I tried searching Fchat but couldn't find any help from the past. My power door locks do not work (by button or key). It's like I have good ol' fashion manual locks Except... one day the central locking randomly worked (via turning the key at the door). So I know its possible to one day live the life of luxury and restore power to the locks! Re-wired the doors to eliminate bad pins from the equation. No Change. Makes me think the door lock module is bad... only I cant seem to find it! The manual points below the fuses, but I see nothing down there Anyone have experience with this?
1) Fold down the carpet to gain access to the fuse panel in the right floorboard. 2) Remove the two screws that hold the fuse panel in place, then wiggle it down out of the way. Don't unplug anything, it isn't necessary. 3) Remove the screw that holds the power door lock module onto the back of the metal attachment panel, as shown in the picture. You gots it! Edit: By the way, this gives you an opportunity to make two worthwhile inspections. One, notice the "common ground" to the right of the module, where all of those black wires are attached with spade terminals. Give these a wiggle to make sure they are tight, or better yet, give them a coat of the famous Stabilant product to insure good current flow to ground. Two, just to left of the module you will see the main electrical "buss bar" which is attached with two nuts. Make sure these nuts are tight and the connections look clean. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks! If only the manual was as clear as my Fchat brothers! I couldn't see any problems down there Looks like I'm back to scratching my head.
When you press the door lock button on the console, can you hear anything clicking? Does the gas cap door release button on the console work properly?
I hear nothing - no clicking of relays or stuck mechanisms Fuel door console button works perfectly !
Sorry if this is obvious, but have you checked fuse #4 in the footwell panel? According to the book, this operates just the power door locks and the "autoradio", but of course the radio could be wired from any power source.
Just out of curiosity, if you open the doors and look at the lower hinge for each door, you should be able to see two pushbuttons in the center of each lower hinge (on the vehicle side, not the door side). It MAY be possible that one of these pushbuttons has been pushed into the cavity in the fender and is now constantly open, telling the lock module that the door is always open. Easy to check. Edit: Also, is it possible that your car has had a remote/key fob style door lock system and alarm added to it? In that case the wiring may have been modified in some way.
Yes! And here is the wierd/coincidental part - They worked today ONCE in conjunction with arming/disarming the alarm while I was around town. They have never done that before!!! So perhaps ask me the question again (365 times to cover me for the rest of the year) LOL
OK, so your car HAS had an aftermarket alarm system installed? And it also has a remote power lock function (operated off the fob)? Is there a brand name on the fob (Clifford?). If so, then I would guess that the factory power door lock system has been bypassed, which would explain why you don't even get a "click" when you push the lock/unlock buttons on the console. This seems curious, you should still be able to use the factory buttons, or operate the power locks using the key in the door lock. So what is wrong? I think I would pull the panels off the console (very easy) and look to see if you can locate the receiver unit for your alarm system. It should have a non-factory wiring bundle attached to the factory wiring with splices. It's most likely either under the center console by the ashtray or underneath the radio. See if you can find any wires that are spliced into the factory wires just below the power door lock switches on the center console. That will give me some idea of what has been done. Edit: It takes less than a minute to pull this panel off to check underneath. Is there any evidence that the wires in this bundle have been cut, or had other wires spliced onto them? Question: If it came down to a choice, would you rather have the power locks operate ONLY off the remote fob, or return the locks strictly to the factory system? At this point, it's at least possible that your locks would function properly off the remote fob if you changed the battery in it. It may not be broadcasting a signal strong enough to reach the receiver. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for the help! You've kept my spirits up while attempting to solve this mystery. The aftermarket alarm works, and I've been using the fob to arm/disarm. The only clue that the lock & alarm were tied together is that one day when I armed it and the doors locked. Looking at the wiring, they did not bypass (from what I can tell) the factory switches/system. I say that because the lock module is intact & the wire leading from it to a bigger factory harness are OK. Also, when I jiggled one of the harnesses leading to the fuse box, I heard the lock module clicking! So... I jiggled, then closed the door, and was able to use to fob to lock the doors! "Victory!" I thought... until I tried "power unlocking" via the fob - which didn't work I used the key to get back inside, jiggled the harness again, heard more clicking. This time I used the center console buttons to lock the doors! Sweet! But again, there was no power unlocking I will torture myself more to figure out WHERE they tapped into the system, how to make the system work without having a pasenger jiggle the fuse box every time (its just not cool!) LOL... Ugh. Thanks for the help so far, though. Any suggestions are welcome, but I fear I am on my own from here
That's a good post, Wing. It's really helpful when people give you some information to work with, instead of just saying "Uh, it don't work!". You still need to find the receiver module for your alarm system (like you said), and where it is tapped into the harness. I wonder if maybe there are blue "scotchlocks" in there - those things are junk - a possible source of an intermittant contact. You didn't specify - have you looked under the center console and below the radio? And is there a name on the remote fob? I don't think the 348 ever had a factory system, but I could be wrong (?). When you "rewired the doors" as per your first post, did you install new pins or hard wire the connections in the door jambs? You did both doors? Anyone else care to voice an opinion on this?
