2004 Ford Explorer Remote Door Locks - Intermittant

2004 Ford Explorer.

Here is a problem I have been fighting for a while. One day after heavy rains, I noticed the lights, radio, and door locks would not work. Fixed these with the WD-40 in the door switch as noted on this site.

NEXT. Had another bunch of situations. I reset the VSM by disconnecting and re-connecting the battery.

NOW. The remote unlock intermittently works to lock and unlock the doors. Most of the time, I have to unlock the door with the key, get in and start the truck and repeatedly press the inside unlock button. It seems that once the alternator voltage increases, the unlock button works.

The same holds true when exiting the vehicle. I have to hit lock with the engine running. It will want to unlock automatically due to the security system. Shut the truck off immediately and hit lock one more time.

These two workarounds work 100% of the time, and 40% of the time the remote works too. I did notice that when I press the unlock one time on the remote, instead of unlocking the door and turning on the dome light, it just turns on the dome light.

Any suggestions appreciated. Trying to stay away from the dealer, as I have heard the first thing they want to do is replace the Vehicle Security Module.