Door locks won't lock

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jaerbaer1

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2012 3500 Longhorn. Suddenly the doors won't lock with the remote or the locking buttons on the control panel. It'll unlock just fine, but won't lock unless I physically push the button down on each door. Anyone have any ideas?

It does nothing when I try to lock with the button or the remote. It unlocks just fine. When I manually lock them I have found, on occasion, my doors unlocked a few hours later. I can manually lock each door then hit the lock button on my remote, which activates my alarm and flashes my lights. Again, unlocking is no problem.
 
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Jeepwalker

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1) Do the locks "kind of want" to lock? If you help them go down will they lock with a nudge? Or ..just nothing, when you hit the 'lock' button?

2) If you use the pass lock button, same thing?


My hunch is you might have a shorted wire in the door jamb. After 10 years of opening/closing ..esp in cold temps too, it's not out of the question to have a bad wire on a 2012. Or, it could be the control module. Possibly the driver's switch. As a test I would hold the switch down and pinch the wires inside the rubber boot between the door and the jamb. See if it does anything (do the doors lock when open??). It would be nice if you could look at the wires there.
 

jws123

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If you do not find any broken wires in the door harness its almost always the cheap **** master door switch drivers side I am on my 2nd one.
 

GTyankee

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Have you or anyone else taken off the door panel
Believe it or not, when people pull that panel off they don't do it gently & they can easily bend the mechanical lock mechanism.
When that rod gets bent, the door will not lock.

When you press the lock button on the master door switch, you would hear & see the lock mechanism trying to lock

The body shop had the inner panel off too, we thought the actuator was bad, but it was a bent locking rod
1647406264966.png

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If you take the first panel off, like above
You can see the the 5" X 5" rubber cover that is hanging in the pix
If the window was raised & you reached your hand in there, you would feel the lock actuator, if you have a cell phone, you could actually see it & feel it moving or attempting to move.
 

Rlaf75

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Driver's side door switches can be a common failure. If you know anyone with the same or similar truck swap the switch and see if it works. They're easy to replace. They just pop out
 

Socalramfan

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I have had a case where I could not lock, nor operate the front windows. I removed the drivers switch panel, you don’t need to take off the door panel, it prys up with a thin blade/plastic trim tool.

Once out you’ll notice two sets of plugs. Froward one is for the front, aft one is for the rear. If you depress the plug you’ll be able to pull it free. I disconnected the front plug from the switch panel and reset it. First time didn’t do anything, but after I did it twice…. Success. Seems that with opening, closing, rough roads etc it can come loose.

not sure it will fix your issue, but certainly worth a try. Worked for me :waytogo:
 
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Jeepwalker

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You might remove the switch assembly and see if there is any damage, the wires look ok, ..dirt/debris (coffee spilled etc). If it doesn't work with the fob, then try checking for jamb wires. The fact that the fob and doors unlock fine kind of points to a possible wire issues, (or control logic) ..but wire first.

If you know someone with a good scanner, they should be able to plug into the OBD and try (test) the lock circuits. If it doesn't work with the scanner than go back to checking wiring at the door.
 

El_Lobo_Gris1500C

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This is probably not what’s going on but worth double checking, if you have the pushbutton start is your other truck ignition key fob in the truck by chance?

I know that in a previous vehicle I had the push button start and forgot that I left the spare key fob in the glove box and every time I tried to lock my vehicle at the locks would just pop open again because it knew that there was a key inside and didn’t want to lock it in the vehicle.
 

Jeepwalker

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This is probably not what’s going on but worth double checking (spare fob in cab)...

Ahhh ...smart response. Very good catch!
 
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