Driver Side Door Lock Problem
 

The lock on driver side does not lock with the power lock switch. The passenger door locks, but driver side has to be manually moved. And when i move it to lock it, it only moves about 1/4 of an inch. It locks and unlocks, just not with the power locks and it doesnt move the full range of motion like the passenger door. What do i need to do to fix this?

Sounds to me like the solenoid is jammed. You'll need to take off the door panel and check things out to make sure its not jammed or anything. Then you need to check the power at the solenoid. If it has power, replace the solenoid. If not, you are looking for a bad ground or a broken wire.

alright thanks man

You're welcome. I really appreciate when folks post back with a thanks. Its gratifying :)

I agree with Eurogold the lock solenoid sounds like your problem. They aren't too bad to change. A long 1/4" extension speeds up the process dramatically. Good Luck!

thanks for the help guys. I just got this truck and there are a few minor things that need to be fixed. I traded a guy straight across for a 2000 vw jetta that was slower than christmas.

Well give us a list of those minor things and we will see if we can help. By the way...nice trade! VW - YUCK!!!

haha yea VW=poop, welll i got most all the problems in the threads i created so far. just the door lock not working, the lights on the interior like the AC being lit up and stuff, and the AC only blowing on high. other than that i have to take the tint off because the guy put 5% on top of the stock tint. So its way too dark and illegal. I also gotta do some buffing and fix the tailgate handle.

well the truck used to barely lock. When locking with the key from the outside, i had to use two hands to lock and unlock it. FRom the inside i had to manually move the lock and it barely moved, but still locked. I took the panel off and the lock moved freely and i could lock and unlock with the key easily. I put panel back on, now nothing happens. Now the door doesnt lock. Is there a way to get to the solenoid out without taking that whole lock system out?

Sounds like the door panel may be playing into this. Try this...remove the plastice lock sliding mechanism (the part that you use to manually lock and unlock the truck) from the door panel to where you can see the metal arm moving back and forth. Make sure when you put the door panel on you didn't jam it in there. I always remove that plastic piece from inside when putting a door panel back on. It makes it ALOT easier to line up. See how the lock works with that piece removed. Also make sure that rod did not get bent when putting the panel back on. The rod rides on small plastic sleeve clips - make sure it is still in all of them.

the rod is not bent. and i removed the plastic piece before putting the door panel back on. i really have no idea how it went from working to not working by just putting the door panel back on