The power locks on my 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan operate randomly and on their own without any prompting by me. How can I repair this condition or disable the locks to prevent this from happening?
The quickest way to disable to locks is to pull the fuse. The problem is that it won’t be all a lone on a fuse. So if you pull it you will also lose whatever else is on that fuse.
To fix it you’ll need to get into whichever door panels have a power lock switch. I’d start with the driver’s door. You need to pull the door panel - or sometimes you can remove the switch panel only - and check the wiring and the switch.
I assume your key fob has buttons to lock and unlock your doors? If so, it could just be that you need to change the batteries in it. Cheapest and quickest test for your problem
Erratic door locks on Caravans is usually caused by the door ajar switch at the rear edge of the sliding door(s). As you drive and hit bumps or the body flexes and the out of adjustment switch will turn on the interior lights briefly, then when the switch sends a door closed signal to the BCM the BCM will relock the doors.
From inside the vehicle with the ignition on push on each sliding door a see if the interior lights turn on . The switch should cost about $10.
Check your owner’s manual to see if there’s a way to disable the automatic locking feature when the car is in motion. That would be the easiest way.
It was a delight to visit Germany and note that the doors DON’T automatically lock when you go into gear or hit 10 mph…and when you stop in the drive to get out…the doors aren’t locked. Could we have a return to more manual functions? There seems to be NO point to the effort to electronically save us from ourselves.
These efforts to electronically save ourselves from our own stupidity are a GOOD thing.
Look at it this way, if those among us with lesser intelligence are not allowed to weed themselves from the gene pool, the average intelligence of the gene pool will become lower. Our children and our grandchildren will have to compete with a lower average, making them more intelligen in comparison. Thus, they’ll be more successful.
Don’t you want your children and grandchildren to be more successful?
Oblivion is right, there is a process described in the manual to disable the auto-power-lock feature, but it only works till you turn off the motor. Then you have to do it again the next time you start the engine. It drives me crazy, too, and I’m always thinking how dangerous is it to have your doors locked when you plunge into a river or lake in the car? DUH! What were they thinking?
Just more high tech sky hooks. There is a module somewhere that operates the locks and unplugging it disables the system totally. I have found the modules between the brake pedal and the drivers door sill on many vehicles.