any other concern.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

Notabiker said:


> Posted this at the obdeleven forum. I LOATHE autolock crap as it kills the door lock modules quicker and it's annoying to get out and go to the other side of the car and it's locked even though you unlocked it at the start of the drive.....


So, can you post the date on failed lock modules on any current VW vehicle in the last 10 years? How many? Which models? Which years? Show us the data!


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## audiyos (Nov 23, 2018)

Notabiker said:


> ...autolock crap as it kills the door lock modules quicker...


Not true.


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## Hfqkhal (Oct 14, 2018)

Just for info hit on Car option on the screen then settings then choose Opening and closing in the settings there see pic below. 











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## Notabiker (Mar 30, 2019)

audiyos said:


> Not true.


I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you then 

It absolutely will wear out the door lock mechanism faster, common sense (which isn't common anymore) dictates that if you use something more then it will wear out faster. 

So pretty much everything is built for a planned obsolescence so it will wear out. You have at a minimum 8 lock/unlock cycles EACH time you go somewhere and that's if you only get out once. So with a little elementary math you'd end up with 2,080 cycles just going to work and back in one year, that doesn't include every time you fuel up either. Manually locking will at a minimum halve that number. So you've just doubled the life expectancy of your door locks. And at $178.33 MSRP times 4 Plus hours of labor at $100/hour and probably two hours a door then that's $1000 plus. That's if they are as robust as my other vw...

And just ask my 2012 jetta with 80 some odd thousand miles that's needed TWO door lock modules already.

As far as a safety feature... psh if you lived in compton or chicago or some other crap hole then sure, but you can always just lock your doors when you're driving through a disreputable area. The only time I ever felt the need to lock my doors was when driving through those two areas, and that was twice in my life. 

Also it's ANNOYING af when I'd stop somewhere and get out to go around to get my daughter out and her door is locked. That would happen because when I got out a previous time and didn't open her door (like when fueling up) and then drove off again and the autolock did its stupid thing and figured because I didn't open that door last time that I wouldn't need it this time. 

I can't attach photos yet so here's the link to the photo I took of the option enabled.

https://oi32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Notabiker/20190414_115430_1.jpg









This is what it adds. The option to shut off autolocking. If you're still scared then you can leave it on and feel all warm and safe, but you can also shut it off. 

That is my point and there wasn't a need to get all pissy but since you all did then I did a rebuttal, albeit kind of long and defensive but with many relevant points to why I want the option to disable something annoying and something I never use nor want.


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## RotationalAth (Jul 3, 2018)

Notabiker said:


> And just ask my 2012 jetta with 80 some odd thousand miles that's needed TWO door lock modules already.


And you can just ask my 2010 Jetta with 125 some odd thousand miles that never needed a door lock module replaced. We all have our anecdotes. They mean nothing on a large scale.


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## Hfqkhal (Oct 14, 2018)

RotationalAth said:


> And you can just ask my 2010 Jetta with 125 some odd thousand miles that never needed a door lock module replaced. We all have our anecdotes. They mean nothing on a large scale.


Add to it to the now gone 2010 Nissan Murano, still own a 2008 MB E series, a 2011 Jetta and a 201 Jetta , a 2011 Infinity G series and all in working order. The only thing that once went wrong was the rear left window switch that is located on the main driver control side of the 2010 Nissan Murano. Dealer wanted $275 to replace, I ordered the part online for $69 and replaced it in 3 minutes. And by the way that window switch was may be used about 50 times in the 8 years of ownership. 

Now to get back to the auto lock. I take it for safety not for just someone trying to get in (which already happens twice to me where a homeless man wanted to get access to beg for money, but when you have kids in the car then you care more for them than even paying money to replace. For me That trumps all. 


