Driver's Door Power Lock Intermittent
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
Driver's Door Power Lock Intermittent
I know that the BCM can fail and can cause the door power locks to not work. My driver's door sometimes will not unlock with the remote, but I can hear the actuator making noise to try and move the mechanism. So I'm assuming the BCM is working fine if the actuator is getting power. Sometimes it will unlock ... it's about 50/50 if it works or not.
Most likely a sticky unlock mechanism? ... anyone else see this issue? I'm thinking all I need to do is remove the door panel and maybe lube the mechanism.
Most likely a sticky unlock mechanism? ... anyone else see this issue? I'm thinking all I need to do is remove the door panel and maybe lube the mechanism.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
Anyone see this problem and have the cure? I can hear the actuator/motor that moves the unlock mechanism making noise, but the door lock mechanism seems to be hung up. It's intermittant (about 50/50). Someone else must have seen this at one time on a C5.
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 95
Likes: 4
From: Santa Fe, NM
This is how I fixed mine. I could hear the relay click, but the actuator wasn't getting any power because the contacts in the relay were burnt.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 10,233
Likes: 21
From: Baltimore suburbs Maryland
This is how I fixed mine. I could hear the relay click, but the actuator wasn't getting any power because the contacts in the relay were burnt.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
Yes, mine was like that too- I could hear the clicking, so I too assumed it was the actual door lock actuator. I replaced it, but it still did it. I wound up slicing open the relay case on the BCM and using emery cloth to clean the contacts (my relays were not burnt). No problems since and i'ts been 6 years and probably 100k miles of daily driven use.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
This is how I fixed mine. I could hear the relay click, but the actuator wasn't getting any power because the contacts in the relay were burnt.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 10,233
Likes: 21
From: Baltimore suburbs Maryland
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 16,795
Likes: 62
From: Lake Havasu City, AZ
I replaced the relay in mine and that did not fix the problem.
I bought a used DCM from a fellow forum member who was parting a C5 in the parts for sale section.... that did the trick
I bought a used DCM from a fellow forum member who was parting a C5 in the parts for sale section.... that did the trick
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My passenger door unlocks but doesn't lock. The motor makes a sound so I figured the mechanism is gummed up. I reach over and flip it locked manually, so far I haven't torn any muscles in the process. 
Racer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 464
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio Tx
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
It's probably the same kind of relay problem since I believe there is a separate relay in the door control module for the lock and unlock function.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,106
Likes: 1
From: Foresters Falls(near Ottawa) Ont
This is how I fixed mine. I could hear the relay click, but the actuator wasn't getting any power because the contacts in the relay were burnt.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...w-problem.html
If nothing else, there are good pictures on how to take the door panel off and look inside.
Hopefully it helps.
You can try this site, it may help too:
http://www.ronjpics.com/Corvettestuff.htm#DCM
RonJ ...
Pro
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 643
Likes: 2
From: Alexandria Northern Virginia
I know "if it ain't broke" philosophy is alive and well but...
Honestly, these relays are documented trouble in these cars. They are approximately a 1.25 each and take 20 minutes to resolder on the boards. I would start there for ANY intermittent problem. If you have a burned contact in a relay, your "gummed up" actuator might not be getting the power it needs to function. You might diagnose it as an actuator and put a new one in only to find you STILL have to swap the relays. If one of you has a door that unlocks but doesn't relock, that is CLASSIC symptoms of the relays. Swap them all out while you are in there...its easy and cheap. Not much on these cars is either of those two things...
HTH, just my experience. I did however have a door switch cluster actually break a trace on the driver lock button. It would lock and unlock from the passenger side, remote and speed sensor (as you start to go it would lock) but not from the button. That was AFTER I rebuilt the door module so I knew it had to be the switch. Flowed a solder trace to it and fixed it right as rain. Those are even easy to take apart
Cassidy
Honestly, these relays are documented trouble in these cars. They are approximately a 1.25 each and take 20 minutes to resolder on the boards. I would start there for ANY intermittent problem. If you have a burned contact in a relay, your "gummed up" actuator might not be getting the power it needs to function. You might diagnose it as an actuator and put a new one in only to find you STILL have to swap the relays. If one of you has a door that unlocks but doesn't relock, that is CLASSIC symptoms of the relays. Swap them all out while you are in there...its easy and cheap. Not much on these cars is either of those two things...
HTH, just my experience. I did however have a door switch cluster actually break a trace on the driver lock button. It would lock and unlock from the passenger side, remote and speed sensor (as you start to go it would lock) but not from the button. That was AFTER I rebuilt the door module so I knew it had to be the switch. Flowed a solder trace to it and fixed it right as rain. Those are even easy to take apart
Cassidy
Last edited by C4B4the04; May 11, 2009 at 08:19 AM. Reason: details
