Intermittent rear door lock problem

[JohnnyRevs]

R/H/S Rear door locking via the central locking does not work any more on my 2010 Dodge Journey SXT. This is a right-hand drive car, so the door is directly behind the driver's door (in case there is a difference). The problem was intermittent at first but now seems to be permanent. Affects this one door only.

This is not a case of mechanical interference as I am able to manually pull up / down the button inside the car. The door operates as normal aside from this central locking issue.

I removed the door card to try and check for any obvious issues. After much labor, I managed to remove the actuator from inside the door body and disconnect the electric feed. Funny thing is, when I reconnected the feed, the lock started operating again via the key. My initial hurrahs were short-lived however, as the problem returned the next day.

Thinking that this may be a Body Control Module issue that may have reset when I disconnected the actuator, I disconnected the main battery via the Negative jump terminal under the hood to see whether the lock would start working again. Sure the car went dead so I assume the supply to the BCM was cut, however, when I reconnected the battery (after 30 mins), the door lock problem was still there.

Has anyone else experienced this issue, or know a better way of isolating the cause?

Incidentally, when I removed the actuator from the car, I found a wrap of insulation tape. I've had this car from new so it must have come from the factory that way.

I could just buy a new actuator and try my luck but I'm not yet convinced that's the problem, even though (to me) that looks the most likely cause.

I'd appreciate any help.

Pic of door actuator disconnected from electrical supply:-

[jkeaton]

That piece of electrical tape does not look factory to me.

[JohnnyRevs]

No, but where else could it have come from ? It does make me suspicious that this mechanism was tampered with before being placed in the car. Its a PIA to remove and I had to break the tabs (no other way to remove it) that secure it to the inner door card so it must have been installed like that.

I'm tempted to just order a replacement but I could end up with a pile of parts (if I did that for every problem)! I'd sooner be sure of the problem before ordering replacements.

Thanks for the input

[OhareFred]

The fact that it started to work after being disconnected leads me to believe there may be corrosion at the connection. Did you look at both sides of the connector? You could try cleaning the connector with some electrical contact cleaner, then apply a very small amount of dielectric grease and put it back together. It might work once, it might work for years. Hard to say. If the actuater isnt too expensive, since the door is apart, I'd swap it out. I would use the grease on the new one. Good luck!

Just my 2 cents!

[JohnnyRevs]

Never thought of checking the connectors but that's not a bad idea. I'll give it a go. I was looking at the part nos, and comparing with those listed on the Parts website:-

http://www.factorychryslerparts.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_assembly=674059&ukey_make=1062&ukey_model=15496&modelYear=2010&ukey_category=20305

but the numbers listed there don't match any numbers on the part itself (item #3 in the drawing). Markings on my part are:- RH2 >PP-TX20< & 39734 & 962571.

Can anyone advise on part-numbers?

Thanks again.