'05 Ram Quad Door Locks (HELP!)

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RonHolly

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Hello to all as this is my first posting. I have an '05 Ram Quad where the electric door locks won't unlock. I can use the key for entry but have to pull up on each door to unlock them. The door switch will "lock" all doors but won't unlock them. "I think" lightning my have caused this problem cause a big light/boom threw sand all over the right side of my truck. (Also took out my TV cable box.) Does anyone have a clue for me to follow to fix this? Thanks RonHolly
 

Rustproofcorn

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Open a door and pull the wiring boot back. Look for broken wires. Extremely common for the wires to break right there.


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Ceri

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If it happened at the same time as a nearby lightning strike, then anything electronic could have been fried. The fuse would have almost certainly have blown too. Have you checked for blown fuses? Lightning is so unpredictable that even a fuse doesn't guarantee it didn't also fry a module. The broken wire theory is also a good one. You'd have to do a continuity test on every wire to check it, and even if the boot area looks good, that doesn't guarantee the wires didn't fry from lightning. The wire can behave like a fuse itself and sever when extreme electricity hits it.
 
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RonHolly

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Open a door and pull the wiring boot back. Look for broken wires. Extremely common for the wires to break right there.
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Yes the fuse is the first thing I checked and it and all the others are ok. Is there a relay associated with the power locks? I looked at the fuse panel lid and it did not indicate anything associated with the door locks.
 

07MegaCabRam

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Common problem. Some what a PAIN to fix cause you have like maybe 3 inches of wires to work with. I had the same problem on my 2007 Megacab rear driver door. Wouldn't lock, but would unlock.

I had no clue how long it had been doing that before I noticed it!! :(
 

07MegaCabRam

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Here is the wire. Just broke apart. Have to remove the boot to see.
 

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RonHolly

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Here is the wire. Just broke apart. Have to remove the boot to see.

As soon as I get a chance I'll pull the boot back and see if it's a problem. Kinda seems unrelated cause right after the lightning is when my problem occurred. But you never know until ya check!

Seems as if it is something controlling voltage switching. Forward bias opens, negative bias locks. (As an example.)
 
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RonHolly

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One troubleshooting symptom I forgot to mention. When I use the door switch or key FOB for "unlocking," all door locks go half way up and then snap back down.

Maybe this will help in diagnosing.
 

Ceri

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I do not know this one, and haven't seen these exact symptoms ever come up in my years of browsing dodge ram forums, but would be very curious about the solution if you find it, in case this sort of issue comes up again in the future. That last bit suggests an undervoltage condition somewhere in the electrical system. It may be a long shot, but what's the ground terminal on the battery look like? Is the truck getting a strong 12V connection? Does it ever take a little longer than it should to crank? The fact that unlock affects all doors the same tells me it's a systemic problem. I believe all signaling passes through the driver master switch, which is only about a $30 part online. That would be my next suggestion in the "throw parts at it" strategy. At a minimum, you can pull the master switch, disconnect it, and reconnect it to make sure the pins are seated well.
 
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RonHolly

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Another problem happened this morning that hasn't happened before! Went over to my daughter's house around 7am, closed the drivers door and the theft alarm went off and would shut off. Opened hood and disconnected the battery, it stopped and put cable back on and no siren blaring!?!? Her neighbors didn't like it I'm sure.
 
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RonHolly

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It may be a long shot, but what's the ground terminal on the battery look like? Is the truck getting a strong 12V connection? Does it ever take a little longer than it should to crank? The fact that unlock affects all doors the same tells me it's a systemic problem. I believe all signaling passes through the driver master switch, which is only about a $30 part online. That would be my next suggestion in the "throw parts at it" strategy. At a minimum, you can pull the master switch, disconnect it, and reconnect it to make sure the pins are seated well.

Everything works as it should and no hard starting. I'm going to pull the door panel off tomorrow, (I hope), and check the door lock switch. If I jump around the switch I may be able to isolate it down to the switch.
 
