Electric door locks seized on 2000 Sonata

I have twice experienced bizarre electrical seizing of my door locks. Issues follow:

  1. The driver's door will not unlock with the key.
  2. Unlocking the passenger door (which typically unlocks all the car doors) can't be done. As soon as the key is released, all the locks slam latched.
  3. The passenger door can only be unlocked by rotating and holding the key in the "open" position and, while the key is held, pulling on the door handle. This allows the passenger door to be opened.
  4. The driver's door may then be opened with the inside latch.

Today, this happened for the second time. I noticed that the driver's door latch lever was not fully in its "closed" position. In recent years, this latch has been a bit sluggish.

The problem seems to duplicate the "all doors latched" momentary switch as if it were continuously pressed. I was wondering if the switch button was sticking on some material in the arm rest, but it doesn't feel like it's binding on anything.

The last time this happened, it seemed to me that the battery had been partially drained. My car radio's stupid reset alarm was beeping, and I found that three of the computer's drive cycle monitors were showing an incomplete condition. So, it would sure seem that this door lock issue had run the system voltage so low to cause these malfunctions.

I gave the battery a short charge, and everything was normal after that. Today, the car started normally after I managed to enter it.

A good one for Click and Clack, huh?

Ideas?

Reply to
Richard Steinfeld
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The issue is in the latch on the driver's door. As it seems to come and go, it may just be a lubrication issue. To lubricate well, you'll need to remove the door trim panel.

A similar issue that won't fix itself often occurs when a spring on the latch breaks. Given the age of your vehicle, it may be a better idea to just go ahead and replace the latch now. If it's broken for good, it becomes much harder to open the door.

Reply to
hyundaitech

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