Great post! Hope you've got the pictures hosted somewhere where they'll be available for the long haul. If I was closer to MI you'd get a beer for sure.

 

Great write up. And good pix too :thumbup:
For us this side of the pond what year and variant of B6?

 

It is a 2007 2.0T FSI Sedan. I suppose the process would be the same for all B6 models, unless higher ups don't have additional controls on the door handle. Thanks for the question, I'll update the post.

 

Great post, thanks, but my problem is the window is stuck down so i can't get to the screws to release the glass. I have removed the window motor, but still cannot move the glass. Any ideas please

 

I have had success using plastic kitchen tools, say a spatula or flipper, in place of the butterknife for prying off parts. The wider softer edge is a bit more forgiving on the trim.

 

Do you know of any way to "shorten" the cable for the handle to open up the door from the inside? My cable seems to be overextended because when it is hooked to the handle it has no tension and the door won't open from inside handle.

 

This is a great post which I used to dismantle my door. However, I am now stuck at the point where I need to re-fit the external passenger handle. I have added more details and pics to this thread:
http://www.passatworld.com/forums/91-b6-garage/385969-re-fitting-external-passenger-door-handle-potential-lock-issue.html

Any ideas?

I was expecting to simply reverse the fitting instructions but had no success.

Your help is much appreciated (and my wife will stop hassling me ).

 

Great write up, thanks. The only thing I can add is that the "torx socket" screws that hold the window in place can also be loosened with a small 4mm socket. I attempted this very cautiously since I didn't have the proper socket and it worked fine. It would've been nice to have the trim remover tool also but still manageable.

 

Been trying to figure out a intermittent lock issue. This is a rad post for how to get into door and sub panel. Hard to find enough details to be helpful.

 

What's a "rad post"?

 

I think it's just shy of "totally awesome dude".

I just came back for a refresher before getting really disappointed. I used this to replace the passenger side actuator in my daughters car when I first bought it for her about 2 years ago.

Today I went to replace the drivers side only to find the previous owner broke the tip off of one of the window mount adjusters. My guess is they didn't know it's left hand threaded. I'm pretty sure they had mentioned they'd replaced that one already, but neglected to tell me what all damage they did to both doors taking them apart not knowing what they were doing. At least the car runs like a bad out of hell... which isn't good for a high school kid, but fun for dad sometimes.

Off to a shop to let them tackle this one.

 

Great post. I'll be working on mi driver side this weekend. Thank you. I can donate some beers but you pay shipping. lol. Let me know.

 

Any way to get the pictures back here? I need to do this job ASAP...

 

Great write up thanks!

 

Thanks for the write up. I have a 2010 Passat Komfort Wagon and I used these directions to replace my rear driver's side (LR) door actuator/lock. The rear door removal is different from the front in several ways, and I am going to document those differences here.

The door grab handle is diagonal. You can remove its trim starting from the bottom and working your way up. Pop out as many clips as you can before trying to remove it. If you were to pop out just the bottom clip and then bend up (like trying to remove it immediately) you could break the plastic extrusions that sit in the screw holes.

The door grab handle has just two screws and the bottom of the door trim has just one.

To release the 6 door trim retainer pegs from the door I had to use an angled metal shaft trim removal tool with the V end that I could stick in to pry out the pegs. A plastic trim tool flexed too much. A butter knife would not have worked for the same reason. In some cases the pegs detached from the door trim instead of the door so I had to pry them out later. Also the pegs need to be reset to the unlocked position for reinstallation, as seen in this pic (not mine) on the left (unlocked):

The cable that connects to the door inside unlock handle (the chrome lever) is released by gently prying away the tab until the feet are clear and then pulling back on it to get the cable sheathing out of the crevice on the trim once the tabs are free. This may be the same as the front. Here's a pic:

The trim has two different style electrical connections. A big connector that you can sort of squeeze the side ears together and release it, easily, and a small one in the middle of the door that is hard to release. The small one has a tab you push in, but you can't see it in the middle of the door and the tab is recessed so it's hard to feel. Here's a pic:

