Power Door Lock Problem

[fire24resque]

My truck keeps blowing the 30A fuse for the power door locks, when you manually press the door buttons you can hear the relay click but that is as far as it goes, also when you press lock on the key fob the relay clicks (alarm activates, horn honks on 2nd tap) but the locks don't slide over. I keep replacing the fuse and it blows out within a week or so, any ideas what this could be? I suppose replacing the relays is the cheapest/easiest place to start in case it is bad and frying the fuse.

Any ideas would be great, thanks!

[ctwright]

if you hear the relay click you know the coil inside the relay is getting energized, so that part of the relay is functioning, the next thing would be the contacts in the relay, which could be bad, however I don't feel this is your problem, b/c if they were bad you would just have no connection, no power getting to the solenoids for your power door locks, which is no reason for the fuse to blow, more than likely one of your solenoids is bad for your power door lock on one side or the other. You will have to take your door panel off and do some checking with a test light or meter to make sure. Get both door panels off, take the electrical connector of the solenoid for each side, then put a new fuse in if the one in there now is blown, and check to see if you have voltage at the connectors with when you push the control.

[Junior2001]

If your truck has heated and memory seats, it maybe a problem with the driver side switch i had that problem not to long ago. After i did some trouble shooting i notice it blew the fuse as soon as i press the heated or memory seat. so i took it off open the switch and found gunk in side the switch clean it with acetone and popped it back in. First find out if you locks stop working after you press the heated or memory seat switch. Hope it helped out a little...

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

My truck keeps blowing the 30A fuse for the power door locks, when you manually press the door buttons you can hear the relay click but that is as far as it goes, also when you press lock on the key fob the relay clicks (alarm activates, horn honks on 2nd tap) but the locks don't slide over. I keep replacing the fuse and it blows out within a week or so, any ideas what this could be? I suppose replacing the relays is the cheapest/easiest place to start in case it is bad and frying the fuse.

Any ideas would be great, thanks!

30amp fuse door locks ?????????? I think that is too high..how about 15amps maybe 20 !

as was mentioned remove door panels..using a magnifier with a strong light inspect for wire defects..

lets say you cannot see any , then place some electrical tape over all the wires ...

I found a short to my door windows that was the size of a pin head...very small..

[ctwright]

Originally Posted by j cAT

30amp fuse door locks ?????????? I think that is too high..how about 15amps maybe 20 !

as was mentioned remove door panels..using a magnifier with a strong light inspect for wire defects..

lets say you cannot see any , then place some electrical tape over all the wires ...

I found a short to my door windows that was the size of a pin head...very small..

I'm surprised I didn't catch too that when I read it the first time. That is a good idea too with the magnifier and I would check especially close to the hinges where there is movement, maybe a grommet came loose and then the sharp metal could have scraped the insulation off of the wire.
To the original poster.
You said it keeps blowing the fuses, did you try using a bigger fuse b/c it was blowing them, make sure you have the right size fuse if not you could wind up with a bigger problem than the one you had to start with, you could burn your wires up by doing that.

[fire24resque]

Originally Posted by ctwright

I'm surprised I didn't catch too that when I read it the first time. That is a good idea too with the magnifier and I would check especially close to the hinges where there is movement, maybe a grommet came loose and then the sharp metal could have scraped the insulation off of the wire.
To the original poster.
You said it keeps blowing the fuses, did you try using a bigger fuse b/c it was blowing them, make sure you have the right size fuse if not you could wind up with a bigger problem than the one you had to start with, you could burn your wires up by doing that.

Why would I put a bigger fuse in ... you're just asking for trouble. The book clearly states a 30amp fuse and on the underside of the fuse panel cover it shows a 30A for that slot marked Power Door Locks, I replace it with a 30. I replaced it and it was good for almost two weeks then it popped again... this is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack I fear.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

Why would I put a bigger fuse in ... you're just asking for trouble. The book clearly states a 30amp fuse and on the underside of the fuse panel cover it shows a 30A for that slot marked Power Door Locks, I replace it with a 30. I replaced it and it was good for almost two weeks then it popped again... this is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack I fear.

my 2000 silverado LT fully equipt has 20 amp fuse marked "dr lock". this is inside the vehicle next to the drivers door..this fuse is next to the 3amp mir fuse.


do you have remote controlled door locks or just the base model with no remote control ?

"fuse panel cover it shows a 30A for that slot marked Power Door Locks" this name I can not find !

the only 30amp fuse is the unlock jumper fuse that I can find in the BASe model silverado with no relay remote door lock controls..

you sure that is the exact label of this 30amp fuse. normally this is not that long of a description.

[fire24resque]

Originally Posted by j cAT

my 2000 silverado LT fully equipt has 20 amp fuse marked "dr lock". this is inside the vehicle next to the drivers door..this fuse is next to the 3amp mir fuse.


do you have remote controlled door locks or just the base model with no remote control ?

