03 Jetta - Says a door is always open...pls help!

[jkavelar]

I have a 2003 Jetta with the 1.8T engine. Just recently the car decided it would think that a door was always open. I cannot lock the doors with the remote anymore and it dings whenever the keys are in the ignition. The light signifying an open door is constantly illuminated on the dash as well.

Any tips on how to narrow down what door (or trunk etc) is messed up and any tips on how to fix it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!!!

[veedubmechanic]

Look at the light in the driver and passenger front doors when you open the door. If the light is not on when the door is open replace that door latch.

[liquidpanda]

I am having the same problem with my '00 Jetta. Friend did some research and found that a lot of '00 are having this problem.

Mine is the driver side door. Happens day or night, cannot lock or else the alarm goes off, interior bell goes off when driving. I called the dealership and they guessed (from my lovely vague description) that it was some sensor in the latch and guesstimated $500 for repairs. This is AFTER I had that stupid check engine light that ended up being a bad mass air sensor (that was a total of $900, over three different trips, all of which were a wild goose hunt).

Does anyone have any more info on this? Is $500 a lot for this "latch?" Since I'm seeing that there are many people who have this problem, should I register some sort of formal complaint?

Thanks in advance.

[veedubmechanic]

$500 is too much. The latch is about 180.00 plus 1.5hrs labor is 320.00ish

[jkavelar]

Both lights turn on when either door is open. When I close the passenger door the passenger door light turns off. When I close the driver side door the light stays on. Is this because that is the bad latch or because it thinks another is open?

I have the driver side one torn apart right now and will look for a replacement at a junk yard/parts recycler.

[veedubmechanic]

I would reccomend a new latch from the dealership. your 99% likely the latch you will get from a junk yard will have the old style latch and will fail if it already hasnt.

[jkavelar]

It turned out to be the drivers side door latch. I spent $60 and spent an afternoon repairing it. The rivet attached to the plastic mount was the hardest to overcome without ruining anything.

So far so good. The only problem I found initially was that I had to adjust the connecting cable from the latch to the exterior door handle. It wasn't tight and I had to pull the handle twice to get it to open.

Thanks again for the help