Stupid door Switch!! $3 Fix!!!

Is the Switch assembly not the operational switch inside the door?

Where is the burnt Switch assembly located that they replaced? Is this not referring to the door lock assembly?

Door switch fix...

DieselDrink said:

Is the Switch assembly not the operational switch inside the door?

Where is the burnt Switch assembly located that they replaced? Is this not referring to the door lock assembly?

Click to expand...

Regrettably, I didn't see inside my door during this work. From other pics, in this thread and others, I believe there are three (micro) switches, and a motor, in the lock assembly. One of my switches was 'burnt' and therefore not doing it's job....
The dealer replaced the drivers front door lock assembly p/n: 3B1-837-015-AK. This seems to be the whole thing, not just a switch. It seems that the 'burnt' microswitch is located below where the exposed part of the latch peeks through the door frame. My guess is that lube, water, and dirt can drip/migrate down into this switch as its lower than the hole in the door.
Hope this helps...

Hey all,

I think I have the same door problem as everyone else is trying to fix here, but before I go tearing into the door in the middle of the winter, I want to make sure.

Everyone else was complaining about the switch thinking the door is closed all the time, my problem is the switch is stuck the other way, it thinks the door is open all the time. So the puddle light, dome light, and "your door is a jar" ding and idiot light are always on. As far as I can tell the door does fully latch, so it's not a safety issue, but dammit this is going to be an annoying hour long trip back and forth to work if I don't get that ding to turn off. I've switched the dome light to off, and disconnected the puddle light to not drain the battery, but I'd really like to actually fix the problem.

I've also tried playing around with the latch with a screwdriver and contact cleaner like Wingnut suggested, but doesnt seem to help.

So does everyone still think it is probably this switch, or is it something else that went wrong?

Oh by the way, I've got a PSA as part of this as well. This started happening as I was putting on my winter tires. I was replacing the left front, and had it up on the jack, when I realized I had forgotten to leave the car in gear, so I opened the door, put the car in gear (without climbing in) and shut the door. Now you know why they tell you not to open car doors when you only have 1 corner jacked up.

Thanks for the advice,

John

Same door sw. problem

Sounds like you have the same problem I had with the same switch in the same door except that your switch is buggering up with the other wire. Disassembly and replacing the single switch, following the instructions above in earlier posts, OR replacing the lock assembly, are your two choices. As proud owner of the car, you get to decide which you're gonna do.
As a follow up to my lock ass. replacement, under warranty, I had to go back for a follow-up visit, called a 'call-back'. Seems when the 'tech' replaced all the door components the wire clip for the power mirror switch wasn't put back on 'perfectly tight'. With vibrations, due to driving, the clip wiggled loose enough to cut power to the switch. The same tech needed to spend only about 10 minutes 'fixing' this but it meant me getting another appointment and another trip back to get it done. I only noticed this problem at night because the switch wasn't illuminated.
Good luck... let us know what you find and which fix you chose...
Cheers,

I'm in the process of replacing the switch on my car. The original switch in my car was made by Burgess, but it doesn't indicate the model number. Looking through Burgess' web site, (http://www.saia-burgess-usa.com/) it looks like the V4NSUL is a pretty close if not exact replacement.

http://w2s.saia-burgessusa.com/ledx/ds/LXSUS/LXSUS1e.lasso?pcode=S211

Damn VW should definitely do a recall for this. Both my mk4 Jetta's I've owned have had the same problem on the driver's side door and now my TDI has the same issue on BOTH front doors.

I tried the spray method with no success at all. Even if I force the latch open with a screw driver as hard as I can it still isn't detected.

I guess I'll be doing the RadioShack fix. I hope I can find the switch there now that the changed to "The Source" in Canada. Otherwise I'll be looking for similar switches at other electronics stores.

Thanks for the how-to anyway

I'm going to do this repair this weekend, but I have a question.

This may be a stupid question, but how does the lock carrier get re-attached to the door if I drill out the rivets that hold it in place?