"fuse panel cover it shows a 30A for that slot marked Power Door Locks" this name I can not find !

the only 30amp fuse is the unlock jumper fuse that I can find in the BASe model silverado with no relay remote door lock controls..

you sure that is the exact label of this 30amp fuse. normally this is not that long of a description.

Sorry, it is a 20A fuse. I think it was like DR LOCK or something like that.. I'll look tomorrow. It's also remote door locks...

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

Sorry, it is a 20A fuse. I think it was like DR LOCK or something like that.. I'll look tomorrow. It's also remote door locks...

normally these shorts are in the door panel driver side . this is because of the constant motion/shock on closing .

I had a short in a 1984 camaro dash dimmer lights ..that was a tough one. had to take the center console apart .wire cut into the console metal support. dimmer was controled by a transistor.

like i said before if you cannot find the short , tape all the wires..

[fire24resque]

Originally Posted by j cAT

normally these shorts are in the door panel driver side . this is because of the constant motion/shock on closing .

I had a short in a 1984 camaro dash dimmer lights ..that was a tough one. had to take the center console apart .wire cut into the console metal support. dimmer was controled by a transistor.

like i said before if you cannot find the short , tape all the wires..

What is replaceable inside the door panel in regards to the locking mechanism (besides taping wires off)... is there a replaceable unit on the door lock button itself or something in that area that could he shorting out? Also... do you think it could be the relay sitting next to the fuse that's sticking and cooking it?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

What is replaceable inside the door panel in regards to the locking mechanism (besides taping wires off)... is there a replaceable unit on the door lock button itself or something in that area that could he shorting out? Also... do you think it could be the relay sitting next to the fuse that's sticking and cooking it?

the relay would not be a componet that would ground out the power...relay just connects power to the lock/unlock coil.

taping is much cheaper than a relay. however if the fuse was 30amps used instead of 20amps this surely could burn up those relay switching contacts which are not rated for the larger current..

tape all exposed wiring in the door panel then see what happens !

[fire24resque]

Originally Posted by j cAT

the relay would not be a componet that would ground out the power...relay just connects power to the lock/unlock coil.

taping is much cheaper than a relay. however if the fuse was 30amps used instead of 20amps this surely could burn up those relay switching contacts which are not rated for the larger current..

tape all exposed wiring in the door panel then see what happens !

I was wrong, it was a 20A all along and that is what I replaced it with.. so the relay should be ok. Hopefully I can get the door panel off now... upside is I have been wanting to replace those crappy speakers.

[4x4junkie]

does this issue occur when locking and unlocking the doors? my truck requires 2 clicks to unlock both doors. 1st click unlocks drivers side only so its possible to troubleshoot directly to the drivers side and not both sides.

i replaced a window motor in mine on the druivers side and had issues with the door locks doing the same thing afterwards, i found the bar that ran to the switch in the door got bent when reinstalling the door panel causing the actuator to bind which made it unable to move, it caused the fuse to blow, with the door panel removed it ceased to have the problem, upon fixing the rod i no longer had the problem.

its possible the solenoid is bound in position, or just no longer good. this would cause for a high draw of amps that would cause the fuse to blow. in order to check the solenoid take a multimeter set for ohms and compare the resistance of the actuator on the drivers side door with the one on the passenger side, they should be relativly close if one has extremely low resistance in comparison leave it unhooked and try operation of the door locks again. if you dont have a multimeter it is possible to leave one side unhooked and try to operate the door locks, the other side should work properly without blowing the fuse (repeat for oppsite side as necessary). in this instance inspect for binding or replace the one disconnected that did not work and caused the fuse to blow. repeat as necessary to discover which side is not working properly. if you unhook both solenoids it is possible to determine they are neither binding or shorting if the fuse still blows when they are disconnected, this would indicate a short in the electrical wiring of the vehicle ( a cut wire).

[fire24resque]

I took both door panels off over the weekend and inspected all the wires, everything is already wrapped solid in electrical tape and I can see no wear marks where it would be rubbing or any rub through at all. I replaced the fuse and it blew within a day (probably 2-3 lock/unlocks)... there doesn't seem to be any bind in the rods in the door, I manually slid them both with no resistance. I have a feeling it could be in one of the switches on the door panels, my next step I guess will be unplugging one side at a time like suggested and seeing if that stops the fuse from blowing. I do have a multimeter however I honestly have NO idea how to run those tests you said, if I have to go that far there is a little electrical repair shop that is dirt cheap nearby, I may have them look at it.

Thanks...

[4x4junkie]

have you tried disconnecting the solenoids that actuate the locking mechanism one side at a time to see if this stops the fuse from blowing. if the issue is not with the wiring, the solenoid that actuates the door mechanism may be the problem.