dhoerl

[I plan to write a tech article on this when I'm done, but I ran into a problem and could use a little help to finish the job - then the tech article!]

One day the car stopped noticing that the driver door was opened - the overhead lights didn't switch on and no reminder that the head lights were still on.

I did some googling and found several articles on disassembly and repair of the door latch assembly. My car is garage kept but others are left outside, and I suppose this contributes to internal circuit corrosion etc.

In my case, the problem was a broken plunger in the external Burgess brand microswitch. From what I gather, this is not a generally available part, and the only repair options are to try and retrofit some general purpose switch in its place.

The URL is one possible option posted on a VW forum.

I bought the Radio Shack switch mentioned there, as well as a couple others from DigiKey. The proper replacement should be water proof, which the radio shack is not.

However, the Radio Shack switch was the best fit, so I ended up using it. I tested the contact opening and closing, put the door all back together, and then tested it - no good!

What I had done was set the contact closure to occur about midway from a "closed door" position and an "open door" position [the switch plunger rides on a cam.]

However, what happens now is that if I slowly close the door, after the first contact with the door latch post, the switch turns off, but when the door is fully closed, it switches back on!

The only reason I can think this is happening is that the tension on the latch is such that its deforming the cam a little bit.

So, my question: if you did this repair yourself, how did you set the switch?

[I put mine in in the same orientation as the original, but I could have reversed it so that it would have been totally off the cam when the lock closed, but since Audi/VW didn't do this originally, I didn't either.]<ul><li><a href="http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=730184">Door switch repair thread.</a></li></ul>

4Driver4

...want to end up doing it again 5k miles later.

I admire your persistence. The switch in the A4 is starting to go so if someone comes up with something that works well I might give the cheap method a shot.

Joby

I think that I may have a door from an '00 A4 from my inventory for my wife's old car. It has vac operated locks, but there might be interchangeable parts. If you want, I could send you the latch assy. email me if your interested in experimenting.

dhoerl

Well, the best alternative I came up with is to replace the "head" of the switch - the part with the plunger - with the head of a Burgess VN4Cxxx off the shelf switch. The body of the switch, with the two posts, is not standard, and I've searched high and low for an exact replacement with no luck.

The next problem is finding a supplier in the US for Burgess switches. I did find a company, but its a special order with a minimum of $25.

I shudder to think of what Audi would charge for the whole assembly (it has motors in it). The switch itself is a $2 - $4 item.

The biggest issue with this whole retrofit project is that its very hard to test what you did without reassemblying the whole door, a big messy job. Sigh.

Thanks for the suggestions.

dhoerl

Well, the part I needed is a microswitch located on the bottom of the unit. It would have a blue and red wire going into it, and has the name "Burgess" stamped on it. Its a plunger type switch, and is held onto the assembly with a metal clip. The plunger rides on a cam that is integral to the actual metal that holds the door shut (that wraps around the strike plate).

VW uses this setup too.

Anyway, I already filed out the holes in the metal, so even if you had a switch its too late for me.

However, thank you ever so much for the kind offer!!!