Red Interior Door Lights Don’t Go N

All the rest of the interior lights work. Is there a fuse to the red door lights I can check? If not, what’s wrong and how do I fix it?

Thank you.

Have you checked the bulb?

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I think both sides don’t go on, so I thought it wasn’t a bad bulb.

Mass. Wine Guy said:

I think both sides don’t go on, so I thought it wasn’t a bad bulb.

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Very vague description of the problem or onset.

Here's some info that will help narrow down stuff.

1.
Red door lights could mean the led illumination for the lock and window switch or someone may mistake it for the courtesy lights that light up when doors are opened.
2.
What's been changed *if anything* that could have caused the onset of the issue. / early mk4s used different part numbers and different setups of CCM and window motors.
3.
Do you have any power to the door *window up/down and door locks working or dead door completely*
4.
If you have access to a vcds or similar scan tool to get codes read out.

As for example. I wasnt aware for a bit that my 03 had window motors starting with a 1c1 or such part number that the ccm started with as well. While my 01 has a 1c0 and 1c0 ccm causing a no communication error with the whole door. Could mean either 1 ccm or 2 window motor. Possibly runner up 3. A bad wire or connection.

Sorry for the long reply but the more detail the better. It's always helpful to throw more detail out there vs not enough because someone may only know either early or late gen



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Not the tiny red flashing alarm light. The ones on the bottom of the door interiors with red lenses. Nothing electrical had been done for ages. Latches, windows, etc. work but front passenger door black round push down latch hasn’t worked for years. Because of this the car alarm arms but doesn’t toot the horn when activated.

Does the overhead dome light work properly when the doors are opened?

There's 2 or 3 micro switches in the door latch mechanism.
One of those could be bad.

Could be a broken wire in the boot between the door jam and the door.

I briefly did check my drivers door latch when the interior lights did not work and one of them did light it.
Sorry, don't remember exactly which switch it was, to many years ago.

I did have the mechanism out and opened to check it.

Replacement unit did fix the alarm not setting problem.

wonneber said:

There's 2 or 3 micro switches in the door latch mechanism.
One of those could be bad.

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I'm thinking this. The OEM ones will collect crud and get stuck...intermittently or permanently.

My driver door is at the intermittent stage. But, if it doesn't come on, the interior lights won't come on either. I've managed to get some electrical contact cleaner down in there and work the latch mechanism enough to keep the microswitch partially working. Eventually I'll do the replacement at the same time I re-adjust my door. Who knows when I'll get to that, it takes a back seat to other projects.

You didn't answer @Vince Waldon question. That will let you know about the microswitch issue.

All other interior lights work. I don’t care about fixing the passenger side door latch.

Mass. Wine Guy said:

All other interior lights work. I don’t care about fixing the passenger side door latch.

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My reply has nothing to do with your door latch working or not...your door latch activates a microswitch which completes the circuit to your door lights...if that microswitch isn't working properly, then you get no door lights or overhead center console lights (if you have them activated to come on when the door is opened). It is a common failure.

Best of luck though, follow up and post on your thread when you find the solution.

Ah ha! Thank you.

Mass. Wine Guy said:

All other interior lights work. I don’t care about fixing the passenger side door latch.

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There is a thread about a $3.00 fix for this.
It involves buying a magnetic switch and magnet and place them in the door jam.
You have to wire it to turn the lights on.

wonneber said:

There is a thread about a $3.00 fix for this.
It involves buying a magnetic switch and magnet and place them in the door jam.
You have to wire it to turn the lights on.

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Yeah you could wire in a simple proximity switch and completely get rid of the microswitch all together. Utilize the same wiring though so to do it cleanly you'd have to get internal to the door/switch anyway.

There is an updated microswitch that I believe doesn't suffer from the same crud building failure as the OEM one. There are threads on what it looks like. It's a direct replacement and supposed to be way better. It's only a couple bucks as well, I'll likely go that route.

Guys... if his dome lights work... which seems to be the case... the issue is not likely the door microswitches.

Vince Waldon said:

Guys... if his dome lights work... which seems to be the case... the issue is not likely the door microswitches.

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He never clarified if the dome switches worked WHEN the door was open. It was mentioned that the dome lights worked, but they will work regardless if you press the button to activate them

You can set the dome lights to only come when you press the button and not activate when the door is opened. If you had it on this setting, you wouldn't know whether they were working or not because they just wouldn't come on.

I asked:

Vince Waldon said:

Does the overhead dome light work properly when the doors are opened?

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and was then told:

Mass. Wine Guy said:

All other interior lights work.

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Dunno how to be clearer about this than that.

I respect and admire attention to specificity. My dome light works.

Isn't there a switch for the dome that turns it on unless the car is running?
Why not 2 burned out bulbs? (occam)

BobnOH said:

Why not 2 burned out bulbs? (occam)

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This I have seen, repeatedly. My pet theory is they are long-filament bulbs, which are a bit fragile to begin with, and subjected to slamming.

I’ll definitely check the bulbs.

Mass. Wine Guy said:

I think both sides don’t go on, so I thought it wasn’t a bad bulb.

Click to expand...

Start simple and free, it's cheaper than cranking up the parts cannon.

Use a voltmeter to check for voltage at the socket.

Also, have they ever worked?

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