Drivers door wouldn't open!

[Scooby]

Yesterday morning I went out to the truck and hit the unlock button on my remote twice to unlock all four doors. I open the back door, put something in and then find my drivers door still locked. I hit the remote again - nothing. I lock and unlock the doors with the remote - again my door is the only one that won't open! I insert the key - and it won't budge!



Short story is I enter through passenger side and drive directly to dealer. Service guy was nice and dropped me off at work (1 mile away). Apparently they replaced the entire door handle/lock mechanism. They said it must have been some defect, but since it is a sealed unit, they can't tell why it broke. I was surprised it was a sealed, single unit. It works now.

 

[KevinO]

Had the same problem the driver door is has a different controller from the others that is why one push unlocks it then second on controller unlocks rest of doors. Mine was energized all the time and i couldn't unlock it even with the key. Pull the door handle inside and door would unlock and lock as soon as let go of the handle. Must be a bad controller mechanism.

 

[NSperduto]

Had the same problem the driver door is has a different controller from the others that is why one push unlocks it then second on controller unlocks rest of doors. .

Actually, I think that function is part of the computer remote, I had mine reprogrammed by the dealer to unlock all the doors on the first push of the remote.



Nick

 

[txhawg]

Actually, I think that function is part of the computer remote, I had mine reprogrammed by the dealer to unlock all the doors on the first push of the remote.



Nick

Nick,



The procedure to do this is outlined in the owners manual in the power lock section. I re-programmed mine to unlock all 4 with one push.

 

[hasselbach]

mine did the same thing, I took the part apart and it was jamed up inside. . new part has revised part number. .

 

[Scooby]

These were all the driver's door only, eh? Odd.



Nice collection of toys hasselbach!

 

[Rotty]

My drivers door just did the same thing. Called dealer and we will see what they do to fix it.

 

[ClintWilliams]

Same thing happened to me, it goes into the dealer today. Glad to see that others have had the exact problem, I was starting to think that I was special! This is the only problem I've had in 8,000 miles.

 

[Rotty]

Clint, Yours broke at 8k, mine broke at 1800 miles and 2 weeks of ownership. :#@$%!



I have already told the dealership if this continues I want a new 2005 free of charge.

 

[SamPap]

The same happened to me @ 12K.



I drove 15 miles from home to a meeting. I was late and drove hard. I pulled up and let the truck idle for a few minutes before I would shut it down. When I pulled on the door handle... ... ... ... ... nothing happened. All the doors were locked except for the drivers door, but the exterior handle did not open the door.



Luckily, I was able to borrow a car from a coworker and drive home and get the spare key(while my truck idled).



Took to dealer and they diagnosed the door lock actuator in the drivers door to be the problem. Took 1 week to get the part. Then they improperly installed the connecting rod from the handle to the actuator and it failed again. 3rd trip to the dealer... ... ... . finally got it fixed. PITA experience.

 

[Rotty]

Well, my baby if fixed! Oo.

The dealer fixed it no charge after they ordered new parts.

I almost got caught a couple of times being locked out.

The worst time was went I went to open my gate on my property, got out, closed the door, open gate, went to open drivers door, OH sh... . )*(&$%#%@# :{

full tank of diesel, engine ideling, lock out. :--) .

Hey I made a home depot key I can go unlock the pasenger side and get in...

What the fudge... . no passenger key hole in door, damn DC and there cost cutting measures... .

Now what the heck do I do????

Spare key fob is 300 miles away, it is saturday night,

Hey, driver window is slightly down, well i finally reach in with and roll down window and the unlock door.

 

[ClintWilliams]

Rotty, I carry my fob in one pocket and the key in the other just because of the situation you experienced. I've locked my keys in so many times I have to do something to keep from doing it again. Normally I carry a spare key but the electronic keys are expensive to duplicate and they are too bulky to put in my wallet.



My dealer fixed my door with no problems after ordering the parts.

 

[Rotty]

I actually had a home depot key made so If I lock my keys in the truck I can still open the door. This home depot key is NOT an electronic key, but just a regular key. It still turns over the engine but it will not start the engine the engine without the electronic part nearby. I know because I tried it right after I made the key.

This spare key is only for opening the truck and nothing else.



The real problem seems that when the electronic mechanism fails in the drivers door, it jams the outside key action and the top of the door "pull to unlock door" and the only way you are going to open the door is from the inside door handle.

My truck also has a feature when you go more that 5 mph, all doors lock. Nice feature, but it can get you into trouble when other things fail.

I will get with the dealership mechanic here in the near future and find out exactly what happened.

The dealership is Urness Motors, Dalles, Oregon and they have been very upstanding from the very beginning from selling me the truck to fixing a infant mortality failed part.

 

[JKolterman]

Mine did it last night with 4400 miles. Took it to the dealer, who naturally had to order the parts. The mechanic disabled the mechanism so I could unlock the door with the key, but it still locks automatically when the key is released. still can't open it from the inside, so I have to crawl out the pas. side.

 

[DCornelius]

Happened to me last night. I can still open the door with the inside handle, but you can feel the resistance. I have an appointment with my dealership for in the morning. I have the window down with the truck in the garage so I can get in the truck. I took the inside door panel off, but didn't want to mess with the plastic liner. So, I'll let the dealership fix it.



Hate to hear that the dealerships have had to order the parts. I have several TSB's I want done, so I guess I'll just leave it with them. I still have my Durango!!!



David

 

[DFrank]

The locking all doors at 5 mph can be eliminated. I forget if the dealer needs to program it or if you can do it by following steps in the manual, but I had mine "fixed".

 

[nickleinonen]

What the fudge... . no passenger key hole in door, damn DC and there cost cutting measures... .

Now what the heck do I do????

anti theft feature that is, not a cost cutting measure [although it probably works that way too]... harder to break into a car from the drivers side when parked on a street [if the pass side has no lock to break into from]...



i haven't had any problems with locking myself out... and i had a key cut that is a plain no electronics key that is in my wallet all the time so if i do get locked out, i have access... .



i've used that keyhole on the drivers door once only, and that was to check if they key i had cut works to open the door. . that's it. remote does it for me...

 

[NSperduto]

no passenger key hole in door, damn DC and there cost cutting measures... .

Now what the heck do I do????

It's not just DC, my 2000 windstar has no keyhole on the passenger door either.



Nick

 

[DGStrate]

Count me in! My driver's side door handle gave up the ghost at about 21k miles... Same thing... would not open from outside, had to sneak an arm inside from rear door and pull internal handle to release. Same fix too... replace assembly, no reason given...

 

[2Gen3Gen]

With this in mind, my last 2 trucks, 04 and 04. 5 don't have a key lock on the passenger side. A buddy of mine has a 03 and he has a key lock on the passenger side. Im confused! What if... . the clicker and the key lock goes FUBAR and Im in the middle of no where???? Anyone else have the no key on passenger side?