95 taurus power doors unlock themselves

[jblair1948]

My 95 Taurus power door locks have a habit of
unlocking by themselves when it get cold out.

I leave the car parked in the driveway, and lock
the doors. At night as the temps fall, the car
will unlock by itself. The dome light will come
on and stay on for about 30 seconds or so.

I'd like to know that when I lock stuff in the car
it will be there in the morning because the doors
stay locked.

Where is the controller for the locks located?

So anyone have any ideas?

John

[shorod]

There have been some other people with similar complaints, you may want to try using the "Search this forum" tool from the Taurus forum main page.

Do you have the keypad on the driver's door or keyless remotes for the locks? Do you have a sedan or wagon? If you have remote keyless, and you have the sedan, the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) module is located in the trunk behind the rear seat back near the package tray.

-Rod

[jblair1948]

Originally Posted by shorod

There have been some other people with similar complaints, you may want to try using the "Search this forum" tool from the Taurus forum main page.

Do you have the keypad on the driver's door or keyless remotes for the locks? Do you have a sedan or wagon? If you have remote keyless, and you have the sedan, the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) module is located in the trunk behind the rear seat back near the package tray.

-Rod

Rod,

I have the wagon /w the remote keyless entry system, No pad on the door.

John

[shorod]

On the wagon, the RKE is in the rear of the LH rear quarter panel, behind the wheel well.

-Rod

[jblair1948]

shorod,

Thanks so much for the info!

I did a search of the archives, and did find 1 other person that had the
problem of the locks unlocking themselves. However, there wasn't a resolution.

I'll look for it, maybe disconnect clean the contacts and plug it back in.

I read where people were cleaning the locks/latches with tuner cleaner or
wd-40. I don't see where that will do any good. It sounds to me like it's
bad electrictronic component inside the RKE or a bad connection someplace
that is causing the problem.

I'm thinking about getting another unit from the junk yard and simply replacing
it and see if that fixes it.

Wondering if you have any thoughts on replacement or repair of the RKE?
Or any other ideas on how to fix this? I guess it might be a bad door closed
switch also.

From the post I saw in the archives, you must have spent a lot of time
working on these.

John

[shorod]

I've never heard of an RKE going bad, but it is VERY common for the switches in the door latches to stick. Cars used to use door pin switches in the door jambs. Ford (and some others) have gone to integrating tact switches into the door latches instead. These switches tell the RKE module if a door is open or closed, when working, and the RKE uses that information to activate the illuminated entry (dome lights), battery saver relay, and feature that is supposed to prevent you from locking your keys in your car. Digital Transmission Range (DTR) sensors have also caused quite a few electrical quirks on the Taurus, and they are another input to the RKE. If you have the auto lock/unlock feature enabled, the DTR could be a contributor as well.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest you use some electrical parts cleaner to clean the door pin switches and the rear liftgate switches. I don't recommend WD-40 since that is not intended for electronics and could actually shorten the switch life. If that doesn't seem to help the issue and you are comfortable with electronics and a soldering iron, you may want to open the RKE, inspect for bad solder joints, and reflow any that you find.

If you'd like the connector pinout and wiring diagrams for the RKE, send me a Private Message with an e-mail address for you that can accept PDF attachments.

-Rod

[vicv]

I have had this happen if the door latch switch is stuck. The car thinks a door is open and won't lock them.