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RonHolly

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Everything works as it should and no hard starting. I'm going to pull the door panel off tomorrow, (I hope), and check the door lock switch. If I jump around the switch I may be able to isolate it down to the switch.

The locking system is also part of the anti-theft alarm so tbere is a relationship there. Just remembered I don't own a maintenance manual. Amazon/eBay here I come.
 

Ceri

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If you have a multimeter you might check voltages in the driver door, and elsewhere. My mom's old 02 camry used to have the alarm go off and the thing that fixed it ultimately was a new battery. I guess it was a negative action signal and whenever the unlock didn't get a good 12v signal it would set off the peizos in the engine bay. I had to show her how to unhook the battery because it kept going off every night on her way out of work to the point of embarrassment to her boss.
 
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RonHolly

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Haven't been able to do much with troubleshooting the door locks. I ordered a used door lock/window assembly panel and "hopefully" will fix be the problem.
 
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RonHolly

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The used window/door lock panel assy came in today. Installed it and it didn't fix the locking system. Dang, "If I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all!"

Don't know what else to do so I'll probably have to take it to the dealer where they can charge me a "billion bucks an hour!"
 
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RonHolly

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Finally got around to ordering a repair manual so as to have wiring diagrams. Hope Chilton's, which I hate, will have good wiring schematics. Does anyone know if there are relays, in the fuse box, that are associated with the door locks? The fuse panel cover doesn't say anything door lock specific.
 

xb1230

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We have all (at least most of them) the OEM service and parts manual on the forum :

3rd Gen Service and Parts Manuals

The service manual has the detailed wiring diagram. However keep in mind that these schematics cover all the available options and variances so they are a little cryptic to read.

That being said, there are very few things that can go wrong from a door lock perspective.
If the harnesses are not cutted out and all contacts are solid, and the physical lock mechanisms themsekves are fine, then next thing to check is the individual controls. One way to see if one of the controls is faulty and interferes with the operation is to disconnect them 1 by 1 and test the system. Only the main driver door controller cannot be disconnected as it controls the whole thing.

One thing you can do is if you have a spare battery, test every lock individually by putting a current on the door lock wires. it is a 3 wires system, ground + lead#1 + lead#2. The combination ground + 1 of the leads either opens the lock or closes it.

If everything checks out from that end, you then try doing the same thing from the Driver door controller harness. If all the door react properly, then your main driver door controller is shut and would need to be replaced. Sometimes them controllers get corroded and do not allow enough current to go through impairing the operation of the system. If you don't get enough current to the solenoids, they will only partly fire and return back to their position as if something was blocking the operation.

A multimeter would also allow you to monitor the current sent through the wires and see if there is enough current for the solenoids to operate properly, further acknowledging your diagnostic.

Hope this helps.
 
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RonHolly

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We have all (at least most of them) the OEM service and parts manual on the forum :

3rd Gen Service and Parts Manuals



If everything checks out from that end, you then try doing the same thing from the Driver door controller harness. If all the door react properly, then your main driver door controller is shut and would need to be replaced. Sometimes them controllers get corroded and do not allow enough current to go through impairing the operation of the system. If you don't get enough current to the solenoids, they will only partly fire and return back to their position as if something was blocking the operation.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for that info about the manuals being available here. (Newbie didn't know.) The Chilton's I bought wasn't any help at all. Your description, as noted above, seems to be exactly what is happening. Thanks for your advice and help. For now I have just been using the key for entry and hope I don't forget and leave the key in the ignition and then shut the door. I'd be locked out! Temp around here has been around 95 with high humidity so I'm trying to find good day to continue with the troubleshooting. Thanks again, Ron
 
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RonHolly

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Guess I'm learning to live with this door lock situation. Don't want to take it to the dealer cause you just can't get out without a bill of at least $500. That seems to be the magic number for them! Just hope I don't close the door with the key left in the ignition. Better hide an extra key on the vehicle body somewhere.
 

akennedyusmc

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Open a door and pull the wiring boot back. Look for broken wires. Extremely common for the wires to break right there.


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I had the same issue with my rear power windows. Easy fix once I read about it on here


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