This is a 2001 Astro Van with about 60k miles that is displaying
increasingly unreliable performance with the power door locks, power
windows and rear cargo door latch.
It started some time ago -- maybe as long ago as 18 months -- with the
rear cargo door latch. Basically, you'd have to push it two to four
times before it would successfully unlock the door. It would click, but
it was like it wouldn't move enough to totally unlatch it.
Then, the passenger side window stopped going down reliably. It will
move a few inches, then stop. If you wait several seconds and push the
button again, it will go down a bit more, etc. It appears that the
longer you wait between pushes, the more it goes down with each push,
but it never goes down more than a few inches at a time.
Finally, the power door locks stopped working for all doors. Like the
rear latch, you can hear stuff clicking in each door, but the locks
don't move enough to actually lock.
As for the rear cargo door, it also got worse as time went by and now
it won't open at all, no matter how much you fiddle with it.
There are no more problems with power accessories that I'm aware of.
All the fuses in the fuse box check OK.
My guess is all of this is related. I'm horrible about just living with
little problems until they become big problems.
Anyway, any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Mark Sparge - 02 Aug 2006 16:33 GMT
> This is a 2001 Astro Van with about 60k miles that is displaying
> increasingly unreliable performance with the power door locks, power
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance.
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It's at least possible that all of the problems are completely
unrelated. The passenger window could just have a tired motor (or dry,
binding tracks) BUT, it's at least possible that the door lock and
passenger window problems are related, and due to worn wires in the
bundle that enters the drivers door.
Power window power for the passenger side is routed through the switch
in the drivers door, as is the power for the door locks.
The rear tailgate problem is different. First -- will it open with the
key? If so, the solenoid is OK and there's an electrical problem
between somewhere between the switch and the door (good luck) <grin>.
If not, it could still be a bad solenoid, but I'd probably suspect
mis-adjusted latch mechanism(s).
Let us know what you find,
Mark
1994 Astro with 270K miles
Mike Marlow - 02 Aug 2006 17:05 GMT
> > This is a 2001 Astro Van with about 60k miles that is displaying
> > increasingly unreliable performance with the power door locks, power
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
> passenger window problems are related, and due to worn wires in the
> bundle that enters the drivers door.
My first thought when reading the OP was that the symptoms seemed quite
related. I think I'd have the BCM investigated.

Signature
-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net
Mark Sparge - 02 Aug 2006 21:41 GMT
> My first thought when reading the OP was that the symptoms seemed quite
> related. I think I'd have the BCM investigated.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> -Mike-
> mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net
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Yeah, that might be. My core of experience comes from a '94 Astro,
which was pre-BCM.
Thanks for the update.
Mark
Mike Marlow - 02 Aug 2006 22:55 GMT
> > My first thought when reading the OP was that the symptoms seemed quite
> > related. I think I'd have the BCM investigated.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Thanks for the update.
Don't rush to thank my thinking - it was a stab.

Signature
-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net
grappletech - 02 Aug 2006 20:12 GMT
midwestmotocross@yahoo.com wrote in news:1154521952.152203.83250
@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
> This is a 2001 Astro Van with about 60k miles that is displaying
> increasingly unreliable performance with the power door locks, power
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance.
Was there a chance this van was in a flood? Perhaps the relays are bad.
midwestmotocross@yahoo.com - 03 Aug 2006 15:30 GMT
> Was there a chance this van was in a flood? Perhaps the relays are bad.
There's certainly a chance. It is a 2001 that was bought used in 2003
from a dealer with about 35k on it. They didn't say it was in a flood,
and I didn't know what to look for -- is there anything I could check
for that?
If it helps, all the issues have gotten progressively worse. In other
words, the switches, etc., didn't just go bad. They started to take one
or two extra attempts to actuate until they just click but don't make
anything happen.
The more I think about it and the more I research it a bit, I'm
wondering if perhaps the power window motor is unrelated (it seems like
those do go bad on these from time to time and exhibit the symptoms
that mine has) but that the door locks are.