1996 door locks pulsating
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1st Gear
Joined: Oct 2010
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1996 door locks pulsating
Hey I need help. My 1996 doors locks pulsate when I drive or if the car is running. Its not all the time but about 70% of the time. Does anybody have any ideas. I pulled the fuse with stops them from driving me nuts but know no power locks. Thanks Jim
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,842
Likes: 285
From: Palmdale CA
Two possibilities. The first and most likely is that one of the door lock switches in the door panel has malfunctioned and the internal contact is 'stuck' in either the 'lock' or 'unlock' position, instead of the centered 'off' position. You'll have to pull the door panel on this one. Pulling the door panel is something you do carefully and with plenty of time to spare. They're $600 each, so you don't want to damage them. It could be either the driver side switch (it gets much more use) or the passenger (rarely used, but if the drivers side checks out, this is your next step).
Once you pull them, you could spray some electrical contact cleaner in the switches itself and see if it solves the problem. Make sure the connectors are in good shape too. Check the wiring harness in the door for shorts (bare wire) or any breaks in the wiring insulation.
The PKE (Passive Key Entry) or the 'fob' may be a factor too, as this locks and unlocks the car. You might want to isolate this, by not using the PKE near the car while operating it, to see if the problem continues or if it goes away.
Once you pull them, you could spray some electrical contact cleaner in the switches itself and see if it solves the problem. Make sure the connectors are in good shape too. Check the wiring harness in the door for shorts (bare wire) or any breaks in the wiring insulation.
The PKE (Passive Key Entry) or the 'fob' may be a factor too, as this locks and unlocks the car. You might want to isolate this, by not using the PKE near the car while operating it, to see if the problem continues or if it goes away.
Last edited by F22; May 3, 2011 at 04:42 PM. Reason: Added info
