Audi SQ5 Door Locks Dead: Electrical Failure Alert

Had a similar electrical issue with my 2013 S5 last year. Have some experience working on cars but needed professional help with this one. The vehicle doors were acting up in the same way, complete failure of the central locking system. After initial troubleshooting, turned out to be a damaged wiring harness connection near the driver side door. The car alarm would occasionally trigger as well due to faulty contact signals. Took it to a workshop where they traced the issue to corroded plug connections in the door wiring. The repair involved cleaning the contacts and replacing a section of the harness. Total cost was 95 Euro for parts and labor, which seems reasonable given the diagnostic work involved. Before you head to a shop, could you share: Whether the key fob battery is new, If manual key still works in the doors, Any other electrical symptoms, Whether you hear the central locking pump working This info would help determine if you are dealing with the same root cause or possibly something different.

Thanks for the detailed response. My SQ5 last service was at 141186KM just two months ago. Regarding your questions: The key fob has a fresh battery, and manual keys work fine in all vehicle doors. The strange part is I cannot hear the central locking pump at all when attempting to lock/unlock. No other electrical issues present, windows, mirrors, and door sensors all function normally. Just tested another detail that might help, when using the manual key, the door sensor still detects opening/closing, but the automatic locks themselves remain unresponsive. Could this narrow down the problem to the locking mechanism rather than the wiring harness?

Thanks for those additional details about your SQ5. The symptoms you describe actually match my S5 case even more closely than I initially thought. When my door latch issues started, I also had working door sensors but a completely silent central locking pump. The fact your door switch and other electronics work properly actually points more strongly toward a wiring harness problem rather than the mechanism itself. In my case, the door contact signals were still registering, but the break in the wiring harness prevented the lock commands from reaching the actuators. The corroded connections essentially created a communication gap between the control module and the door latch mechanisms. Two quick checks you can try: Listen very carefully at each door while someone else uses the key fob, Check if the lock button on the center console works Both these tests helped pinpoint the location of my wiring issue. Based on the matching symptoms, I would estimate you are looking at a similar 90-120 Euro repair if it is indeed the same harness problem. The fact this happened shortly after service could be coincidental, but might be worth mentioning to the repair shop as they may have noticed something during the previous work.

Based on those details, I think we are definitely looking at a wiring harness issue. The complete silence from the central locking pump combined with functioning door sensors really matches the symptoms you described. Good point about checking both the key fob and manual key operations, helps rule out simpler problems. I will schedule a repair visit and ask them to specifically inspect the wiring connections near the door latch assemblies. Since all electrical door functions except the automatic locks are working, this should help them narrow down the diagnostic process. The repair cost range you mentioned (90-120 Euro) sounds reasonable for this type of electrical issue. Will definitely mention the recent service visit when I take it in, though as you noted, the timing could be purely coincidental. Thanks for walking through the troubleshooting steps, saved me from worrying it might be a more expensive central locking system failure. Will update once I get it checked out and know the actual cause.