Golf IV / Jetta IV :: Remote Lock / Unlock Working Intermittently - Airbag Light On

The remote locks on my 2000 Jetta GLX have been working intermittently for almost a year. I had been using the manual key to lock/unlock until finally the manual lock alarm disarm also became intermittent and I found myself stuck at a truck rest stop at 1:30 a.m. with my alarm repeatedly howling into the night and no way to disarm it. I felt caught. I felt trapped. Like I was found guilty of a crime I had never committed. I knew then - I had work to do.

My research in the forums indicated that the door lock assembly was a common culprit - a gremlin, often leaving headaches as it's only calling card. I worked quick, pulling a driver's side door lock assembly out of 2003 at the local junkyard and replacing it no problem. To my surprise, although this DID fix the manual locking/unlocking/alarm disarming problem, it DID NOT fix the remote unlock problem. The culprit was still at large.

Business as usual with intermittent remote unlocking/locking/trunk-popping for weeks until my dash threw the "AIR BAG FAULT" light. I decided to question a local garage owner who's VAGCOM told me that it was caused by something on the driver's side door. He was busy, but it reset fine and I was on my way. I know now that I should have asked for the code then but I was caught in the beauty of a girl who only nails polish was the grease and dirt of the car she worked under. And about a mile down the road, the light came back on.

Now, the "AIR BAG FAULT" light is on as soon as I start the car. However, the time seems to vary slightly before the Jetta beeps and tells me in faded red letters "AIR BAG FAULT". Sometimes right when I leave my driveway, sometimes not before I drive a mile or two down the road. My remote unlock is still working intermittently.

I need both my airbag fault and the remote unlock fixed. I'm wondering if these two problems are related? Like maybe there's a loose connection that is causing the airbag sensor to short and it's beeping when it bumps out of place and maybe the intermittent remotes are being caused by slamming of my driver's side door too hard & it's losing a connection as well. I tried putting a little conductivity jelly in the female clip that goes to the window regulator motor because I heard that the airbag sensor is in there somewhere but it didn't make a difference.