Power Locks cycling several times

[GregCook]

Our 2008 Saturn Vue will occasionally repeatedly lock the doors when we put the car in reverse or drive. We have also caught it using the key fob to lock the doors one night, you could hear the actuator locking the door several times before it quit on its own.

I do not use the actual door lock switches, so I do not know if the switch can cause it. I do know that both switches to work.

When the car starts to lock the door multiple times, we put the vehicle back in park and the doors all unlock and stop. Placing the vehicle back in reverse or drive cause the doors to lock once like normal.

Any ideas why the doors are trying to lock over and over even though the doors locked successfully the first time?

[gmsuv]

1
Sit in the driver's seat of your vehicle with all the doors closed.

2
Insert your vehicle's key into the ignition. Turn the key to the "RUN" position

3
Press the power door "Unlock" button for 8 to 10 seconds. Your vehicle's horn should sound twice when the auto-lock feature is disabled.

[GregCook]

The car is under warranty and we took it in once already but they were not able to replicate the problem.

Thanks for the reply, but disabling the auto-lock feature won't fix the problem, it just helps us avoid it when putting the car in gear. We have caught the locks cycling using the remote to lock the doors too.

[fdryer]

Can you remove the battery to the remote when driving? Separate the remote from the ignition keys for less fumbling. After entering the car, remove the remote battery and see if the locks stop cycling. Or leave the remote home for the day and use manual locking/unlocking? This may rule out the remote from causing interference.

[GregCook]

Yeah, I can leave the remote home and see if that helps. Will there be any problem using the key to unlock the doors and what not instead of using the remote.

I doubt it will make any difference however. The locks have not exhibited any problem unless we actually take an action that should lock the doors.

The door locks do not cycle randomly while driving or simply parked and running. It only happens when shifting from park to reverse or drive or actually pressing the lock button on the remote fob.

My leading theories are either a bad actuator in the door or a bad relay that is sticking and causing the actuators to activate several times.

[fdryer]

Originally Posted by GregCook

Yeah, I can leave the remote home and see if that helps. Will there be any problem using the key to unlock the doors and what not instead of using the remote.....

Having the remote is not an absolute necessity for locking/unlocking doors. What you might not have is the factory theft deterrent that activates/deactivates with the remote. Manually locking/unlocking doors by ignition key/door switch remains the same.

By not using the remote you narrow down the possibilities of intermittent door lock cycling to either the door lock/unlock switches or the body control module. The bcm is programmed for many functions including remote use and auto door lock/unlock. If you find that either the remote or door lock/unlock switches aren't causing this then the bcm will be an expensive replacement.

[GregCook]

I am not worried about the BCM replacement if I can diagnose this problem and replicate it reliably for the dealership.

We still have 20 months or 30000+ thousand miles on our certified warranty when we bought this car this past July.

The dealer already reprogrammed a computer to resolve a transmission shifting issue under warranty this past Tuesday, but could not reproduce the lock issue. I want to thoroughly investigate this problem and what does and does not cause the problem before I go back up there. I am determined to get this fixed before the warranty runs out on us.

Alright, here is my plan. I will use the instructions above to disable the auto locks and then leave the remote at home. This way, only the key and the door switches are used to lock / unlock the doors. That will prove the actuators work normally and the switches work normally. If they act up, then it will help narrow in on the failing parts.

Thanks for the information and I will report back after this weekend when I take it on a short road trip (200 miles).

[fdryer]

I'm not 100% sure but I think auto locking/unlocking is set in bcm programming, not the remotes, and cannot be disabled. Check with your owner's manual if there's a way to disable auto lock/unlock.