The door handle does not have the screw through the frame that is removed completely (circled in red in one of OP's pics) but it does have the other screw through the frame that should not be completely unscrewed (circled in blue in same OP pic). Here's a pic:

I had a lot of trouble with this step because initially I could not get the handle to stay open on its own. The best way I think is hold the handle open, unscrew one turn, release the handle and see if it stays open, if it doesn't then hold open and unscrew another turn, and so on. Eventually it should stay open. Then keep unscrewing just enough that the lock cylinder placeholder (no actual key cylinder because it's the rear) starts to loosen and remove it. I damaged the gasket nubs on removing the cylinder so be careful with that. Also, if you could not get the handle to stay open then at this point you can tighten and try again by looking inside as you are turning. In any case you should still be able to adjust that screw so that the handle can open fully and then be slid towards the rear and out. It's just harder to reinstall if the inner mechanism is not in the open position.

Also, note the two screws in the pic above which hold the door lock on are triple-square XZN. The DIY refers to them as M6 but I didn't know what that meant, I thought maybe it meant use a hex bit which is what I did. I tried a 6mm hex which didn't work so then I tried 5mm hex and that sort of worked but dented the splines on the screws. I then realized it's triple-square and fixed them as best I could by tapping in an M6 XZN bit.


The E5 "socket torx" in the DIY (e-torx) socket is not needed. Instead there is a plastic window pin, which I also had trouble removing. I saw a bunch of methods on YouTube but they didn't work for me. I tried hitting a philips screw driver and a punch but there was too much flex, and I didn't hit too hard because I didn't want to break the window. Next I used a #9 deck screw, screwed fully through the inner dowel, that was large enough to bite without expanding it. I tried pulling with a vice grip and it did not move like even a little. I also tried prying on the screw head but nothing. Finally I used a 2 lb. slide hammer to tap it out slowly. I put some pressure pulling the hook towards me with the handle and then small repeated taps. A lot of taps. Once it broke its bond it was still stubborn all the way. If I have to do this again I'm going to drill out the inner dowel and use a new pin, it's safer that way. VW sells them for $2, part 6N0839511. Anyway, I was not so wise then. Here's a pic:

I could not figure out how to remove the window so I ended up pushing it all the way up and taping it with a big piece of duct tape from one side and then over the top (protected by cardboard) to the other side. This worked mostly ok but near the end I noticed the tape was detaching from the inside of the window because it connects at sort of an angle, so if you are doing this method make sure you use a long enough piece that will hold it. I should also mention that initially I had tried one of those glass suction cup carriers to hold it up and though it was locked on there tight in the beginning it somehow fell off when I wasn't looking and the window started to slip. I don't trust those things anymore. I don't have a pic of this.


The door to body connector is removed by rotating an orange latch 90 degrees down. There's limited clearance to get the connector out and I suggest be careful because some debris got in mine. I suggest afterwards rotate it back up and cover the end with painter's removable tape so debris can't get in the connector. Here's a pic:

On reinstallation, fitting the door-side boot back in place was difficult. I used a plastic trim tool to get the rubber groove in the metal.


This next part really threw me, because I was ready to take the window carrier panel / subframe panel / inner panel / whatever you want to call it off but it was stuck in the door lock area. And this is a big difference. The inner panel on the rear doors it seems can't be removed without separating from the inner door lock and inner mechanism for exterior handle, which is held to the panel by 3 plastic rivets. You can punch out the inner dowels and you might get lucky and the rivets separate from the panel. Or you can drill them out or cut them off, which I did afterwards. They don't have to be connected to the panel or even aligned. Here's a pic:

As you can see in the pic above there's a boot on the cable. That needs to be popped in the panel so that it does not come off with the panel, since it's part of the door lock which is now staying in the door while the panel comes off.

