azjaybird

Hello, I have a 2013 Express 3500 with 6.0 motor. The past month or 2, when I'm driving, the power door locks are constantly locking (at least they just seem to be locking only, not unlocking). It seems very erratic, sometimes it does it while I'm at a stoplight, most of the time it does it when I'm driving at all various speeds, seems like there's no rhyme or reason why or when it's doing it. I've adjusted the settings to the left of the steering wheel to disable as much as I can and also tried returning to factory settings and it still does it. Sometimes it's not too bad and sometimes it's constant, doing it every couple seconds for a minute straight, almost undrivable because it's so annoying. Any idea where I could/should look first?

Also, I'm thinking they may be related problems, not for sure, but my shifter on the steering column feels kind of funny. When I go to shift in Reverse or Drive for example, it doesn't seem like it's fully sitting firmly in the groove where I want it to be. I kind of have to wiggle it a fraction of an inch to get it to fully engage into Drive or Reverse if that makes sense. I have a couple other Express vans and when you shift them into Drive or Reverse, etc, you can tell what gear they're in. They bite on the gear and the shifter itself is firmly seated in Drive or whatever gear I've selected. It's kind of like there's some play in the shifter or something. Again, I don't know if these are related problems, but it seems like it would make sense that if the truck doesn't know if it's in Drive or Neutral, it could keep trying to lock the doors over and over like it's doing now, I don't know, just a thought. Transmission itself shifts perfectly, no slipping or slamming into gears, it's just the shifter itself that feels like it's off or not operating properly. I've taken the clamshell apart and didn't see any bushings that looked like they were worn out or anything, I was thinking it probably needed a new shift mechanism? If so, not sure if that would require me to get a new ignition lock cylinder as well and possibly have to get a new key made and all that stuff as well?

I do have keyless entry and it operates like it should, but the erratic locking is driving me crazy. I appreciate all the help! Electric stuff is definitely not my strength

Triaged

I don't have any help for you as these electrical gremlins can be quite frustrating, I do however have a funny story to go along with your problems. My wife complained about the same issue. I took it out for a drive and realized it would happen at any little bump. She had some junk crammed in the back that would bump against the lock switch. I moved the junk and the problem went away...

Derrick71

The first and easiest thing I would look at would be the switches and wiring in the doors. If there's a short in the wiring it could do that as contact is made and broken. Pull the door panels and inspect the wiring for chafing. The switches on my 2011 have three wires. Light blue (hot) dark blue (hot) black (ground). If the light blue wire grounds to the body anywhere along the harness the doors will lock.

I haven't had any of the switches apart so I don't know how they would default if one failed. You might also try unplugging them all and see if the problem goes away. You should be able to do that without removing the door panels. If it goes away replace one at a time until the problem comes back.