SEAT Cordoba (1994 - 2003) - Vario 98 1.9TDi central locking leak

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Mon 24 Mar 2008 11:20
Vario 98 1.9TDi central locking leak - ifekas
The central locking on my SEAT (which uses the same system to Polos and Golfs of that age) has developed a leak. When one locks the doors, they all still lock, but the vacuum pump continues to run for about half a minute, after which point the doors will not unlock automatically. It was more of an inconvenience when I couldn't easily open the fuel filler cap despite following the instructions in the manual!

I have found the source of the leak to be the locking mechanism for the fuel filler cap; fiddling with the mechanism gets the locking working normally. Unfortunately the mechanism is quite inaccessible as it's between the two metal panels; I have tried putting grease around the metal pin that moves, but this hasn't resolved the issue.

Due to the car's age and value, I don't really want to spend a lot of money on this, unless it is relatively straightforward.

If this isn't the case, is it a viable option to just block off the tube which leads to the filler cap with silicone sealant? The filler cap would obviously not be lockable, but this would not be obvious. I didn't want to try this as if it affected the rest of the locking, I would be in a worse situation than presently.
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Mon 24 Mar 2008 12:45
Vario 98 1.9TDi central locking leak - elekie&a/c doctor
Looks like the vacuum diaphragm to the petrol flap is faulty.If you are not worried about the locking flap ,then block the pipe off with a screw with ptfe tape on the thread.Not a good idea to use silicone as it may get sucked into the pump.hth
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Sat 29 Mar 2008 18:15
Vario 98 1.9TDi central locking leak - ifekas
Thanks for that tip; only had the chance to do it this afternoon, but did as you said... sealing the tube worked perfectly. I also connected a stiff piece of wire to the fuel filler locking pin so it can be locked and unlocked manually by pushing or pulling the wire.
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Thu 3 Apr 2008 14:27
Vario 98 1.9TDi central locking leak - Murielson
I too have the pump running on problem and just wondered how you managed to find the fault/leak so quickly. Did you follow a laid down procedure that I could get my hands on for instance?

Thanks in advance.
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