Well I opted to take the easy route and buy a new driver's side door control module. Plugged it in and ... no joy. The window and door lock still does not respond to the switches. (Fortunately, I had the sense to test it before re-mounting the door skin. The driver's side switches correctly operate the passenger-side window and lock, just like they did on the original module.)

To add insult to injury, the dealer tells me that the ~$240 part is not returnable, because it's electrical. At least I KNOW it's not the door control solenoids, which I wouldn't have been sure of if I'd tried to fix or replace just those in the original module.

So the question is -- now what? What's the likelihood that it's the switch plate. This is a unitary, sealed module itself, that costs ~$130. It pops out of the door skin easily, so it's easy to replace. But being an electrical part, I now know that if I buy it, well, I bought it.

 

did you check for faults? plug the original module back in,check your faults,copy them,clear them,and see what resets,if anything

 

Did you check your grounds? A buddy of mine had very simular problems and it turned out to be a ground. Vetts have a very crappy ground system that will cause lots of electrical bugs.

 

Any pointers on where I can find a good guide for all the ground points? I've seen discussion of this in other threads -- and it seems like every new poster adds a place to check the grounding. Is there a definitive source that lists all the ground points?

 

Their are 9 major grounds. 1 behind both headlights, 1 under battery, 1 engine ground strap on dvr side, 1 under left kickpanel by hood releace, 1 on each side by the seatbelt/door jam, and one on each side of the frame in the rear by the trans. any others arn't shown in my service manual. You can un clip the connectors and check for corrosion. I would check the one behind the driver kick panel first. The plactic cover just lifts stright up out of the rocker panel. They just clip in. Good luck

 

Thanks for the good info on the ground points. That'll be a Saturday morning job to track all that down.

In the meantime, here's a question: Is there any way I can test whether I have a bad switch module by manually jumping the pins in the plug that goes into the switch plate? If I could find a map of those pins, I could use some little alligator clips to jump the pins to activate the various functions and see if I can make the driver's side window and door lock activate. Any pointers to a function map of the pins in that plug and advice on whether this is a good idea would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sorry dial up

 

turbo C5 -- you are my hero!!!! Thanks.

 

Thought that might help Good luck

 

I have an issue where my switch panel appears to lose power and won't function. I notice it happening when I open and close my door. I also notise that if I push on the wire loom/protector that goes between the door that the pwr returns to the switch panel. I know it's probably a loose conection. Anyone know of an easy way to fix this with out removing the door skin, and is it possible this could be whats happening to monkeyboy?

 

Well, using turbo C5's plug map information, I used a couple of straight-pins to jump some of the points on the plug that goes into the switch module and discovered that the failed driver's side door lock and window are the only non-functioning items, even with the new door control module. I can use this jumper technique to operate all the other functions that pass through that plug (which is actually a pretty neat discovery). I also checked the ground point nearest the driver's side door -- the one under the left side kick plate. It looks good and must be OK, or the functions I can activate by jumping the plug points wouldn't be operating.

Which leaves me STUMPED. I went ahead stripped off the large rubber seal that allows access into the inner door. I felt around and found the connection to the window motor. It FEELS OK, but jiggling it doesn't do any good.

Right now I'm more frustrated than I've ever been with a Corvette. A love affair can be tough sometimes. Any ideas for fixing this troubled relationship???

 

are fuses 33/34 ok?the switch has a ground because the right side window works from the drivers side switch,correct? it sounds like you may have a bad switch pack.take a test light hook it up to ground and touch the orange/blk wire.without touching the switch you should have 12 volts[light on],now press unlock,the lamp should go out,if it doesn't,the switch is bad.to test lock,touch the red/blk wire,same thing without touching anything,the light should be on,press lock,the lamp should go out.if either wire does NOT light without pressing a button,that wire[s] is shorted to ground.unplug the switch,if you now have power on those wires,your switch is shorted and the problem.
all the switch does is sends ground signals to the dcm.the black wire is your ground supply to the pack,but most be ok if the right side door works from it along with the mirrors.
the window switches work the same way. the left window up/down wires are the gray[down] and brown[up].same thing.without touching any buttons you should have 12 volts on each wire.when you move it to window up[brown wire]the test light will go out,same the other way.
all these signals go straightto the dcm,processed and relayed out.
more than likely you have a bad switch pack,especially if the mirrors/memory/right side functions work.
also,any of this stuff will store a fault in the bcm.you probably have the switch faults set,that's why i originally asked about faults.

