98 Jetta: Dome light

[Purf02]

My dome light remains on if in I put it into the door open mode. (ie. I can't leave it on because stays on permantely even after closing door but so now i have no light in my car unless I manually turn it on...) Also, my alarm goes off if I lock my car, possibily door sensor related? Any suggestions to check/repair problem?

[boschmann]

Yes it sounds like a door contact switch or wiring problem. You should also check where the harness goes from the door to the body near the hinges. The wire you're interested in is the brown w/white trace wire. It goes to ground when a switch is activated (door opened). Hopefully you will first find a place where a wire has rubbed & shorted to ground. Note that all four wires are connected to each other before going to the dome light, so if you check with a test light, starting at one door, you need to disconnect the wire/switch from the rest of the system to check each switch.