[skaterplus3]

Hi fellow Beetle owners,
I have a 2000 2.0 5-speed I recently purchased 3 weeks ago. The car has 117K miles, runs and drives good. I do have intermittent issues with the locking system. I have done research on this model and realize the issues with the Door latches. This weekend after opening the door (Valet Key, car did not come with Key Fobs) the alarm began to go off, and has gone off several times since. The alarm initiates upon either getting in the car or getting out. I have tried opening and closing doors, starting/shutting the engine off, and using several profane gestures and nothing is working.

Any help would be appreciated.

I am planning on dissassembling the door and inspecting the door latch for breaks in the connections on the circuit board solders and the condition of microswitches.
Does anyone know if this door latch circuit board can be replaced with a better option? perhaps replacing with a newer model cars door latch?

Thanks for the help,

Skaterplus3

 

[rayn]

Check your trunk latch as well. This just happened to the wifes 09 and the alarm would go for no reason. Slammed the doors and trunk and it quit. Sometimes they get out of adjustment and don't sense they are closed and trigger the alarm.

 

[2k2tdi]

I'll second looking at the trunk latch. A known failure point is the seal around the third brake light. Water can leak in and flow down onto the latch assembly. This can cause some corrosion.

Does your trunk interior light come on? My light did not. In addition to some alarm issues I was having, this was one of the symptoms I noticed just before I had the latch assembly replaced.

 

[BillyJoel]

Alarm

I have had similar issues. I actually slammed everything too and it continued to go off. I had to use the key in the driver door to lock and unlock and lock a few times before it shut off. Don't know why or how this happens but it has not gone off in quite some time now!

 

[red99]

The problem is not with the circuit board, per se, but with the solder joints that hold the microswitches on. A few years ago when I started having problems I took the board out of the latch and reflowed the solder on all the switches. Haven't had any problems since.

 

[skaterplus3]

trunk latch

thanks for the replies,

trunk light does go on and off, opening and shutting the hatch, thanks.
I pulled it into the shop tonight and sprayed some contact cleaner into the door latch assembly, per a posting on the TDI sight which owners were able to free the microswitch nearest the latch on the assembly, thus stopping their issues. Well, the Alarm went off twice during this process.
Next step i will pursue tomorrow is removing the door panel and getting to that door latch assembly.

 

[red99]

Have you seen my post about door latches:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/questio...ms-new-beetle/59654-door-latch-resources.html

 

[skaterplus3]

excellent information,
after i get the door panel off, i will inspect and assess the door latch switches and circuit panel.

Thanks for your contributions to the sight Red99