Door chime and interior lights on while driving.

First, I want to say that I was surprised that nothing came up when I did a search for this problem. In my experience with Volkswagens, especially Jetta’s, they have some absolutely ridiculous problems (why can’t Volkswagen engineer an armrest that doesn’t flop down, or why put a manifold over the spark plugs). And it seems that there are several women in my life that have Jetta’s that have nothing but problems (the cars, not the women). My mom’s ‘01 throws trouble codes like it is no one’s business, my Aunts ‘00 burns so much oil that she should get charged an oil guzzler tax, and my wife’s ‘01 does all this and more. I absolutely hate her Jetta (I told her don’t get it but “they’re cute”) and refuse to bring this into the dealer that routinely bends me over for every repair.

To the point, my wife’s Jetta’s door chimes and interior lights come on randomly while driving. No, there are no doors ajar, and the hood and trunk are firmly latched. While driving you can open and shut the door and it fixes it momentarily, maybe. It does not necessarily come on or off over every bump in the road, large or small, and sometimes will do it sitting absolutely still. I have looked for the latching sensors but have not found anything. Can anyone provide a fix or insight into this problem? Any help is much appreciated and thank you in advance for your help. Oh, and the culprit seems to be the drivers door.

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Career Firefighter L2704

2005 5.7L Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 HD
K&N CAI, Gibson SuperTruck Exhaust
Superchips Flashpaq Tuner
Kenwood KVT-512, JL 3 Channels, JL 4 Channel Amp
RF Mono Amp, JL W1 10" in Custom Box

1991 Jeep Wrangler
Frame up

By the way, this site is much better than that VolkwagenForum.com... I couldn't even post anything over there. Totally pissed me off.

_________________
Career Firefighter L2704

2005 5.7L Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 HD
K&N CAI, Gibson SuperTruck Exhaust
Superchips Flashpaq Tuner
Kenwood KVT-512, JL 3 Channels, JL 4 Channel Amp
RF Mono Amp, JL W1 10" in Custom Box

1991 Jeep Wrangler
Frame up

Bump

_________________
Career Firefighter L2704

2005 5.7L Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 HD
K&N CAI, Gibson SuperTruck Exhaust
Superchips Flashpaq Tuner
Kenwood KVT-512, JL 3 Channels, JL 4 Channel Amp
RF Mono Amp, JL W1 10" in Custom Box

1991 Jeep Wrangler
Frame up

i actually have that same problem..i have an 01 jetta and i thought it was my aftermarket stereo system i had put it..i had circuit city do it and im pretty sure they screwed it up becuase right after they out it in my car alarm would randomly go off and it would actually lock itself sometimes while the car was off and then the alarm would go on..but yes my door light would go on by itself and then go off..it was annoying so i just shut it off for a couple months and now all the sudden its fine..so unless your car had a stereo put in i guess its just a vw thing.

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mike d.

I have the exact same issue with my 2003 Jetta TDI. Upon researching the problem I found out it is actually the door pin that is malfunctioning. I have directions somewhere on how to fix it but you have to remove the entire window in order to get to it. PM me and I will try to find them for you.

Cheers,
Dean

So does anyone have a fix for this issue?

Grizz, could you please send me these directions.

My girlfriends 2003 Jetta 2.0 4Cyl just started doing this same thing this afternoon. While driving the door ajar dashboard light randomly comes on(while stopped, while moving, over bumps, it's random) and the interior lights come on when this happens, as if a door is open, but none are. I tried pushing/pulling(from inside and out) on all 4 doors and the trunk lid, while the car was stopped but I was not able to reproduce the issue. However not even a minute after I tried all this we let go of the brake for a split second then hit it again and the light came on, lights came on, then after a couple seconds just went off. weird.... We definitely need to figure out how to fix this, I realllyy don't want to have to be forced into spending my whole paycheck at VW to get this fixed. :-\

Just so everyone is in the loop so to speak, here is the resolution I've found.....

You will need a new Door Latch Assembly (Dealer only)

Door Lock, Removing and Installing
Window regulator, door lock and loudspeaker are secured to carrier assembly.
Door lock can only be removed in conjunction with carrier assembly.
Carrier assembly can only be removed when door window has been removed at clamping brackets of window regulator. For this purpose, door window must be driven down to height of installation holes in carrier assembly and clamping brackets loosened.
If it is not possible to drive down door window by electrical window regulator, first exact cause of malfunction must be determined.
To do so, using Scan Tool (ST) -V.A.G 1551-, check DTC Memory of comfort system (address word 46)

→ Body On Board Diagnostic; Rep. Gr.01; Convenience System, with Power Windows, OBD.
If there is an electrical malfunction via window regulator motor, this can be removed from carrier assembly.
Removing
– Removing front door trim

→ Body Interior; Rep. Gr.70; Door Trim.
– Removing and installing lock cylinder housing → Chapter.

