97 Astro power door lock issues.

[astrogus]

Ever since i've owned my astro my power door locks havent worked. I checked for broken wires in the jamb area. The relays in the passenger side kick panel are clicking and theres a clicking noise coming from a black box that i believe is for the keyless entry. Im lost as to what to do next i want to use my keyless entry remote. Im pretty sure the actuators are good. Any ideas? Thanks

[astronut74]

I have the same problem with my '94.It is intermittent however. My problem is due to a bad switch on the passenger side.

[crash]

similar deal on the 93. they worked great sometimes .. other times, nada.. just a click click click and none would lock or unlock... my issue was also the pass side switch. I grabbed one at the wrecker and they have been working perfectly since.

if you have the means, it's a cheap place to start. get one for both the driver and pass side just to be safe.

[astrogus]

But wouldnt the switch's not do anything if they were bad?

[astronut74]

not necessarily, if the contacts in the switch are worn, it can still pass power thru to the relay, enough to make it click, but not enough to hold switch in the relay closed.
Another problem that it could be is the contacts inside the door lock relay are worn, and not enough power is going to the lock motor.

[astrogus]

I know it's not the relay, Because i went to autozone and they were kind enough to let me try a new one and it still didnt work. I also tried a new actuator and it didnt work either. Is it possible for there to be a break in a wire up in the dash?

[sfeaver]

Did you make sure the circuit breaker for the power locks is installed too? I'm not sure what else is on that circuit as I dont have a manual handy, but I think the power seats are too. Do they work? The switches and lock realy are powered from the courtesy fuse, the actuators themselves from the circut breaker.

Scott

[astrogus]

The power seats work fine. I checked all fuses and relays. What should i be looking at for the circuit? All im getting is a clicking from the passenger kick panel when i hit lock. Then it clicks from what looks like the keyless entry box of some sort when i hit unlock. They have never worked since i owned the van coming on 2 years now.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

I would have to say you have a bad switch or two as well. At such a low voltage (12V), contacts in switches can sometime pass some power but not full power. What happens is the contact gets dirty and creates resistance. With a low current load the voltage dropped will be low so you will see the voltage on the other side. As current goes up and resistance stays the same, the voltage has to go down until all the voltage is dropped cross the bad contact.

Open up the door panel and remove the switch. Jumper around the switch and see if the door locks work. If they do then you know you have a bad switch.

[v8famvan]

Check the connector to the door lock relay.
Terminal A - white - power in when the unlock button is pressed.
Terminal B - tan - power out when the unlock relay is activated.
Terminal C - orange - battery power at all times.
Terminal D - black - ground. Nuf said.
Terminal E - gray - power out when the lock relay is activated.
Terminal F - lt blue - power in when the lock button is pressed.

Sounds like you might have a problem with the orange battery wire. This gets power from the PWR ACCY circuit breaker in the fuse box which also powers the power seats. If you don't have power at the orange wire at the door lock relay & your power seats work, you have a wiring issue.

[sfeaver]

How did you make out with your locks?

Scott

[astrogus]

They still do not work....I took both driver and passenger side switches off, And cleaned them with electrical components cleaner. And straightend up the connectors and greased them up with dielectric grease. That didn't do anything i cleaned the contacts on the slider with steel wool and that didnt do nothing either. The power seats work so i dont think it's the circuit board im hearing about. And the cigarette lighter works so im positive that the fuse is good because ive heard that fuse powers the locks. I opened up the passenger side kick panel and theres a purple wire thats not connected to anything. But i noticed the door spring thing that turns the lights on when u open the doors is gone, So im guessing that the wire was for that. So i dont really know what to think...? Thanks to everyone for your feedback it's greatly appreciated. Todd

[Rileysowner]

Did you check the wire V8FamVan suggested, the orange one? It sounds like you need to start following wires around?

[astrogus]

Don't have a voltmeter....I checked all the connections to all the relays and cleaned and greased them. Whats the relay looking box that has a micro chip board looking thing in it inside the kick panel???

[CaptSquid]

You DON'T have a multi-meter? Man, get one!