Automatic Door Locks

I have a 2001 Malibu that the Automatic locking feature when you shift in to drive... and the Automatic Unlock when you turn the car off has ceased functioning. The Door locks still work properly from the door lock switch. I ahve checked fuses and relays. Any idea where to look next. I have 118000 miles and don't want to do the dealership trip.

Your owner's manual should have the directions to turn this option on and off.

Not sure of the stereo that you have, but I think that the lock feature is changed through that on most Malibus.

Press and hold tune/disp button for about 10 seconds with key on to enter the options mode, the 1 and 2 buttons or the prev/next buttons will switch you through the options that you can change, and the scan? button will work as an "enter" key.

Not sure if those button designations are all correct, but you should be able to play around with it and figure it out.

Hope this helps.

I haven't tried this out myself but Service Information for vehicle gives this procedure (I tweaked it a little bit because it was written too generically). Maybe somehow your vehicle is in what they call Mode 4.

Automatic Door Locks
The following are the modes of operation for the automatic door locks feature:

Mode 1: All doors lock when the vehicle is shifted out of PARK. All of the doors unlock when the vehicle is shifted into PARK and the key is turned to OFF.
Mode 2: All doors lock when the vehicle is shifted out of PARK. Only the driver door unlocks when the vehicle is shifted into PARK and the key is turned to OFF
Mode 3: All of the doors lock when the vehicle is shifted out of PARK. No automatic door unlock.
Mode 4: The automatic door lock feature is disabled.

Programming Features
Enter Programming
To enter the programming mode, perform the following actions:

Close all of the doors.
Turn the ignition to the RUN position.

Automatic Door Locks
Continue with the following steps in order to personalize the automatic door locks:

Press hold the LOCK button on the power door lock switch for 10 seconds. The vehicle will chime with the number of chimes corresponding to the current mode. Refer to Automatic Door Locks modes.

Press and hold the LOCK button on the power door lock switch for 10 seconds again in order to advance to the next mode. The vehicle will chime with the number of chimes corresponding to the mode.
Continue to press and hold the LOCK button until the desired mode is reached.

Thanks... It was the door lock mode. Held down the door lock until it went to mode 1 and everything is back to normal...