– Unclip clip -1- from door handle.

– Pry off caps -1-.
– Lower door window until securing bolts of door window are accessible.
NoteIf work step is not possible due to a malfunction via electrical window regulator, window regulator motor can be removed to be able to slide window down.
– Loosen bolts -2- and press clamping brackets apart.
– Slide door windows upward and secure (e.g. using adhesive tape).

– Disconnect all connectors -arrows-.

– Remove bolts -2-.
Tightening torque: 20 Nm

– Remove bolts -arrows-. Remove upper carrier assembly from door, lift and lift out from door toward door hinges.
– Rotate carrier assembly and disconnect connector from door lock.
– Then, unclip clips for electrical wires from rear side of carrier assembly.

– Drive out clips -1- using a drift.

– Unclip cable -2- from clip -1-.
– Using a screwdriver -3-, pry off door lock with assembly aid from carrier assembly.
NoteAngle bracket is not part of parts supplied with door lock. It is secured to door lock with a bolt and a blind rivet.

– Unclip locking rod -1-. To do so, turn door lock in direction of -arrow-.
– Unclip cable -2-.
– Turn end of cable 90° and remove from eyelet.
Installing

– Pull operating lever -1- in direction of -arrow-.
– Using a screwdriver, tension spring -2- secured to door lock in direction of -arrow- and engage lock lever into spring.
NoteLock is secured by engaging operating lever. Thereby later “incorrect” clipping-in of release cable is prevented.

– Insert carrier assembly into door.

– Tighten all bolts. Tighten bolts marked -1- and -2- in reverse order of removal.
Tightening torque: 8 Nm
– Remaining bolts can be tightened in any sequence.
– Press door window -3- into window guide -arrow- and tighten clamping brackets with bolts -4-.
l Tightening torque: Plastic clamping brackets 9 Nm, aluminum clamping brackets 11 Nm.
– Then, perform in reverse order of removal.
l Then, perform a function load test.

Well I had this problem too (97 Jetta GLS). First step is to remove that door chime from the fuse box before it makes you insane. It's a little speaker about an Inch by Inch and 3 inches long and it pulls out easily, just like a plug. These problems with door chimes, alarms, windows etc., are usually caused by broken wiring within the rubber boot by the door hinge through which the wiring runs. If you experience problems like this, the first thing to check is to look inside that boot. I had a ton of strange things happen, the car even locked my sister inside and rolled the windows up. I patched up the wires, and I was good to go.

What Grizz suggests may work, but it also may be overkill in a lot of cases, and very expensive.

I'm just gonna add to this post since it sounds related.

This morning my '02 car alarm started to go off for no apparent reason. I tried hitting the door unlock button several times on my key, but that didn't work immeadiatly--in fact I can't recall if it ever did work. I tried locking the doors, that sort of worked--again not sure how I got the alarm to stop (perhaps I didn't and it just went off on it's own?) but once the alarm went off--if I tried to lock the doors again--the alarm would come on and wouldn't go off. Nothing was open, not even the trunk..but for sh*ts and giggles I unlocked the trunk, opened and closed it...after I did that the car alarm stopped going off when I locked the doors with the key. It's all kinda fuzzy to me since I was half asleep trying to figure this out. All I can tell you is that the car has been parked for well over 15 hours and the alarm just randomly started to go off now. This is a 1st.

Yesterday morning I noticed that my door ajar light was on. I got out of the car and checked all the doors and the trunk but nothing was open, everything was shut properly. As I was driving my interior light would not go off and we had to take the bulb out of the light as it was draining my battery. We tried to see what the problem was lastnight and again checked all the doors and the trunk but the light will not go off. There is no warning bell when I start the car saying a door is open and when I lock my doors it doesn't beep. I noticed other people are having similar problems...any suggestions on how to fix this?

This is caused by worn out or faulty solder joints, or faulty microswitches in the Door Lock Module. Either it needs to be replace or one can try to repair it Smile

See here:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1542461

Also a great wealth of info here on MKIV Jettas in general:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1835863

Hope this helps!