Hi all, I've got a puddle light out on my nearside front door, when I open the door it flashes once then goes out. I've noticed the door open indicator on the dash doesn't come on at all when that door is open and one or twice the car has locked itself sooner than it should.

I'm thinking this might be the switch that tells the door it's open that's faulty, can anyone tell me if this sounds likely ?

I've always been aware of the water ingress problems and had preventative maintenance done so I'm reasonably sure it's never been wet inside anywhere.

The problem is with the microswitch in the door latch. It either has broken soldered joints (most common) a worn actuator button (fairly common) or the switch has failed. Occasionally, the wires in the boot accross the door hinge break.

 

I'm up to about item 30 on my B5.5 preventative maintenance list. For this one, annually trip the latch with a screwdriver and spray silicone lubricant onto the under surface of the latch where it contacts the microswitch button. Oil or a lack of any lubricant will cause rapid wear of the button.

 

Annually, pull back the "door hinge" boot and spray the wiring with silicone lube (not WD-40). This ensures that the wires slide over one another and within the boot - rather than flexing at the same point. VAG use the wrong wire, badly.

 

Cracked soldered joints are (tediously) repairable. As preventative maintenance, don't slam the doors. If your vehicle is " as built" there's no need.

 

rotodiesel.

Thankyou very much for the detailed reply.

I think that's where I'm going wrong, there's nowhere near that many items on my preventative maintenance list.