Hey, hoping someone has had a similar problem.

I have a 1999 Tahoe 2 Door I recently bought. It’s a nice clean ride, but I have a door lock problem I’m trying to figure out.

The door locks don’t cycle. I can hit any of the three lock buttons (either front door or cargo area button) and get the same result. They budge like they want to lock but won’t lock.

The kicker is manually locking the doors is very difficult.

I don’t have a remote. The ignition cylinder must’ve been replaced at some point and the key doesn’t have a microchip on it, which may or may not be relevant, but thought I would mention it. Truck runs absolutely perfect, no issues there.

Next weekend I am tearing the doors apart, they need to be rebuilt anyway. New hinge pins and bushings, and roller assemblies from Cunningham Machine. New exterior door handles as well, new lock cylinders for each front door, will do the rear later.

Might order new door lock actuators, but thinking it’s possible that the rods are just not moving freely since it’s stiff manually & the actuators are ok. They’re cheap so not a big deal to just replace them too.

But wondering if anyone has ever run into a problem similar to this that wasn’t solved by the obvious, meaning actuator or rods sticking, and what the issue was so I can be prepared ahead of time and hopefully solve it while I’m tearing everything else apart.

ALSO: when I look at replacement actuators there are models with and without passlock. I know the LT had passlock, but since the key doesn’t use a chip would that affect which actuator I should get? I don’t think it would, because of the plug, but just thought I would mention it. Is it possible the ignition/key not being chipped is causing a door lock problem?

Thanks for any help y’all can offer.

 

sounds like the mechanism and switches just need a good cleaning and lubing

 

First of all, thanks for responding.

That’s certainly what I’m hoping for. But your response brought up a question. Clean the switches? How would I go about that?

 

remove the switch panel and disassemble. Sorry I don't have any step by step instructions.