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## *DesertFox* (Sep 26, 2017)

On my 47,000 Atlas I don't want to use my electric windows because I'm worried about the motors breaking. Can someone tell me if I can install a crank handle? :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:


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## Notabiker (Mar 30, 2019)

Sorry if you're living in such a giant turd hole that you can't be trusted to drive anywhere without locking everything up.. Btw my third door lock is malfunctioning on my jetta so either they had a rash of bad items or it's a badly designed part. If it's never happened to you then this is how you have to lock your vehicle every time a lock malfunctions, open the door and remove a little plug and then insert the key or a screwdriver and turn a knob to manually lock the door. And seeing as how on the other ones where it doesn't lock but will unlock electrically.. means every time you unlock all the doors you have to go to the offending door and manually lock it and then lock the rest of the car. Luckily we have four vehicles between the two of us so the jetta can sit in the garage torn apart while waiting for the parts to arrive...

And yes I go to amazon and get a decent knockoff for $60 but it takes about two hours to get it all apart and back together again regardless... At this rate I might as well get the last two OEM ones replaced and be done with it for another decade. 

The screen disabled stuff while driving has all been shut off too so pray that I'll use common sense and not play with it while driving, can't be any worse than the idiots vloging or facebooking or kids texting and getting killed while driving now can it?







Actually this was really meant as a tip for those that get annoyed at nanny things and want them disabled but I see the children here took it otherwise, glad I have obdeleven and found the login for that section. Although I know of a dealer that will disable that bullcrap for me if I can't.
You're welcome :screwy:


P.S. It looks like I'll be getting a few offers for that ocean front property very shortly if this thread is of any indication...


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## Notabiker (Mar 30, 2019)

*DesertFox* said:


> On my 47,000 Atlas I don't want to use my electric windows because I'm worried about the motors breaking. Can someone tell me if I can install a crank handle? :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: :banghead:


Side note  The OEM door window motor commutator on my Nissan Frontier had a really rough surface like it was turned at too high of a travel speed so it ended up almost looking like threads. Well that one died at 10 years old as the brushes got peeled off soooooooooo, I installed..

..

..

..

A new cardone one for 60 bucks, and I took it apart and was happy to see the commutator was smooth like a baby's butt. And I also pulled the passenger one apart and emery clothed it smooth too while I was in the mood. If I want window cranks I'll drive our one car that has NOTHING powered to include door locks and steering, but even that car required new window tracks and a new window modulator after 200,000.

Although growing up we had a log truck that had vise grips for the window crank.. I didn't grow up a spoiled brat so a little manual labor was expected..


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## WhiteWind (Jun 12, 2019)

Most ridiculous thing I ever read. Might as well don’t own car period so it won’t break lol


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

So do you get in your car thru various doors, so you're not always using the driver's door every time you get in/out of your car? Don't want to wear out that hinge and handle.


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## kootenaydub (May 15, 2009)

I noticed every time I got into the car the Infotainment Unit is on. I shut it off because I don't want the screen to burn out.

I also removed all the interior light bulbs because I noticed they turn on every time I open the doors, even when it's daylight!!!! Don't want them to burn out!

My wife and I compromise on the seating position too so we don't wear out the seat adjusting mechanisms.

We also lay carpet in front of each tire as we drive down the street to prevent tire wear. It only adds about 5 hrs for a trip to the grocery store, but we feel it's important to not let the tires wear out, they're costly to replace!


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## EPilot (Jul 27, 1999)

kootenaydub said:


> I noticed every time I got into the car the Infotainment Unit is on. I shut it off because I don't want the screen to burn out.
> 
> I also removed all the interior light bulbs because I noticed they turn on every time I open the doors, even when it's daylight!!!! Don't want them to burn out!
> 
> ...


My vehicles are in bubbles and never are touched or driven or even looked at. I don't want anything to fail. 
It's been 2 miles of maintenance free life for the past 4 years. I think it's been perfect, I mean it was on the test drive.

Seriously parts fail. Going by what happens on a completely different model to force yourself into not using a feature on a vehicle is a bit weird. 
Going by my previous MKIV and it's crappy window regulator clips I shouldn't even breath on the window switch. But I do. I use them almost every day.

Drive the car and use your warranty if things fail and once your out of warranty put it in the bubble and stop using it.


