Power Locks keep locking, rear tail gate keeps trying-UPDATE

Ripster · **Posted:** Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:45 pm

Wife just got home from a long trip, several days outside in -20 weather, washed the car when
she got home, nothing out of the normal there, but the locks keep trying to lock, the doors are locked
and the rear tailgate keeps sounding like it is trying to lock, don't hear the noise in the doors, they
just stay locked, but the rear tailgate keeps trying to lock. Any ideas? Key fob will unlock and lock
then a few moments later it keeps trying, mostly in the rear tailgate.

thanks

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:47 am

Ripster wrote:

Wife just got home from a long trip, several days outside in -20 weather, washed the car when
she got home, nothing out of the normal there, but the locks keep trying to lock, the doors are locked
and the rear tailgate keeps sounding like it is trying to lock, don't hear the noise in the doors, they
just stay locked, but the rear tailgate keeps trying to lock. Any ideas? Key fob will unlock and lock
then a few moments later it keeps trying, mostly in the rear tailgate.

thanks

Check the battery and alternator. Low or inconsistent power to the BCM will make it lock/unlock things and behave erratically. Does the problem go away if you get the engine started (or have you been able to try)?

Dan

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:35 am

Frost and ice do form inside doors and the tail gate. If you don't have a heated garage where you can thaw it out or enough sunshine to thaw it out. Halogen heat lamps work great. I have thawed locks and frozen up brake drums many times. But check the battery, fuses, and the smaller wire that is on the positive battery terminal first.

Welcome to global warming :lol:

Ripster · **Posted:** Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:01 pm

Well I suppose the battery could be going, but I suspect something in the tailgate, seems I remember another Jeep doing
this at the dealer and they had to replace something in the tailgate. Pulled the fuse for now, will try and see if it does it
while it is running, thanks for the advice. Would be the shortest battery life I have ever seen, terminals are clean and
locked down.

Ripster · **Posted:** Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:14 am

Ok pretty thick cables on my positive post, both of them. Also tonight with more testing, even with the
lock fuse #6 out, the system has a red light that blinks a bunch of time and then settles into a blink
every so many seconds, yep it arms itself without locking the doors, since I have the fuse out. So
will check the battery voltage tomorrow and see how that is doing. Good thing I got the extended
warranty till 70k, just turned 36,800. Now to find a dealer that will know what is happening, dealer
that sold it to me is out of business.

nursecosmo · **Posted:** Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:37 am

Do you have a heated garage? If not, see if you can park it in a friend's garage and crank up the heat for a few hours. It is very possible that you have gotten some salty water into a relay or across some wire terminals during the aforementioned wash. I have had it happen in a Dodge Caravan I used to own down in TN. It would happen once or twice a year when there would be a threat of snow or ice and the state would salt the roads. One time it rained on the salt, then stayed below freezing for a couple of days. It did not clear up until it got warm enough for the relay to dry out. You may have a different problem but this is the first thing which comes to my mind.

tulsa · **Posted:** Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:14 am

Isn't there a module or wiring node under one of the seats that can get wet and behave like this and open the rear glass? Seems like there were some problems reported a couple of years ago.

KeighJeigh · **Posted:** Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:06 am

Stuck remote button? Pull the remote battery & see if it continues.

Ripster · **Posted:** Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:45 am

Remotes have been tested, I would lean towards moisture, will have to see this weekend, will crank the heat and see.
Will post if I find a solution.

Ripster · **Posted:** Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:10 am

Took the CRD in for the lock problem yesterday. It ended up being a defective drivers door lock switch, the cold, the washing probably did not have
anything to do with it, just coincidence, have to order the switch, just disconnected the switch and everything works perfectly, with the fuse back in.
Just can not lock or unlock from the drivers door inside switch till it is replaced. Case closed on this one.

Ripster · **Posted:** Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:27 pm

Well today the new switch was put in the drivers door. Started making the lock down again at the dealership.
Worked on it for 5 hours and found that the switch on the passenger side had corrosion on the terminals on
that switch just enough to cause the body module to try to lock the doors and keep trying. Cleaned all terminals
and added electrical grease and we should not have this issue again. This is a car that is garaged and has not
seen much rain but cold weather for sure. Glad they found it.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:50 am

Heated Garage can cause condensation and corrosion problems.
The electrical grease should fix it.

Power Locks keep locking, rear tail gate keeps trying-UPDATE

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