The electric door locks on my 2000 SL2 started "spazing" on me a while back. There would be a repeated clicking sound coming from inside one door or the other.
The front drivers side electronic lock no longer works, either off the button or off the remote. It works by hand just fine.
Also all of a sudden the trunk release lock no longer works off the remote. Key and physical remote are OK.
The lock-unlock rocker switch on the driver's door clearly has an issue. When pushed one way or the other it does not "return" to neutral.

Clearly the drivers door switch needs to be replaced. It is no longer available from GM. I will try a wrecker. Is this likely to be a centralized issue or am I going to have to dig into the door(s) to fix things. Any guesstimates or helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hold your horses on the switch. This sounds more like a flaky BCM to me. I'm not a mechanic, though. Maybe derf (forum S series guru) will chime in and either confirm or deny my thought. I'd try simply unplugging the BCM connector, use a good electrical contact cleaner on the plug and connector and then plug and unplug it several times to "sweep" the contacts clean. Of course, you'll want to disconnect the battery ground cable first. Watch this video by richpin and he will show you what to do to replace it.

 

Sounds like a few things.

1) the contacts inside of your remote need to be cleaned. A small rubber protrusion from the underside of the button eventually creates enough build up that the actual contact does not get properly depressed.

Open the remote. Remove the battery. You should see, after removing the plastic overlay, three or four small square metal sections on the circuit board.

Use a pencil eraser, one that is not dried out, to gently rub each of these pads until they are clean and shiny. Blow away all of the little nubs of crap you just created. Be sure to reassemble the remote correctly so that the rubber pads are above the squares.

You should now have a fully functional remote.
If not, gently open the remote again and remove the circuit board. Inspect the edges where the circuit board contacts the actual housing of the case.

Sometimes little sections of that ledge break off. If enough of it is broken off, the circuit board will shift downward in that direction when you push a button instead of the button itself being triggered. You can put a small amount of anything non conductive on the missing area that keeps the board from moving.

2) that door lock chattering can be caused by a failing BCM. It can also be caused by a bad ground.

That is a sound I always get as I am removing or reattaching the negative battery cable, so you may wish to check that connection for corrosion and tightness.

3) the door open close rocker switch is indeed broken. You can find one in a yard. I cannot remember if the left and right are identical. Meaning just the switch part. I think the button shape is a mirror that image of the other side but a visual check will tell you whether or not you have twice as many options at the yard.

That switch module actually sits inside of the handle assembly. You need to slide it one way or the other, I can't remember which, to unlock tangs and be able to remove it from the door. It won't move far because the rods attached to the manual open close switch are still attached. I've never tried to change a switch with it still attached so I don't know if there is enough room to get the switch out of the cup assembly that holds it. It's a lot easier to just remove the clips for the upper and lower rod and work on the assembly disconnected from the car. Inspect the back of the assembly to see how to release the switch section from the rest of it. plug and Play on the replacement.

I found it interesting that you discussed only the two front doors being involved. Is this correct or are the back doors also involved.

Getting a hold of a wiring diagram for this may also be helpful if you have to go hunting for bad grounds.

For the record it's the door lock actuators that are chattering, not the actual switch. But it is unlikely that several of them would stop working at exactly the same time unless it has to do with how they are wired.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I KNOW the door switch is bad, a physical fault. The buttons do not FEEL right and do not return to neutral after use. I blew them out with a can of keyboard cleaner compressed air and that helped a bit. That does not mean the module (which I never heard of before)isn't bad so that is a good thing to check. THANKS.

By the way, Oreilley's had the door switch. $22. Beats pick and pull on a hot day.

 

I am starting to think that this BCM thing is going to be a thing. I am now getting a "trunk open" idiot light on the dash board at all times when the ignition is turned on, and the alarm will not arm up properly. I get the good old 3-beeps when I try to arm it. Does anybody have any actual experience at switching out the BCM? The above video was very helpful, but "talking" to somebody with some been-there done-that time is sometimes reassuring to someone such as myself whose heavy technical expertise ended in about the 1972 model year.

 

I've never done it on a Saturn, but I have swapped them out in a Mitsubishi Diamante Wagon and a Dodge Grand Caravan that I had in the past. Very simple procedure. I could not explain it any better than richpin does in his video. Just remember that the removal of the ground cable and letting the car sit for 30 minutes is very important. I did this with both of my vehicles and all was good. Oh, you also want to make sure that the BCM you replace it with is the right number.

 

Sounds like you need to re-set your security system. Also what codes does the BCM display?

 

No idea. I have no idea how to check without disassembly of the top of the dash board. Also the drivers side door lock switch is DEFINITELY physically defective. I am hoping that once I fix that some of these problems will correct themselves. It can't be that hard to replace the switch and maybe take off the door panel and see if there is anything grossly wrong inside. Hope to do that in the next few days, when it is cool enough I don't fry my brain working on the car.

 

I believe there is a screw which goes through the inner door panel near the side view mirror. Actually through the mirror mount and then through the door interior panel. You do not want to loosen everything else and then pull on this thinking it's just stuck. If you tear the hole it's a pain in the *** to deal with, the mirror never stays tight, and the trim never stays in place on the inside.

Dude, I thought you'd left us. Lurking... Lurking.... it's all good.

 

UPDATE: I got the drivers door electrical switch replaced with no problem. Also no effect. This is where I am now.

Drivers side front electrical door switch has no effect on anything.
Passenger side front electrical door switch has no effect on anything.
If I hit the remote one time it does NOT unlock the drivers side door. If I hit it twice it DOES unlock all doors (except the drivers door).
The remote will NOT lock any doors at any time.
The manual door locks on both front doors work just fine for both lock and unlock.
Manual door locks on both rear doors work just fine for both lock and unlock.
The remote will NOT unlock and open the trunk, though the remote hand able and key lock both work just fine.
I sometimes get a TRUNK OPEN signal even when the trunk is definitely NOT open.
I have not yet taken the drivers door panel off, that will be my next step, maybe tomorrow AM.

ANYBODY WITH ANY FURTHER TIPS, THEY WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

It looks like the BCM is still available on the aftermarket for about $325. I still may end up going in that direction.