Jetta 1.8T 2001 interior lights, door chime, etc.
Since I bought my Jetta in 2001, the car has never “”chimed”" to indicate that my lights are still on when I open my door to get out. I didn’t think much of it, just figured that this car didn’t “”chime”" and got used to always checking to turn lights off (esp. after two “”dead battery”" boosts). Never thought to mention it to my dealer.
Also, from Day 1, my car would re-lock itself after getting in if I didn’t start the engine within several seconds (say, when I am digging around in the glove box for something). Never thought anything of it, as I knew the car also re-locked itself when you unlocked with the remote but didn’t open the door.
Also, from time to time noticed that my interior light didn’t come on when I opened the driver door (yes, the switch was set to the correct position). The problem resolved itself.
Today at the dealership for my 64,000 km service (40,000mi) (yes, I have low mileage on my 5-yr old car), the service tech noticed the car not chiming when she turned on my lights to check the mileage. She also noticed that it re-locked itself after she let herself out of the car. She said this problem has something to do with a “”door lock actuator”" or sensor of some kind. This sensor (in the door) seems to manage (1) door chime when lights left on (2) interior light coming on when door open (3) door (re)locking logistics (4) possibly issues with the alarm.
This stuff (chime, relocking) hasn’t acted properly since I bought the car. Today at the dealership, I was quoted a $600 (CAN) repair bill, about 2h labour for both front doors (at $Can90/hr) and two parts, at $400 total.
The other problem…the service tech was doing some frigging with the passenger door, and tonight, my interior lights wouldn’t go out while driving, and my car wouldnt lock iself because when the doors were closed, the passenger inside kick-panel red light wouldn’t go out. All this stuff is related to these sensors in the doors.
Is anyone else aware of this problem. I have no warranty left, but it appears I had issues since Day 1 that it never occurred to me were actually issues. Does $600CAN sound reasonable to fix this? That’s about $800 US!!
Any feedback or similar problems?
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Chombi Said,
January 29, 2006 @ 2:57 am
Jetta 1.8T 2001 interior lights, door chime, etc. – That’s pretty typical “”running costs”" for a late model VW. As you are obviously finding out, VW electricals are the weakest point of their cars, followed closely by their lubrication and cooling system management systems. You have two choices, Just accept the VW as it is and consider these “”inconveniences”" as part of normal VW operational costs (as a lot of Vortex site enthusiasts are starting to actually admit in their posts), or bail out of the scene and buy Japanese.
I opted for the latter and have been very happy with my decision for the last 10,000 miles….ALL systems on the A-OK!
It takes a lot of patience and money to keep a late model VW running properly these days. There was a lot of publicity about a year ago that they were going to turn things around at VW (Quality, Reliability, Customer Service and proper pruduct planning for the future)with their then new VWoA leader, Len Hunt jumping in to hopefully save the day, but Len has since left the scene for a job at Hyundai and the hailing trumpets at VW had died down since. Who knows what’s next
Chombi
Post edited 01/29/06 4:54 PM by Chombi
TerriDactyl Said,
January 30, 2006 @ 1:55 am
Update – Thanks…will follow up on that suggestion.
At the end of the day, my dealer is telling me that I need to replace the driver and passenger side door lock assemblies and sensors. I have seen similar posts with this same sorts of problems. From what my service agent said, she has seen a lot of these systems replaced, so VW damn well knows this is an issue. It appears the alarm, locks, interior lights are all managed by sensor systems that reside inside the doors. The sensor thinks the doors are still open, so it keeps interior lights on, or alarms when you are in the car with the door closed, etc. Lots of random problems, but it all pertains to the same system, the door close sensor. ANyway, getting this fixed on Saturday for $500Can plus. My service manager, who actually is nice to me, is giving me free labour on one of the doors and 10% off the parts. I still feel like a sucker, but I need to be able to lock my car and not have the interior lights on while I am driving around at night, like some idiot.
When I go for the service, I will determine exactly what is the problem and what is actually being fixed, so when it goes haywire again I will know what to do.
vabeachautohaus Said,
January 30, 2006 @ 11:09 am
Jetta 1.8T 2001 interior lights, door chime, etc. – This is a very common problem.I would suggest that you first disconnect the drivers door at the left ft lower a-pillar behind the trim panel and then recheck the other 3 doors.If all the other doors operate correctly then the problem is the drivers door latch assembly,which can cause all the other doors to operate incorrectly.