Chevy & GMC Vans

All,

My slider keeps locking itself. I took a brief look at it just now without taking the panel off.

Here's what happens:
Must manually unlock the door. The electric locks will not unlock the door.
Then I can gently open the door.
If I pull hard on the handle, the door will lock.

Once I have the door open, if I pull on the handle to open the door more than once I can hear the lock trip in the door. This will happen every time.

So obviously I need to take the panel off to take a look in there.

But once that is done, what am I looking for???

There are two button contacts at the B pillar and the leading edge of the door. Clean those and let us know what happens next.

The contacts aren't the issue. The problem is working it manually.

Sounds like the contacts are part of the issue if the electric locks don't. But, you might want to lube the solenoid on the lock. While you have the interior panel off, check all the links and give a dollop of lithium grease to each one.

OK finally got the door off. The actuator was bad and was holding the manual lock in a bad position which kept it locked. But I replaced actuator and I still cannot get the door to lock or unlock with the power locks consistently.

I've checked the voltage coming to the actuator, and at the door post. I think my problem is that it varies each time you press a switch. Sometimes I get as much as an instant 10+ volts. Other times I get 2.5 volts. This causes the actuator to move partially and then stick in a position where it won't move again.

So now the question has become, why do I get varying voltage come to the door when the lock is pressed???

Additional Info: I get a consistent 10.5V when using the key fob. Plus, I gave a couple of tugs on the old actuator and now it works again..... Still afraid to re-install it though...

Try taking apart the electric switch on the driver door and/or co-pilot door and clean up the contacts in the inside.

There's a module somewhere which controls the sliding door lock. Certainly an electronic device which senses that the sliding door was open when the door "locked" button was actuated. It saves this input in memory and then applies the door locks (again) when it senses that the sliding door has closed. I'll betcha this module is the culprit!

Upon further review.....

There is a lever which mounts to the door itself and attaches to the actuator. When the actuator moves in or out, it moves this lever, locking or unlocking the door. What I have now found is that this thing is mounted to the door with a tab that slides through a slot and a rivet. The slot in the sheet metal of the door has worn, allowing the tab to shift in the opposite direction of the actuator. So now I am going to try drilling a hole through both pieces and stick a very small screw or something in there to keep this thing from moving....

Glad to see that you are making great progress on this mystery.
Keep the updates and PICS coming.

Ok here are the pictures:
In the first one you can see the actuator, the lever it attaches to, the rivet that mounts it to the inner door skin and the slot.


In this picture you can see how the slot has wallowed out allowing the lever to move side to side when the actuator moves. I drilled a small hole through the tab show and the door skin behind it. Then I wedged a piece of wire through and bent it in opposite directions on each side to prevent it from coming back out.


Seems to be working for now.