How does the lock carrier get re-attached to the door if I drill out the rivets that hold it in place?

HotRod said:

How does the lock carrier get re-attached to the door if I drill out the rivets that hold it in place?

Click to expand...

Evidently you can do it two ways. You can rid the black plastic support piece all together and install the locking module ...though harder to install ...still can be installed. Or you can get a rivet gun and re-revit the black plastic support piece to the locking module itself ...as OEM.

My front driver's door had the warranty window clip replacement in 2004. The mechanic at the dealership just ripped out the black support piece and it was not discovered until I had my door locks repaired 3 weeks ago. So it's very common to run the locking module without the support plastic in place ...I assume.

BrianCT

I used nuts and bolts.

thanks for the responses

I keep a little baggie of nuts and machine screws for just this. They are so small, I can cut the excess off with a pair of wire cutters.

I just did mine this past week and if you are careful when you punch out the plastic rivit center pieces with the assy off the door, you can reinsert them and use a hammer gently but firmly to put them back into place. I didn't drill mine off. As for the metal rivit, I just moved the black piece of plastic out of the way so I never drilled that one off either.

To secure the switch, what I did was to open up the holes in the microswitch so that I could use some #6 screws that I had lying around. As there isn't alot of room there for nuts I decided to cut some threads and tap the holes in the switch itself and simply put the screws through the metal bracket ( those holes I had to open up as well with a drill bit )and secure it that way. No need for nuts. But be careful as it is only plastic, if you overtorque the screws you will strip out the threads.

Okay, I have fixed my door driver side door lock...

Problem - Intermittent (getting worse) Door unlocking with key and allowing entry but the alarm does NOT disengage so if I touch anything or try to start the car, ALARM SCREAMS! (I don't have a FOB).

Solution - Take the whole door apart and remove the door lock mechanism
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1542461
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1015107


Found out that the tool I need to remove the assembly is a 8mm Triple Square bit. The set cost me $14 at Pepboys (includes also 6mm, 10mm, 12mm). Removed everything that the above links told me to. I tried to separate the electronic portion of the lock assembly from the mechanical but to my suprise another special bit was required. Perhaps not special to someone with thier own tools but I had to borrow everything for this job. A very small torx bit (I don't know the actual size). Since I spent the whole day tracking down the 8mm Triple square, I wasn't in the mood to be stopped by this one little screw.

So I used my soldering iron that I was planning on using to resolder the pins for the microswitches. I melted the plastic around the screw and got at it with needlenose pliers.

Got everything apart, resoldered ALL the joints, glued the connector pins in place (the connector has play in it and caused the broken solder joints in the first place). Put it all back together and it works flawlessly now.

another useful door lock repair DIY with pics

http://www.taligentx.com/passat/maintenance/doorlockmechanism/

anybody in southern NJ (marlton) want to make some extra cash and help me do this fix to my driverside door. My door has been on the fritz for the last 2 years and im at the point where im sick of it. Hit me up at bahiaeternal@msn.com if anyones interested.

Someone Help!!!!! Please!!!

Hi guys i have a Golf GTI and im at the point where im about to kill myself. Just yesterday my car wouldnt lock when i got out. After i almost threw my key in to the bushes i noticed that my light that said door was open. So i walk around and close my doors.... still the damn light wouldnt go off. and i wouldnt care but my lights stay on and drain my battery( I had to learn this the hard way) I went around several times trying and trying to close the doors , but still had no success. Then I called my friends brother who knows alot more about cars then me, and he told me that alot of VW had problems like that. That it was ussually the door switch. now im hopings its this, and I can do it myself, cause I honestly cant dish out money to dealerships that I know for a fact dont know anything. Has anyone had this problem and if so PLEASE email me ipoplikearobot@gmail.com i really need to figure this thing out, I dont want to have to recharge or buy a new battery everytime i want to go out...

deathmask, the microswitch in the door is stuck open. Recommend picking up another from radioshack and replacing, will take an hour's worth of work.

