Driver side door power lock will not work

[kdikert]

Hi,

The automatic locks will not work on my driver side doors. The passenger side doors work well, both from the key fob and the door lock button. The problem was intermittent at first, so that the issue happened only when it was rainy. I lived in sunny California at that time, so it happened only two times there, but then I moved up north and the issues became more prominent. There was clear connection with humidity and doors not working. Now after one rainy winter the driver side doors will never work, so now the problem is consistent.

The door ajar detection works fine. The dash shows door ajar correctly if I open or close each door, even those doors which the power lock won't work on.

This seems like there could be a worn and shorting cable in one of the doors. Any ideas on how I could start troubleshooting this? Is there any particular splice or connector I could start working from?

 

[Rado]

First WELCOME to the group


I would take out the door switch and check connections for corrosion !
Not sure about the RAM Door Switch but some you can take apart and clean the contact pad!
You Tube should have videos on it !
Dorman makes a Master Switch as well as on E Bay !
Dorman around 100$ and E Bay average 30$
Ill see if I can dig up anything
Also try the search box on sight !

I just tried the search box and there are many threads about the switch ! I typed in Drivers Side window switch

And https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrFNzzFAVlk8RgASDH7w8QF;_ylu=c2VjA3NlYXJjaAR2dGlkAw--;_ylc=X1MDOTY3ODEzMDcEX3IDMgRmcgN5ZnAtdARmcjIDcDpzLHY6dixtOnNiLHJnbjp0b3AEZ3ByaWQDVlJxUmY1ZnJTd2l2X1luaERnSlpEQQRuX3JzbHQDMARuX3N1Z2cDMARvcmlnaW4DdmlkZW8uc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAzAEcXN0cmwDNDAEcXVlcnkDMjAwOCUyMFJBTSUyMDE1MDAlMjBkcml2ZXJzJTIwc2lkZSUyMFdpbmRvdyUyMHN3aXRjaAR0X3N0bXADMTY4MzU1NDc3Ng--?p=2008+RAM+1500+drivers+side+Window+switch&ei=UTF-8&fr2=p:s,v:v,m:sb,rgn:top&fr=yfp-t

 

[kdikert]

Thanks for the tips Rado!

I took the driver's door switch panel apart, but all the connections seem good. I'm getting a feeling that the problem might not be in the doors after all.

I got a copy of the Factory Service Manual. Firstly I checked the wiring to the locks, and that indeed shows that the driver side front and back doors share one of the actuation wires. I measured the voltage in the door lock actuation wire, and it seemed to jump between 6-20 Volts when opening the doors.

Having found out very little from studying the wirings, I checked the door lock diagnostics in the FSM. It seems to have a handful of troubleshooting sequences for the driver side doors. The doors seem to be ultimately commanded by the gauge cluster (obviously...). Now I'm recalling that I replaced one of the gauge backlights, and the door problem may have started at the same time. The remedy recommended in the FSM for many of the door problems is to replace the gauge cluster . I think I'll still go over the troubleshooting sequences carefully....

The FSM says that the onboard computer may store trouble codes for some of the door problems. Would anyone have recommendations for an OBD2 tool to read such particular manufacturer specific codes?

 

[tron67j]

Not sure exactly understand the problem, but is it that you can put the windows up and down from the individual switches on the other doors and also open and close the locks but you can't do say the passenger window from the driver control? If that's your issue, it's a pretty common one for gen 3 trucks. Just get a new door switch control unit. What it is is one of the solder joints degrades and it causes the connection to not work. You can fix it, but honestly the part isn't that expensive. Reach out to Benny at all Mopar parts in the vendor section and he can set you up with one.

 

[Daw14]

check the wires where they go from cab to door, their have been lots on here that have broken or exposed wires in those harnesses.

 

[kdikert]

Thanks for the advice! I finally got to resolve this issue, and I found the culprit. Seems it took a full year to get the time to do it

The issue was in the Instrument Cluster C1 connector (the white one). I checked the factory service manual for troubleshooting sequences, and there was indeed a bunch of tests for the door wiring. The factory manual instructed to put a voltage on pin 1 and pin 10 on the Cluster C1 connector. So I had to take apart the dashboard and disconnect the instrument cluster. The ground and +12V could be put either way on pins 1 and 10 on the connector, and the locks would open and close respectively (put voltage on the connector with wires, not the instrument cluster). The locks worked just fine when doing this.

Since the locks were working I checked the connector. Pin 10 on the connector seemed to have some oxidation on it, so I rubbed it good with electronics cleaner. Cleaning the connector made the problem go away. I noticed some oxidation on another pin also, which belongs to the courtesy cabin lights (check connector pin listing in FSM section 8W), and cleaning all the pins resolved some other problems I had been experiencing with the cabin lights.

 

[Daw14]

Thanks for the advice! I finally got to resolve this issue, and I found the culprit. Seems it took a full year to get the time to do it

The issue was in the Instrument Cluster C1 connector (the white one). I checked the factory service manual for troubleshooting sequences, and there was indeed a bunch of tests for the door wiring. The factory manual instructed to put a voltage on pin 1 and pin 10 on the Cluster C1 connector. So I had to take apart the dashboard and disconnect the instrument cluster. The ground and +12V could be put either way on pins 1 and 10 on the connector, and the locks would open and close respectively (put voltage on the connector with wires, not the instrument cluster). The locks worked just fine when doing this.

Since the locks were working I checked the connector. Pin 10 on the connector seemed to have some oxidation on it, so I rubbed it good with electronics cleaner. Cleaning the connector made the problem go away. I noticed some oxidation on another pin also, which belongs to the courtesy cabin lights (check connector pin listing in FSM section 8W), and cleaning all the pins resolved some other problems I had been experiencing with the cabin lights.

Thanks for the write up ,this is good to share.

 

[Rado]

Thanks for the advice! I finally got to resolve this issue, and I found the culprit. Seems it took a full year to get the time to do it

The issue was in the Instrument Cluster C1 connector (the white one). I checked the factory service manual for troubleshooting sequences, and there was indeed a bunch of tests for the door wiring. The factory manual instructed to put a voltage on pin 1 and pin 10 on the Cluster C1 connector. So I had to take apart the dashboard and disconnect the instrument cluster. The ground and +12V could be put either way on pins 1 and 10 on the connector, and the locks would open and close respectively (put voltage on the connector with wires, not the instrument cluster). The locks worked just fine when doing this.

Since the locks were working I checked the connector. Pin 10 on the connector seemed to have some oxidation on it, so I rubbed it good with electronics cleaner. Cleaning the connector made the problem go away. I noticed some oxidation on another pin also, which belongs to the courtesy cabin lights (check connector pin listing in FSM section 8W), and cleaning all the pins resolved some other problems I had been experiencing with the cabin lights.

THANK YOU for updating and what you did

 

[GTyankee]

thumbs up on your fix !