Drivers side door latch, needs help

[axpjimmy8]

Just picked up a 2003 TDI beetle. Love the car, no complaints about it at all, I have always wanted one and now I have it:-D.
I am having an issue with the drivers side door latch though. The previouse owner was having an issue with closing the door which resulted in the latch freezing and ultimately needing to be replaced.
Well, I picked up the beetle after negotiating with owner to replace the latch. They did replace the latch but not with a beetle latch. They put a latch from a jetta in. The door does latch and stay closed, but the lock pin will not go down and the door does not lock. All other functions work as they should, alarm is on but you can open the door at any time even after pressing lock on your key fob. The inside door handle is also a bit tight, not smooth like the passanger side. The other thing that I noticed is that the lock area where you put the key is frozen, I tried to lubricate it without any luck.
My question is, does anyone know if the latch from the jetta is causing the door to not be able to lock? or does this sound more like something was not put in properly? I have yet to open the door panel to take a look inside, the weather has been way too cold here and my garage floor is wet from the snow melting off the wheel liners of my beetle haha. Also, is there any way to save the lock on the door without replacing the cylinder? I would like to regain the ability to put the windows up and down with the key in the door, just for my own amusement:-D.
Thanks in advance for your help,
jim

[axpjimmy8]

if anyone has any insight into this that would be great. I dont want to have to replace the latch if there isnt a difference from a jetta latch to a beetle latch. if no word from anyone on here I guess I will have to open up the door panel and find out for myself.
thanks again for your help everyone,

[FastAndFurious]

to get to the door latch, you have to remove the door panel and then remove the inner panel that holds the window motor/regulator for window. you have to remove the window as well. its pretty involving if you never done it

[axpjimmy8]

Thanks, I will be attempting this today. I have to get a look inside there to see if something is not lined up correctly. Still wondering if its the latch itself.....No one has the answer to this?

[axpjimmy8]

Bad weather this weekend prevented me from doing any sort of work on the car, I am planning for this week if the weather is better. I will let everyone know if there is a compatibility issue between the jetta latch and the beetle latch once I dig into this little project..