Rear Door Lock not operating on my 2003 Dodge Ram 1500

HotRodRam2003 · Mar 28, 2015

Anyone out there have had a failure with the rear door locks on their 2003 Ram Quad Cab? My driver's side rear door will not lock or unlock with either the key fob or even from the main switch panel on the driver's door. I can manually lock and unlock the door... I searched on the web for a power motor for the door, no luck?? Any ideas other than manually lock and unlock the door? Appreciate any advise.

Gecko · Mar 28, 2015

Sounds like the actuator went bad. I believe it's a fairly easy fix. Look up door lock actuator.

sylver91 · Mar 28, 2015

Both rears went on mine, haven't gotten around to replacing the actuators yet.

RonJon '06 · Mar 28, 2015

Driver's side rear on mine. I bought a new actuator this winter but its still sitting in the box on my workbench...

sylver91 · Mar 28, 2015

Seems to be a common failure? I replaced 3 rear actuators on quad and mega cabs on trucks in a year.

xtremewlr · Mar 28, 2015

Napa shows they are available online.

NAPA AUTO PARTS

jwheeler · Mar 28, 2015

HotRodRam2003 said:
Anyone out there have had a failure with the rear door locks on their 2003 Ram Quad Cab? My driver's side rear door will not lock or unlock with either the key fob or even from the main switch panel on the driver's door. I can manually lock and unlock the door... I searched on the web for a power motor for the door, no luck?? Any ideas other than manually lock and unlock the door? Appreciate any advise.

The actuator is built into the latch. It will need a new door latch if that is the problem. Have you pulled the door panel to check and see if you are getting power to the latch before you buy a new one? Pull the boot back that is between the door and body. Check for broken wires. I have seen a lot with broken wires in the door harness.

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hotkarl · Mar 29, 2015

jwheeler said:
The actuator is built into the latch. It will need a new door latch if that is the problem. Have you pulled the door panel to check and see if you are getting power to the latch before you buy a new one? Pull the boot back that is between the door and body. Check for broken wires. I have seen a lot with broken wires in the door harness.

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^^^this. Common issue.

Navarabr · Mar 29, 2015

This happened to me once, on passanger side but mine was just jammed.

xb1230 · Mar 29, 2015

It would check the harness that goes through the pillar to the door. With time the wires tends to get brittle and break. If this the issue, I suggest you add a 12" lenght to all the wires and crimp them rather than soldering. The wire will better witstands the constant bending from the door opening. Also the crimp will provide for a better mechanical bound that will last longer than solder. The rubber harness cover can be moved back and try not to cut it as they are hard to find and do offer a good protection to harness.

That being said, if the harness is in good condition and does bring power to the actuator, then you can look a changing the actuator.

Hope this helps

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MarkV · Apr 10, 2015

xb1230 said:
It would check the harness that goes through the pillar to the door. With time the wires tends to get brittle and break. If this the issue, I suggest you add a 12" length to all the wires and crimp them rather than soldering. The wire will better with stand the constant bending from the door opening. Also the crimp will provide for a better mechanical bound that will last longer than solder. The rubber harness cover can be moved back and try not to cut it as they are hard to find and do offer a good protection to harness.

I would say the same thing. I had the one door quite locking and the speaker was not working. Pulled back the rubber sleeve and there was the problem - 4 fatigued broken off wires. Fixed them and have not had a problem since.

Kelicomfg@yahoo.com · Aug 27, 2017

Ive just gone through this same issue as well... with all the electrical ghosts in these trucks, it becomes quite frustrating to say the least. I pulled the left rear door skin and got the wire harness out to check for breaks (after doing a continuity test ) and discovered all the smaller gauge wires were either broken or close to broken..
So... to the bench with snips, strippers, heat shrink, and a soldering iron..

All works like new again
Im trying to upload photos... too stupid to figure it out.. sorry..

http://www.ramforum.com/picture.php?albumid=3809&picture

http://www.ramforum.com/picture.php?albumid=3809&picture

http://www.ramforum.com/picture.php?albumid=3809&picture

bulrid8 · Aug 31, 2017

I had broken wire on driver side rear door and a bad actuator on passenger side. Just do some testing to find your problem.

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QuintanaP · Jan 3, 2018

My driver rear door wasn't working for a bit. I was loosing my mind. I couldn't lock it neither by my door panel switch nor with the alarm. So I checked the harness, and viola!

QuintanaP · Jan 3, 2018

Fixed all my problems, my window works now and all! It wasn't before.. Anyways, good luck!

Rear Door Lock not operating on my 2003 Dodge Ram 1500

HotRodRam2003

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Gecko

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sylver91

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RonJon '06

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sylver91

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xtremewlr

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jwheeler

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hotkarl

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Navarabr

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xb1230

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MarkV

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bulrid8

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QuintanaP

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