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Door locks not working most of the time

Tiny
BEAUGRANBOIS
  • MEMBER
  • 2012 DODGE JOURNEY
  • 3.6L
  • V6
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 62,000 MILES
My door locks are not locking or unlocking properly. Doors will try to lock and I can hear the clicking in the BCM. It seems like they are not getting enough power to lock and unlock them. When they try to unlock/unlock most of the time they only come up half way or less. Dodge dealership said it was the BCM but I sent it in for repair and it still does the same thing. Battery was replaced in the remotes. Have disconnected battery to try and reset. Checked switches for bad connections.
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Wednesday, November 28th, 2018 AT 6:07 PM

25 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
Do all four act the same way at the same time? Where they only partially lock/unlock? Does this happen using the remotes or any lock switch? Do the power windows operate properly in all doors?
There is a single wire that controls the locking for all the doors, it is the light green wire. If that wire has a bad connection your locks will not get the signal properly. What do you have for a scan tool?
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Monday, December 3rd, 2018 AT 6:56 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,536 POSTS
Hello,

It sounds like you have a weak door module or a bad ground. Here is a guide to help us check the grounds and 12 volts at fuses #144, 124, 123:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-wiring

Here are the door lock wiring diagrams and the fuse locations as well.

Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.

Cheers, Ken
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Monday, December 3rd, 2018 AT 6:59 PM
Tiny
BEAUGRANBOIS
  • MEMBER
  • 12 POSTS
Most of the time they do all act the same, but sometimes it seems like just the drivers door will unlock or the other three will unlock or lock. Power windows and everything else in the vehicle work as they should. It really seems like they’re just not getting enough voltage to fully lock and unlock. It happens with both the switches and key fob. I am sending the BCM in again to have it looked over again. They did say that they repaired hardware in it but other faulty components could have caused it. I have also heard that the TIPM in these vehicles are a known fail component but was rejected for recall. And the nicest scan tool I have is an OTC Scanpro Elite.
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Monday, December 3rd, 2018 AT 7:40 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
Okay, I am not sure if that tool can see the data for the locks or not. I do not believe it will. In your case the TIPM probably is not the culprit as the other items work and they use the same power feeds. However, you may want to verify the fuses. Bad grounds are common but the door modules use two different ground connections so a bad ground would cause an issue with two doors but probably not all four. I also doubt it is the modules themselves all failing at once. It sounds more like a power issue.
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 AT 9:33 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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If it is the TIPM they can be replaced without that much work because they self initialize.
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 AT 10:44 AM
Tiny
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I just noticed that when I am going down the road or highway, the locks seem to work better. They still have an issue and it seems to work better if I unlock then lock the doors. Could a bad drivers door actuator cause the rest to act up like that?
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Thursday, December 6th, 2018 AT 4:19 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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It should not but a bad/loose wire will. A bad ground to the drivers door module could cause erratic signals to the other modules. The grounds are typically under the front seats. Right where water and crud collect.
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Thursday, December 6th, 2018 AT 10:16 PM
Tiny
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Hey Ken. Fuses 122 and 123 both have good power and ground. 133 says it is a spare fuse and I could find power but not a ground on it. It also did not have a fuse in it.
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Friday, December 7th, 2018 AT 9:04 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Sorry 144 was the fuse I made a mistake. Can you check it?
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Friday, December 7th, 2018 AT 9:13 AM
Tiny
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Checked all fuses in the vehicle and all are good.
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Friday, December 7th, 2018 AT 9:25 AM
Tiny
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144 has power and ground but the ground flickers off sometimes when I lock the doors.
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Friday, December 7th, 2018 AT 9:32 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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No ground at fuse 144, it feeds power to the BCM, but if you are seeing it flicker it could be a bad fuse socket or the BCM ground it corroded.
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Friday, December 7th, 2018 AT 1:27 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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Can you take a picture or video of the ground you speak of? Power only at the fuse. You can upload the video in your response.
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Saturday, December 8th, 2018 AT 10:15 AM
Tiny
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Hey Steve W. Do you happen to know where the light green wire is that controls all of the locks? I swapped out the TIPM with another unit and the problem remained. Also if anyone can tell me if they know where the grounds are for the door lock system and the BCM ground. Right before Christmas all of the locks started working and did everything like they was suppose to. I was happy but didn’t think it would last long. It lasted for two days and went back to the way it was before. Next I’m going to start pulling lock actuators and checking for frayed wires, damage or anything that looks like it might be causing it. I would like to check the grounds if anyone has any info on locations that would be very helpful. Thank you again.
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Saturday, December 29th, 2018 AT 10:11 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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It looks like you have a large ground under the passenger's seat. Let's look there first.
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Sunday, December 30th, 2018 AT 11:48 AM
Tiny
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Sorry. I’ve already looked under both seats awhile back when I was checking fuses. I’ll take a look again.
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Sunday, December 30th, 2018 AT 12:17 PM
Tiny
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There is a small wiring harness that comes from the seat. I found a couple lugs under the carpet right in the middle under the seat but there wasn’t anything attached to either of them. I will take a little more time Wednesday when I go back to work and can pull the seats in a heated shop, it’s about twenty degrees out right now.
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Sunday, December 30th, 2018 AT 2:18 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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Oh good call, cold is rough to work in. Let us know.
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Monday, December 31st, 2018 AT 10:46 AM
Tiny
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  • MEMBER
  • 12 POSTS
I pulled both of the front seats and found both ground lugs. When removing them a lot of systems went out like windows, interior lights, locks, and others. I cleaned and reinstalled both sides, problem is still the same. I also messed with the wiring harnesses coming off of the ground, push, pull, squeezed and moved them around when pushing the locks to see if maybe there was a frayed or broken wire but nothing changed. The area around the grounds was also clean and dry. I think my next step will be going into the lock and pulling the lock actuators and looking for any issues on them. I was going to start with the drivers. Can anyone tell my if everything goes through the drivers lock to the rest of the locks? Or if the drivers lock would keep the rest from acting properly? Thanks again.
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Thursday, January 3rd, 2019 AT 10:42 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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It sounds like the BCM is bad and the guys looking at it are missing it. To be sure lets scan the CAN. This video shows how. If the BCM comes up bad you will need to have it programmed unless you get a used/rebuilt unit. Should cost about $130.00 for the programming.

https://youtu.be/InIlnsjOVFA

Check out the diagrams (below) for the BCM locations. Please let us know what you find.
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Thursday, January 3rd, 2019 AT 12:32 PM

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