Yes, common problem. Oh, and after 5 minutes the lights will all turn off inside (except for the sun visor lights if you have them down...?) so don't worry about the batteries.

Bump this up....
My drivers door just started doing this. Dome lights won't come, alarm doesn't go off when the drivers door opened while armed (say you lock the car with the remote and are inside, and then open a door... alarm goes off for every other door), and I can lock and arm the car with the driver door open.

milehighassassin said:

Bump this up....
My drivers door just started doing this. Dome lights won't come, alarm doesn't go off when the drivers door opened while armed (say you lock the car with the remote and are inside, and then open a door... alarm goes off for every other door), and I can lock and arm the car with the driver door open.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this is happening with my girlfriend's car. But in her case it is a warranty issue, so part of me would rather let the stealer try and fix it, and part of me worries that they would just screw it up.

Oh, and on account of this, she did manage to lock herself out of the car one day .

anyone have a canadian supplyer for teh radio shack switch? as radio shack is no longer in canada. and the US ones will not ship to canada.

can you order online from Radio Shack autohaus? if not here is a pic of the radioshack switch that you could take into any store that sells this type of electrical component and they should be able to go off of he numbers on the side.


http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049718&cp

autohaus said:

anyone have a canadian supplyer for teh radio shack switch? as radio shack is no longer in canada. and the US ones will not ship to canada.

Click to expand...

PM me your info...

When I go pick up my parts for this fix I will buy an extra or two...

autohaus said:

anyone have a canadian supplyer for teh radio shack switch? as radio shack is no longer in canada. and the US ones will not ship to canada.

Click to expand...

Any electronics store will have microswitches of the right size. They are standard parts and easy to find.

Bump for a useful thread. Just fixed my driver's side front door. All those chimes and beeps were starting to get annoying. Next I'll have to tackle the passenger side. Could't have done it without the instructions on TDIclub and the Vortex.

Mine actually was just a bad solder joints on the switches from poor solder and slamming the door. I resoldered the switches 2 years ago and still working just fine.

need a little help, after replacing the electric door switch the darn window slid down and all the wiring came off the spool. having a really difficult time getting the window panel to stay up and put the window driver on the back of that steel plate...any suggestions, anyone else encounter this issue?

Well, now it's my turn to replace my door switch. I've had this as a favorite thread for quite some time. As a side question, anyone know why the "door-open" dash indicator light would NOT come on when this switch goes bad? I would think if it were broken the indicator light would glow, but mine doesn't.... not even when the door IS actually open.

I think it is because the failure causes the controller to assume the door is always closed.

I am fixing my driver's side door soon - perhaps tonight as I already have the old part out. I decided to purchase the new door latch module from 1stvwparts rather than do the homegrown fix. I think I will have the car long enough that I think I will benefit from having all new parts. Door latches are ultimately wear items anyway.

I will post some information about the new part after I get a look at it.

btw, I cannot believe how BAD the old design is. I wonder if VW failed to bench test this module or if their test was flawed... or do they consider 4 years of life for a door lock to be ok?! The reason I say the design is bad (other than the numerous failures reported) is that there is a very small pin that contacts a soft cam. on my lock the pin wore a groove into the cam. The radio shack switch with the metal lever on it would have been a better choice.

Reference information

Just opened up the new part 3B1-837-015-AS and there is no noticeable change to the design of the door open/closed switch or cam oh well.


For reference; regarding the door open/closed switch.

The switch is on terminals 7 and 8 of the 8-pin connector.

State Door Closed:

- The switch is not depressed and 8-7 is an open circuit.

State Door Open:

- The switch is depressed and 8-7 has continuity.


So, as stated earlier, the switch is a normally open type.

One confusing thing is that the Bentley shows the switch in the closed state. This is how it would be in if the door were open. I had thought (or read) that the switches on wiring diagrams were to be in a normal run position state- which in this case is switch open; door closed.