Sorry, I mixed problems and threads I'll stick to the door lock problem with this thread.

First, thanks for all your help. Its sounds like when I bought the car in 2000 the RKE was programed to factory defaults. Hopefully I can find someone who can reprogram it.

I'm lucky for now that things are easily managed with the Security/door locks. Here's what I do: while exiting the car I lock all the doors with the lock button on the drivers side door, close the door, then I press the lock button on the fob and the security system is activated (security blinking on dash). When I come back to the car I press the unlock button on the fob and the drivers side door (only) unlocks and the security system is deactivated, if I need to unlock any other doors I have to press the unlock button on the inside of the driver or passenger door.
I do have complete control of the door locks from either the driver or passenger doors. But to activate/deactivate the security system I have to use the fob lock/unlock buttons.

 

The door locks mystically fixed themselves and everything worked as advertised for about a week. But now everything works fine except I have no electrical control of the passenger side door lock. The electrical door lock button on the passenger side works for all other doors except the one it's attached to. Bottom line now is that all the doors locks work fine with the FOB and electrical door lock buttons except I have to manually lock and unlock the passenger side door. This is hard to trouble shoot because every scenario keeps changing.

 

If that part of the BCM has corrupt info in it, the scenario will likely keep changing, unless you know that single switch is suspect. If the lock on that door is controllable via the RKE fob, I would just take i in and get it reprogrammed

 

I think I have narrowed down the problem with the door locks. I think it is the passenger side door lock actuator. All the door locks work with the FOB and on door lock buttons except the passenger side door lock. The security system is also working fine. The door lock button on the passenger side is also working with all doors with the exception of the passenger side door lock. I think the passenger side door lock actuator finally quit altogether. I think it might of been causing the door lock electrical issues I've been having as I have no more of the strange issues as before. Any thoughts or more suggestions? I'm leaving the BCM as a last resort. Thanks.

 

worth an inside panel removal (I believe) and some Voltmeter fun. Could even compare w other front door actuator.

 

thanks derf. I checked both doors for continuity and voltage at the door buttons and the actuators. Got 12 volts at the door buttons and continuity was good. Got 12 volts at the actuators when the FOB was engaged and continuity was good.

Everything works fine except the passenger side door will not unlock electrically. I'm not thinking BCM anymore. I would think there would be more wrong with the door locks, as when the problem initially started if it were the BCM. Anymore thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Maybe one of the rods is slightly bent and it's just not allowing the lock to release. You may want to check that. You can bend them and adjust them, you know.

 

Along the "non-electrical causes" line of thought, when the spring that returns the outer door handle to the down tucked in position broke on one of the doors on my 95 SC2, , if I forgot to push it back down manually

a) the door would not physically latch shut
b) if I tried to lock the power locks without putting down the handle all the way (far enough to close the door but not all the way down), the power lock switch would start moving in the lock direction, then stop (meeting mechanical resistance I assume), then pop back to the unlocked position.

Changing back to electrical issues: You may have continuity and proper V where you expect it to be -- but how much CURRENT is flowing? That actuator (which I an guessing is just a solenoid interfaced to a wound coil with a hollow core center that has a magnetic rod in it---think Bendix on a starter). Even if the solenoid is getting V to close its contacts and send current through the coil, which moves the magnetic rod and locks/unlock, [those solenoid contacts may not be closing] OR [the rod itself may be sticking mechanically (think Bendix not engaging on starter and not pushing rod with gear into position against flywheel gears)] OR the coil may be open circuit and thus no current and therefore no rod movement. Meaning dead actuator.

I've never opened one of these actuators -- the above is speculation.

But since you can freely lock and unlock by hand, I believe the rods are likely ok unless the manual locking/unlocking is physically difficult and indicates otherwise.

I'll go out on a limb and say the timing of the death of that actuator had to do with all the lock/unlock cycles during testing with that actuator already being marginal.

Don't know if the pass rear door has the same actuator --if it does, just remove it and plug it into the front and start fobbing.

If you decide to test my theory, please come back and let us know the outcome. Being wrong is just as important as being right when you're learning something.

 

Hello, all.

This is my first post to the forums and I realize that this is a very old thread, but I know nothing about the Saturn SL series's remote door lock/unlock.

Let me get this out of the way first: I am completely clueless when it comes to cars, especially where electronics are concerned. Second, I have a disability that makes it impossible for me to do any physical work that may be required, so I'm looking for solutions so that I can print-out the steps necessary to troubleshoot this and have one of my friends attempt to repair it. Also please forgive me if the steps and methods have been listed but my knowledge of the technical terms used is at or less-than zero.

All that all being said, my car is a 1997 Saturn SL2. Obviously, its 20 years old and is in near-pristine condition with only 114K miles on it. It isn't fully loaded but it isn't a bare-bones model, either. I bought this car over ten years ago and don't ever recall having a remote key fob. But today, as I was cleaning out some drawers, I found my spare key and it did indeed have the fob attached.

So, setting aside for the moment that the fob battery is twenty years old, I tried to use it and nothing happened (as was expected.) I realize that replacing the battery is the first step, but beyond that, what steps are recommended next? Once I've replaced the battery and assuming that the 5-7 second sync fails, if I replace the fob, should it automatically work and if not, what steps are necessary for reprogramming? There are very few dealerships where I live and none of them have wanted to touch the car when I've taken it in for various reasons. If a new replacement fob fails to resolve the issue, what should I look at next? And, if all relays and fuses are in working order, is it possible that the signal receiver itself is no good?

Obviously, as a 20-year-old car with a likely value of under $1000, I can't justify spending money on an expensive replacement part.

Any thoughts? And thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and try to help me resolve this.

 

see "S" Series RKE Remote and Option Programing - SaturnFans.com Forums

(no need to retype).

This explains the basic sync as well as the options for horn chirps or lack thereof if you don't like the default horn chirp settings. Takes a paperclip. a couple of button pushes, and you're done for the basic synch. And the key if you want to change chirps

You can also purchase additional fobs but if you do, per Wolfman's writeup, you need to reprogram the old one and the new one together at the same time. Just like reprogramming a rolling code garage door opener to connect to the home base (not exactly but close)