Door Switch Fix (Alternative)

kevininhalifax2

Active member
Joined
May 12, 2013
Location
Halifax
TDI
2001 Stock
Just came across this one - and can't figure out from all the responses if this "bypass" just turns on the puddle light, or does it turn on the full interior lights + door open icon on the cluster?
 

TB

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2001
Location
Ancaster, Ontario Canada
TDI
Black 2003 Jetta TDI and Silver 2001 TDI
Great fix, cheap and everything works as normal..puddle light, door chime, interior lights and I don't get locked out of the car any more.
Went to Future shop, the auto dept, they gave me two door pins. They come extra with alarm systems..
 
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duwem

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Location
Wi
TDI
2002 Golf GLS TDI 5 Speed
So if my dome light doesnt work when I open either the drivers or passengers front doors ( but does when I pull out the key, so I know the bulb is good), do I need to install a switch on both front doors?

(also have the no chime when the lights are left on problem)
 

ahhhhwhoa

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2013
Location
IL
TDI
03 TDI Wagon
Has anyone figured a good walk around for those of us who's car thinks their door is always OPEN?

The $3 magnet switch fix only works if your car always thinks the doors are closed, however my car always thinks my passenger door is OPEN therefor leaving me with no interior lights (as I have had to turn them off so they aren't on all the time).

Is there a wire or something I can snip to undo the ground my car is constantly making just so that it never thinks the door is open? I would love to have interior lights on my driver door and do not care so much about them on my passenger side. HELP!
 

jjcsnlynn

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Location
Felton, DE
TDI
02 & 03 Jetta TDI,99 Beetle TDI, 04 Chevy Duramax 2500HD 4x4
Did this on my 2002 Jetta and it worked brilliantly. Thanks
 
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KiDGiB

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Location
Nevada
TDI
Actually, I own a 1.8t Mk4 Jetta
I finally got down to fixing my door with this switch and it worked. Thank you so much for this write up. I felt that it was time to finally fix my driver door, since all someone had to do was bust my window and get in on the drivers side without making the alarm go off.

Feels weird having the chime when i leave my lights on or even have my key still in the ignition.
 

gcodori

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Location
northern california (bay area)
TDI
2001 NB TDI plus CPO 2013 Passat TDI SEL Prem.
Has anyone figured a good walk around for those of us who's car thinks their door is always OPEN?

The $3 magnet switch fix only works if your car always thinks the doors are closed, however my car always thinks my passenger door is OPEN therefor leaving me with no interior lights (as I have had to turn them off so they aren't on all the time).

Is there a wire or something I can snip to undo the ground my car is constantly making just so that it never thinks the door is open? I would love to have interior lights on my driver door and do not care so much about them on my passenger side. HELP!
Bump for this answer too!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk HD
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
... since all someone had to do was bust my window and get in on the drivers side without making the alarm go off...
Guess what: they still can. Break out the window and get anything, as long as they don't open the door, the alarm never goes off. :rolleyes:

The best and cheapest fix for 99% of these problems is to resolder the broken solder joints on the door latch circuit board.

Cheers!

PH
 

WardB

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Location
Utah
TDI
2000 NB
I tried that and nothing changed. I ended up having the dealer swap it out due to future mother-in-law visit (I had no time). I asked the tech about the original lock/actuator and he said that the switch was broken and that the circuit board was shorted out. They already threw the old part in the dump before I got there to see for myself:rolleyes:
How much was the bill for switch and labor? My local dealer quoted me $380USD. There is no way that is going to happen.
 

jjcsnlynn

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Location
Felton, DE
TDI
02 & 03 Jetta TDI,99 Beetle TDI, 04 Chevy Duramax 2500HD 4x4
I did this fix in January and it's worked great until this week. I was sitting with the door open for about 20 minutes and all of a sudden the interior lights went out. Since then the front door puddle light and light on the dash doesn't work. I guess something got hot and stopped working. The interior lights work fine on the other doors.

I checked all the fuses and they are good. I'm wondering if the diode went bad or the light blew.
 

jayb79

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 20, 2000
Location
Exeter,NH
doesn't the timer kick in after a period of time and shut everything down? I can remember my beetle shutting down after a while with the door open.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
Maybe the timer is longer than 20 minutes. But if it were the timer, the lights would work again the next time the door is opened. Very possibly the new little teeny switch melted after that long.

My wife's NB gave her grief a couple of weeks ago, so I took apart the door to fix the latch mechanism. The switches all appeared OK as did the solder joints. In this case, the joints were coated with something - lacquer or thin epoxy or something like that. I could see no solder breaks, so I did the only reasonable thing - I resoldered them anyway.

On reassembly, the random alarm has quit. Cost me time, but that's about all.

Cheers,

PH
 

antonio2001

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2013
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2001 jetta tdi
Works great

Amazing alternative, I just did it today with a door switch i took off a hunday from a junkyard, it indeed needs to be a 2 pin connection, spliced the wires to the connector and to the ground wire on the puddle light, and voila works great, even activates the dome lights and alarm. would have never thought of doing it that way. I changed my door module 7 times. it was enough. thanks again works amazing whoever wants to try it :)
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
I just tested this on my Golf using a jumper wire from the paddle light harness to a ground under the consul cover and the dome lights turned on. The alarm would not set because the ECU knows that the front door is open. Wish I had found this thread a couple of weeks ago.
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
I just installed this "momentary" switch that I purchased from Ace Hardware. I also picked up a 16-22 AWG splicer there also to connect my ground to the puddle light brown wire. Female connectors on the switch, and I used the existing torx bolt shown above the OP's drilled bolt in the 8th pic for the ground connection. So far so good. The most difficult part was reconnecting the rubber boot by the door hinges which is not necessary if you pull the inner panel where the hood release is at and go through there.
 

Prmrtn

New member
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Location
Arizona
TDI
Golf mkIV
Kudos to Spooge1 for the brilliant idea on an alternative to the door latch micro switch replacement. He opened the door...so to speak... to several options, of which I think the magnetic switch is the best since it allows all the wiring to stay within the plastic door panel...
Along those lines, I had a micro switch laying around with a long metal flap actuator. I located it inside the panel at the front with the actuator protruding through a hold cut in the panel and slightly bent ("adjusted") to activate upon contact with the door jamb when the door closes... See attached pics. So easy with all the wiring just inside the door panel. (A magnetic switch would be a neater solution though, with the magnet attached to the jamb).
 
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