 

AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I just went down to pull the codes so I could post them here to see what kind of help I could get. I plugged the switch module back in, closed the door, turned the ignition on and -- just for grins -- hit the driver's side window switch. IT WORKED. So did the lock/unlock button. Yesterday, PRECISELY the same thing DIDN'T WORK. Must be a short in the door itself, right?

Anyway, here are the codes from what might conceivably be the relevant elements:

10 PCM -- NO CODES
40 BCM -- NO CODES
58 SDM -- NO CODES
60 IPC -- 3 CODES
- B0516 H
- U1160 H
- U1255 H
A0 LDCM -- 1 CODE
- B2284 H
A1 RDCM -- 4 CODES
- B2283 H
- B2285 H
- U1064 H
- U1096 H
A6 SCM -- 1 CODE
- U1255 H
B0 RFM -- 1 CODE
- U1255 H

Do these codes offer any insight to the haunted door?

 

the door control module faults are all for power,they will store history even if the fault exsists.have you had any water leaks on the right side of the car? what you want to check is the 2 orange wires on the door control module.they each have there own fuse in the fusebox in the floor,1 is for logic te other is to run the accessories.the faults for the right door mean the same thing.look at the fuses in the floor fuse block,look for corrosion,bad/weak fuses[look at the breaker in the fuse,if it looks like it's flakey,] replace it.but look there first.

 

It's BAAAAAACK. Once the mysterious fault stopped, I reassembled my door with the new door control module and everything was great. For a while. This time the driver's side window froze while it was down about an inch. Luckily, we've had clear skies the last few days, but I'm now ready to start ripping the last shreds of my hair out. Anyway -- where exactly is the "the fusebox in the floor"? A relatively quick inspection under less-than-perfect lighting conditions didn't reveal it. Any help would be appreciated greatly.

 

it's in the right front floor toe board.it is right next to the bcm in a black box labeled "fuses".are you sure the wires aren't broken in the door accordian[rubber junction between the door and the kick panel.]?

 

I'm not able to dig into this yet, but have a question -- you're directing me to a fuse box on the PASSENGER'S side, but my problems are on the driver's side. I do see that I posted codes on both sides (more on the right than the left), but I get no actual malfunction on the passenger's side. This leads me to wonder:

-- Are there fuse boxes on BOTH sides? (If so, I'm sure I should check them both.)

-- Any idea why I'm seeing codes on the right but no malfunction there?

-- what's the procedure for checking the integrity of the wires in the rubber "accordian" -- any trick to opening that up?

Thanks for all the help and advice!

 

1 fuse box inside the car,it's in the right toe board.the other is under the hood,the accordians pop out.

 

My 01 started did this a couple of weeks ago, but it was the passenger side. Drivers side controls would not operate anything on the passenger door, nor did the passenger side controls work. On shutdown and key remove, passenger door didn't unlock, nor would it lock/unlock with the fob.

With the radio off and the car parked, I noted a rapid 2-3x click noise from the passenger footwell every time I removed or inserted the key in the ignition. At night, I also noticed the buttons on the passenger side were not backlit.

Open passenger door, jiggle the accordian tube, insert and turn key, everything works.

Had to go through that drill for a several days. Problem seems to have cured itself, as I haven't had to fiddle with anything for about a week.

Low battery can cause all sorts of strange electrical issues - I also noted while the door was misbehaving, voltage averaged 13.1-13.4 instead of the normal 14.1-14.4. Whatever caused the voltage drop has also apparently cured itself, as now the voltage is back above 14.

The window/locks/light no longer misbehave and no more clicking from the footwell.

Course, it is possible a short was causing a battery drain/low voltage, and jiggling the wire has temp fixed it...

GMPP, here we come again


AJ

 

Your problem lies inside one of the door wiring harness plugs. There are two. The wiring harnesses are wrapped in orange tape. The exit the door and go through the accordion tube. If you wiggle the wiring harness, you will most likely get it to work. Thats not a very good fix. You need to access both plugs and inspect each and every pin for corrosion, and make sure each female pin has the correct amount of grip on the male pins. It called a pin pull test. Just go to the dealer and get a male pin the exact same size as the ones in the male connector.

I had the same problem in my 02 Z06 while I was at last summer's Carlisle swap meet. Yea it was pouring down rain. Luck for me it failed in the UP position. I disassembled the door and wiggled the wiring harness and BAM, it has not failed since. I was this close " to buying a used LDCM.

Bill

Bill C