The next part part is separating the panel at the bottom but holding it in place while you reach up to disconnect the panel wiring from the door lock actuator. I don't have a pic of this and I had to do it by feel. It is a standard VW connector like the one on the ignition coils for example. You basically push in a little while prying the top tab back and then pull it off. The connectors are easy to break so practice on some non critical connector (if there is such a thing in this car) so you know how to do it. I don't have a pic of this.


Then the panel came off and I could see why the door lock and the inner mechanism for the external handle wouldn't come out. There's a piece of window channel that runs right down the center blocking them. I wasn't sure what to do at this point since I couldn't get the glass out. I decided to free the bottom of the channel and flex it. It almost felt like I was going to break it but there's just enough room so flex it just enough to remove the piece. Here's a pic:

I think if I had to do this again I would probably try and find a better way. Flexing the inner channel also moves the window a little btw, because the channel seems to run all the way up.


One more thing about removing this piece, the inner mechanism for the external handle even if you push it in from the outside, as described in the DIY, it can still relatch as you are removing it, like the little plastic channels can peek out and get caught on the metal outside, so you want to watch out for that as you pull it out. Here's a pic of the entire piece once removed:

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To remove the cables you rotate the plastic tab on the sheathing 90 degrees clockwise and then they should come out of the channels. Here's two pics, one of each cable:

I broke a slot on the old actuator's housing trying to remove the carrier tab. Here's a pic:

I used a screwdriver and a mallet to carefully tap that tab into the new actuator's slot. I don't have a pic of this.


I found some great advice here to put the window pin back on before reinstalling the panel. Be careful not to crack the glass with your wrench! Here's a pic:

Then, as that linked thread describes, after the panel is reinstalled you can position the plastic seat "ears" so that they are visible and you can lower the window down into the center and it will snap into place. Here's a pic:

Finally, when you are putting the door trim back on there should be no gap between it and the door at the top. If you look inside the door trim you'll see channels on the top, and those channels fit in the door channels. It took me quite a while to fit it properly. Here's two pics:

After everything was reinstalled I tested it and noticed something very weird, the double detent to make the window roll up automatically did not work either on the driver's button for that window or that window's button on its door, but the double detent to make it roll down automatically did work on both. I tried the other rear window and it worked both ways, so then I went back and tried this window again and it worked. I don't know what happened. I tried it like a dozen times after that and it worked every time. Maybe when the window motor is disconnected it needs to recalibrate the amount of force or something.

Everything else worked fine. The actual codes I had were:

Address 42: Door Elect, Driver (J386)

132610 - Motors for Rear Central Locking
B122C 01 [008] - Electrical Failure

132866 - Switch for Rear Central Locking
B122E 29 [008] - Signal Implausible

The rear door modules on my year of B6 cannot be accessed directly in VCDS, I think because they are subservient to the front modules. To clear the codes I had to access the front driver's module (address 42).

I did not use an OEM actuator, I bought one from aliexpress for $30 - $40 earlier this year, 3C4839015A, similar to this listing for the left rear lock: CENTRAL DOOR LOCK LATCH ACTUATOR 3C4839015A FOR VW PASSAT tt B6 b8 audi a4 a5 q3 q5 q7 skoda seat 3C4839015B 3C4839015C.

Also one more thing, if you can't open your rear door from the inside only then check if the child lock is on before putting yourself through all this.

Good luck.

 

If the auto close button doesn`t work after assembly, close the window all the way up, then release the "close window button and then use it again and this time hold the button for 5 sec. That way you will program the "one button auto close window again"

 

Does anyone have any advice on removing the "torx socket" screws that have been stripped out?

 

Same thing just happened to me - the Latch M6 screws are...screwed. It's time to buy a Dremel

 

Great write-up - some models appear to have 3 x Plastic Rivets in the subframe from the Latch mechanism (meaning I suppose the Latch must be unscrewed before the Sub Frame will come out) but the excellent detailed look above states they can be drilled-out - Any advice?