door lock switches

[orthameta]

Hope someone can help me. The automatic door locks on my 2001 alero will not lock anymore when pushed. I have to manually go around and lock every door. FOr some reason the locks will unlock when pushed but not lock. When I push the door lock, there is a clicking noise in the drivers side fuse box, which makes me think it is the door lock switch box on the fuse panel. Does anyone know how to change these and if that sounds like it might be the problem. I am just wondering if anyone has changed these on the fuse panel before and if so how much these little switches cost.
ANy info will be great. Thanks.

[mcrosby]

It sounds like you are hearing the relay for the door lock clicking when you push the door lock button. That would most likely indicate that the relay is good but, you could have bad contacts on the relay itself. The best thing to do is verify that the fuses for the "Door Lock" are good. If they are, inspect, or replace the relay. If that doesn't fix it, there must be fuse link open, if used, or bad wiring (last thing to look for). I don't have my Haynes schematic in front of me, so I can't be more specific. If you need more info and can read schematics, purchase a Haynes manual at AutoZone. If you need more help, I will look at the schematic and get back to you. Let me know. BNaylor may be able to give his advice. He is very knowledgable.

[orthameta]

thanks for the great info. I've checked the fuses and they looked OK, so I'll try and pull out the relay and make sure they aren't having any problems with the connections. I am wondering if the relays just pull out of the electonic panel like the fuses do, or are they wired directly in. Basically, can I just pull them off and they will pop off, or is their wiring I have to deal with. Thanks again, and let me know if you know how the relays come off.

[BNaylor]

The relays can be removed and replaced by pulling out on it. They are not hardwired in but plug-in to a socket. If you find another similar one by part number you can try switching them out with one another for troubleshooting purposes.

If the relay doesn't fix it and in a worse case scenario the body control module (BCM) may have problems since all door lock/unlock functions are processed by it.

Do you have remote keyless entry (RKE)? If so, can you lock/unlock the doors with it?

[orthameta]

Awesome info. I'll try and figure it out this week and see if I can fix my door locks. Thanks for the replies gentlemen, saves me from taking it into the dealsership and getting my wallet ravaged. Thanks again for the info.

[anemo21]

Folks, I have a similar problem with my '99 Alero door locks. I have never changed the factory setting (Mode 1, all doors lock when shifting out of PARK). This week, without making any known adjustments the locks refuse to lock automatically when I shift out of PARK. The remote key works, manually locking/unlocking works fine. I tried the instructions in the Operators Manual, namely key in ON position, hold down lock button in LOCK position for 10 seconds and count the ring tones which tell you which Mode they are set for. Trouble is I get no tones! I have repeatedly tried this to no avail. Fuse and relays seem ok. Any ideas?
Also, and this may be totally unrelated, about the same time as above situation I also lost the ability for the headlights to turn on automatically when it becomes dark out. I don't know if the two relays are ok. Any ideas on how to test them?
I haven't seen either of these exact problems in the forum as yet.

[orthameta]

HI, I started this thread with somewhat similar problems. As for me, my automatic locks quit working and my automatic trunk would not work as well. What i did was change the relays and that fixed all my problems. The relays I changed were located beside the steering wheel just inside of the door, on a fuse box. If you just want to see if changing the relays will help what you might try and do is remove a relay with the same number on it from a different spot and place in the spot you think might be faulty and then you should be able determine if it is the relay or not. The relays are very easy to change and inexpensive. I bought two relays and the total was 15 dollars at Autozone. A really simple fix that you can do yourself. It sounds like the relays might be faulty, and possiblly the fuses. I would check all those first and then possibly some wiring might be messed up after that, and I just don't know much about that. But I would definitely check those relays, they were the fix that worked for me. Good luck.