Keyless entry unlocks driver door only- indoor locks not working

[Candace]

Ok. Here's the problem.
When I use my keyless entry, it only unlocks the driver door. When inside the car, to let passengers in, I have to manually pull up each doors' lock knob. When I switch the locks up or down inside, they do not work. I can hear clicking inside the dash, but nothing happens.

I know it's not difficult to pull up q door lock, but it's annoying that it doesn't work properly.

History of the car;
we bought the car from a widow, her late husband drove it. She didn't know why or when they stoped working. She had all the service records on the car, there was nothing in there where her husband noted anything, or had it looked at. He seemed to make notes on every little thing, when the windsheild washer box was last filled, last time the car was waxed, oil changes, tires, inside interior detailed, EVERY little thing, so I lead her to believe that it was a recent problem due to him not making a note of it.

I have had the car for 3 years now, my son drove it to college for 2-1/2 years, so that's why the locks are bothering me now, because I'm driving it.lol

I went thru the owners manual and went thru the reprogramming steps, but it did not make a difference. I checked all the fuses, I have read countless posts here, and can't seem to find an answer. I just went thru a terrible ordeal on the car overheating, and with the help of the good, knoedgeBle folks here found it to be a wiring problem( bad plug to thefan) so I thought I would take a chance and see if I could get 2 for 2!

I will appreciTe any and all advice!! Thank you for reading my long winded posts. LOL
have a great day

[quicksilverdon]

Hmmm.
Seems to be 2 problems.
1) Should be able to set it so that the remote unlocks all the doors - I set mine that way (long time ago, can't remember how now)....
2) The switch in the door should unlock all the doors...

Have you tried hitting the unlock button on the fob twice in a row, quickly? That should also unlock all doors with the "standard" programming.

[edsidders]

This is STRICTLY a guess--There should be a relay that sends voltage to all 4 lock/unlock solenoids at the same ,pass. door,both rear doors,hatch door..

if the doors will lock electrically but make a noise and try to unlock the first thing I would try is to check out the contacts of the unlock relay...If the voltage is low because of bad contacts they won't unlock...Will they unlock when you try the switch while you hold a little pressure on the unlock plunger on the door? If that is so that confirms low voltage..

The lock/unlock solenoids create a high voltage when power is removed called a inductive kick which really damages relay contacts...This is the same principal used on a points type ignition system..

I don't have a manual handy to confirm any of this but it is just general troubleshooting procedure on a generic vehicle...Good Luck

[shmexymedic]

I am having the same kinda problem on my 02... except the locks dont go up or down all i hear is the clicking in the dash. The alarm works though. Did you figure out how to fix it???

[quicksilverdon]

Originally Posted by shmexymedic

I am having the same kinda problem on my 02... except the locks dont go up or down all i hear is the clicking in the dash. The alarm works though. Did you figure out how to fix it???

Using the remote? If so, it's likely your Remote Keyless Entry Module (RKEM) died.
It's above and behind the radio.
Do a search - there are pics of where it is on one of the threads.

[shmexymedic]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

Using the remote? If so, it's likely your Remote Keyless Entry Module (RKEM) died.
It's above and behind the radio.
Do a search - there are pics of where it is on one of the threads.

ahhh ok, i will search and see what I come up with. Thanks but i know the locks work because they lock automatically when I first accelerate. But if i push the door unlock button... they dont unlock. weird.

[quicksilverdon]

Originally Posted by shmexymedic

ahhh ok, i will search and see what I come up with. Thanks but i know the locks work because they lock automatically when I first accelerate. But if i push the door unlock button... they dont unlock. weird.

Which door unlock button? One in the door or on the key fob? If the one in the door works, but fob doesn't, pretty well confirms it's the RKEM.

[nrkmann]

Stock from the factory! Read the owners manual. There are instructions on how to set the fob for all doors or just the drivers door. Also says to double push the button to open all doors when set to open only the drivers door on one push... nrk

[shmexymedic]

well.. my locks work now. I dunno what they did or IF they did anything, lol. They just work. I notice 1 keychain works better than the other so I am gonna replace the batteries. I took the PT in to fix a overheating problem and made mention of the locks problem and I noticed they worked when I got it back but dunno what they did, lol. Lucky me I guess! (I am thinking that since I have a debt payoff insurance through the dealer in case of theft or being totaled... they had it fixed.)

[Chromenut]

Okay guys and gals, there is this odd issue out there with these locks that occurs around the time your batteries start to wear out on your fob. The RKEM starts getting "mixed" signals at first, so defaults to unlock. At the same time if you have any other issue with your car, you have a chance of catching the "ghost bug".

Say my fob is going weak. Then I pop a plug and get an error code. All of a sudden my keyless entry won't work, or only works on the driver's door. Damned ghost!

So when you get this problem, try the following steps - they are cheaper than paying a mechanic to look at the RKEM or the PCM or getting new keyfobs.

1) Buy new batteries for all keyfobs associated with the car - ALL of them at once, you don't want the batteries to age at different rates.

2) After replacing the batteries in your keyfobs, go home, shut down the engine, remove the negative battery terminal cable (-), and leave it off for five minutes. Press on the brake pedal a couple of times to pull off any residual charge on the system.

3) After you've counted up to 300, reconnect your negative battery terminal cable.

4) Start your engine and let it idle for a couple of minutes to insure it's "relearned" everything, then turn it off.

5) Follow the owners manual and reprogram your keyfob.


90% of the time this fixes the issue. Now going forward, try remembering to switch key fobs once per month. This way they both get the same wear and tear.