bad ignition switch?

2000 Jetta automatic, 280K, how would i go about checking the ignition switch to see if it is in fact bad?

On the A3/B4 the electrical contacts got hot from current through them, softened the plastic in which the contacts were inserted, and began to 'sink' down further into the plastic resulting in poor connection.
Your A4 may not have the same cause, symptoms, or diagnostics.
A reasonably good diagnosis (A3/B4, maybe A4, too) of this condition is the restoration of electrical function while jiggling the key or pushing it in towards the steering column.
A better diagnosis is to test resistance at the plug-in connection point, but that requires some disassembly. If disassembling anyway, it may make sense to simply replace the suspect switch while in there.

Why don't you tell us what the symptom(s) are before trying to ask us if your diagnosis is correct?

ok fair enough, the car had no power windows, no mirrors, no trunk, no interior lights, DRL's stayed on even when ebrake was up and no power locks. oo and when i was putting in new fuses the cooling fans would turn on just for a second every so often. but this clicking did blow the number 14 fuse whatever its doing. the books dont tell u what the fuses do just a picture, but i thought it was the ignition switch, but turns out that a bunch of fuses were blown 14 and 5, and one of the modules under the dash is clicking on and off every 3 seconds and when the module clicks the 2 over head lights go off for a second then back on. what is that moduel and maybe its bad, maybe its the timer for the lights off after the door is shut?? the over head dome light broke 4 months ago i just never replaced it.
i think that module under the dash is bad tho.
what are your thoughts
thanks in advance

The CCM is what that module is that controls all the interior bits. I would scan ALL the modules in the car and see what if any DTCs are present.

Then I would check the connections at the battery, and the ground points especially the one under the battery tray.

Then check for any water intrusion through the cowl area (pull the left dash trim up) and check for coolant migration.

will do thanks.
is the CCM common to fry? also does it control the cooling fan at all?
and would a dead dome light cause problems?

I would not say the CCM is a very high failure item, I have replaced a few, but one of those was on a car that was struck by lightning and pretty much everything in the car that had a microprocessor of any sort was also cooked.

The cooling fan control module is a seperate part under the battery tray, that controls both fans and the compressor clutch. Those are a more common failure item, but have nothing to do with your CCM or dome lamp.

ok i removed the dome light and the CCM stopped clicking, so im thinking it has a short in it somewhere, there was some residual soot on it like it got hot at some point, and i will remove battery and check out the fan control module.
thanks again for the help