Door lock stems not always going fully up/down
 

Recently some of my door lock stems don't seem to be going all the way up or down when I lock or unlock the car. Yesterday I saw my driver's side door lock stem sticking up so I assumed the car was unlocked. So I opened the door and the alarm went off, indicating that I had locked it remotely but the lock stem didn't go all the way down. So far it has been happening with the driver's door and the passenger side rear door locks that are having this problem.

Has anyone else had this issue? I'm way past warranty so I need to try and fix this myself. It's almost as if the servo motors are too weak to push or pull the stems. Unless there is something in the door that is binding them from moving. I was going to try lubrication next, but I don't want to have to open up the door unless I absolutely have to.

I had this issue, but the battery on my remote was dead, the knob was in the halfway position, and the key wouldn't budge it. This is when I discovered there is only 1 door with a key latch, and I had to call in the road service folks to open the door, which GM covered ( they could hav just popped the lock with Onstar, but I did not subscribe.)

I thought ChevyMgr posted something about this issue not too long ago, not sure if it was a TSB or what..... there is some foam down in the shaft area that is causing this if I remeber correctly.


https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...&postcount=150



See if that's the issue. :skull:

Have this problem with my rear passenger door as well. It happens when I try to unlock it only no problem when locking. Suck when I go to unlock it either with the remote of the button on the door I have to unlock the doors twice to get that door unlocked. I to am out of warranty so if you find a fix let me know.

I'm thinking of squirting a tiny bit of WD-40 or white lithium grease into the lock opening.

We're pretty sure this has been discussed on other threads! Our driver side door did the same thing! We removed the knob and lifted the panel just past the rod. We then took a rat tail file and carefully reamed out the hole! Popped the cover back on and re-installed the knob No issues since!

Best-O-Luck :thumb:,

It could be either the interior panel interference or a malfunctioning lock mechanism, mine had both. I think the best way to test it is to remove the interior door panel and try to operate the locks. If it still doesnt work right, then the locking mechanism might need to be replaced.

Or just remove the chrome plastic knob & test it..

Do the knobs screw off?

I'm wondering why this would start happening after 43K miles on the vehicle? How could the interior panel just start interfering? Could it have shifted over time? Warped?

Ours started at about 25,000 miles! Do what "SLEEPER" said though and just un-screw the knob and test :thumb:! If still stuck it's a mechanism issue :twothumbs:!

(P.S. We used a rat tail file and just kinda gently screwed it into the hole "easily" to open it up slightly)!

Best-O-Luck :wink:,