2009 HHR LT -

1) Sometimes, very randomly,when I turn the key to start the car, the driver's door window goes down automatically on its own as if the switch had been depressed.. It won't come up right away. However, turn the car off for a while turn on the key and the window will roll up when the switch is activated.

2) Sometime, very randomly, the driver's side passenger door will not open. Again, wait awhile, perhaps drive to your destination. or try in the morning and the door will open just fine.

Searched the forums under electrical (problems) and windows, looked at 8-9 pages of results and didn't see any posts talking about this problem.

The driver's door window switch assembly was replaced 4-5 months ago. Not experiencing any other electrical issues.

Are the doors electrically operated?

 

Of course the door locks are electric, how else could the driver lock all doors?

Sounds like you have some wires rubbing on bare spots, my first guess would be in the rubber conduit between the door and the body.

 

Why was the door switch replaced ? Same issue as you have now ? Did it work correctly after replacing the switch ? (until now of course )
How long has this current problem been happening ?

 

I didn't say anything about the door locks. I'm asking about the door latch system. What one uses to open the door. Is it electrically operated?

 

The switch was bad when I bought the car in March. It has worked fine and does work fine except when this problem occurs. I'm wondering if there is a thermistor that is weak. That's one idea I've had.

 

The lock is part of the latch. There is a physical rod between the door handle and the latch. The lock is electronic.

The only 2 reasons I can think of the door refusing to open are 1) it is locked 2) something is loose inside the door.

What is a "driver's side passenger door"?

 

LOL, my bad I guess. I meant the driver's side rear door e.g. the one a passenger would use.

Perhaps the locking mechanism on that door isn't fully disengaging. All door lock "posts" come up and all the other doors are unlocked. There is no indication it is locked and it will open sometimes but not other times. Next time it happens I'll try unlocking the doors to see if it frees the door so it will open.

I couldn't imagine how it would be an electrically operated latching mechanism or more to the point why it would have been made that way, but a mechanical system doesn't generally act this randomly.

However, to my question there are some electrical oddities on the HHR, such as the cruise control being linked in with the high mount brake light and our HHRs are known for electrical problems. So I don't think my suspecting an electrical issue so strange.

 

The door locks do get dirty and dusty , the grease drys up and the handles are harder to pull to unlatch the door, lubricant the latch .

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