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## autostrophic (Aug 23, 2011)

EPilot said:


> My vehicles are in bubbles and never are touched or driven or even looked at. I don't want anything to fail.
> It's been 2 miles of maintenance free life for the past 4 years. I think it's been perfect, I mean it was on the test drive.
> 
> Seriously parts fail. Going by what happens on a completely different model to force yourself into not using a feature on a vehicle is a bit weird.
> ...


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## 2000golfbeater (Apr 29, 2020)

If there is one thing I hate about my 2000 Golf TDI work car, it is the autolock feature. Nothing worse than carrying a 100lbs feed sack of corn up to the car to throw in, and find out it's Locked!! GRRR!! Have to either set feed sack down in rain filled puddle, or carry the heavy sack all the way around to driver's door to get keys out of ignition or reach in to unlock the door. Bad design on VW's part. (At least the engine design engineers did great. At 400,000 miles it's still going strong.)


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

2000golfbeater said:


> If there is one thing I hate about my 2000 Golf TDI work car, it is the autolock feature. Nothing worse than carrying a 100lbs feed sack of corn up to the car to throw in, and find out it's Locked!! GRRR!! Have to either set feed sack down in rain filled puddle, or carry the heavy sack all the way around to driver's door to get keys out of ignition or reach in to unlock the door. Bad design on VW's part. (At least the engine design engineers did great. At 400,000 miles it's still going strong.)


Why is it that other folks with the Mk4 Golf don't have this issue? How about you unlock the doors before you get out if you will be loading something in one of the other doors. Not a bad VW design, just a really whiny owner.


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## MLB123 (Jan 19, 2021)

*DesertFox* said:


> On my 47,000 Atlas I don't want to use my electric windows because I'm worried about the motors breaking. Can someone tell me if I can install a crank handle? :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:


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## chrisbl (Mar 3, 2013)

2000golfbeater said:


> If there is one thing I hate about my 2000 Golf TDI work car, it is the autolock feature. Nothing worse than carrying a 100lbs feed sack of corn up to the car to throw in, and find out it's Locked!! GRRR!! Have to either set feed sack down in rain filled puddle, or carry the heavy sack all the way around to driver's door to get keys out of ignition or reach in to unlock the door. Bad design on VW's part. (At least the engine design engineers did great. At 400,000 miles it's still going strong.)


This must be irritating but suggests that you are not learning from experience.


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## paulp10 (Aug 21, 2018)

Can't figure out why there is no way to configure the locks so they do not unlock when putting the atlas in Park. Or why do they only lock once the car is rolling. Wouldn't it be better to have the locks engage when you put it in gear? Seems like a security or safety issue that VW has not allowed that in configuration.


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## mtbsteve (Dec 6, 2011)

paulp10 said:


> Can't figure out why there is no way to configure the locks so they do not unlock when putting the atlas in Park. Or why do they only lock once the car is rolling. Wouldn't it be better to have the locks engage when you put it in gear? Seems like a security or safety issue that VW has not allowed that in configuration.


I'm pretty sure you can enable / disable the auto locking if you want, it should be in the settings. I don't have a PDF of the Atlas manual so I can't look it up right now.

Most auto manufacturers have them enable at a low speed instead of putting into gear. It is a convenience thing. If you have a tight driveway like me or maybe are lucky enough to park in a garage but don't have the space to safely open all of the doors, you can drive out of your space and then stop without having to put it in park and the doors are still unlocked for more passengers to get in.


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## kazimir80 (Mar 15, 2019)

In older cars this feature was included in the maxidot settings, in MQB is on the display under auto setup. But this is security feature which has its own sense if youre on lights or trafficed in the city from robbers. We have some even older VAG cars in family from 2006 and 2008 and no single lock has died. So depends on the personal taste but rather safe than sorry in the car...


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## NoDubJustYet (Mar 25, 2002)

FWIW, my 2018 SEL (10/2017 build) had the passenger door lock mechanism fail at around 38,000 miles in December 2019. 

The only thing I've changed in the settings is turning off auto unlock when I put the car in P... but that has nothing to do with the above issue.


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