Electric door locks seized on 2000 Sonata

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard Steinfeld
  • Start date Start date
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Richard Steinfeld

I have twice experienced bizarre electrical seizing of my door
locks. Issues follow:

1. The driver's door will not unlock with the key.
2. Unlocking the passenger door (which typically unlocks all the
car doors) can't be done. As soon as the key is released, all the
locks slam latched.
2. The passenger door can only be unlocked by rotating and
holding the key in the "open" position and, while the key is
held, pulling on the door handle. This allows the passenger door
to be opened.
3. The driver's door may then be opened with the inside latch.

Today, this happened for the second time. I noticed that the
driver's door latch lever was not fully in its "closed" position.
In recent years, this latch has been a bit sluggish.

The problem seems to duplicate the "all doors latched" momentary
switch as if it were continuously pressed. I was wondering if the
switch button was sticking on some material in the arm rest, but
it doesn't feel like it's binding on anything.

The last time this happened, it seemed to me that the battery had
been partially drained. My car radio's stupid reset alarm was
beeping, and I found that three of the computer's drive cycle
monitors were showing an incomplete condition. So, it would sure
seem that this door lock issue had run the system voltage so low
to cause these malfunctions.

I gave the battery a short charge, and everything was normal
after that. Today, the car started normally after I managed to
enter it.

A good one for Click and Clack, huh?

Ideas?
 
I have twice experienced bizarre electrical seizing of my door
locks. Issues follow:

1. The driver's door will not unlock with the key.
2. Unlocking the passenger door (which typically unlocks all the
car doors) can't be done. As soon as the key is released, all the
locks slam latched.
2. The passenger door can only be unlocked by rotating and
holding the key in the "open" position and, while the key is
held, pulling on the door handle. This allows the passenger door
to be opened.
3. The driver's door may then be opened with the inside latch.

Today, this happened for the second time. I noticed that the
driver's door latch lever was not fully in its "closed" position.
In recent years, this latch has been a bit sluggish.

The problem seems to duplicate the "all doors latched" momentary
switch as if it were continuously pressed. I was wondering if the
switch button was sticking on some material in the arm rest, but
it doesn't feel like it's binding on anything.

The last time this happened, it seemed to me that the battery had
been partially drained. My car radio's stupid reset alarm was
beeping, and I found that three of the computer's drive cycle
monitors were showing an incomplete condition. So, it would sure
seem that this door lock issue had run the system voltage so low
to cause these malfunctions.

I gave the battery a short charge, and everything was normal
after that. Today, the car started normally after I managed to
enter it.

A good one for Click and Clack, huh?

Ideas?
Click to expand...

The issue is in the latch on the driver's door. As it seems to come
and go, it may just be a lubrication issue. To lubricate well, you'll
need to remove the door trim panel.

A similar issue that won't fix itself often occurs when a spring on
the latch breaks. Given the age of your vehicle, it may be a better
idea to just go ahead and replace the latch now. If it's broken for
good, it becomes much harder to open the door.
 
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