Rep Power: 0

In my 97 civic ex I have the stock keyless entry system. Since I've purchased it, the locking system has a few quirks and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do that won't cost a billion dollars to fix. The symptoms are as follows:

The FOB will from outside of the car, lock the drivers door 100% of the time, while locking the passenger door maybe 25-50% of the time. However the alarm activates, and opening the unlocked passenger door will set it off.

When the FOB fails to lock the passenger door, you can see it kind of shudder and attempt to flip to locked, but it fails.

The drivers side lock switch will lock the passenger lock 100% of the time, however it will not lock the DRIVERS side lock when the Drivers door is open. When the drivers door is open even manually trying to lock the door won't work, its just stuck until the door is shut. Maybe this is how its supposed to be.

The result is, either I must manually lock the passenger side, and then use the FOB once both doors are shut. OR I can not use the FOB but must climb through the passenger side to manually lock the drivers door once the drivers door is shut.

Any idea why this is happening?

 
Rep Power: 812

same thing happens on our older accord. passenger lock is a 50/50 chance of locking. sometimes it goes down normally, sometimes it wont move, other times half way down. i think its a problem with the actuator or motor in the door panel. when i had the panel open, i played with the locking mechanisms and now it locks 75% of the time, maybe i shouldve sprayed some lube around the mechanism.

the driver door is supposed to NOT lock with the door open, as a safety feature so you dont get locked out of the car. mine actually failed, and the door locked anyway, and i was locked out with the car running. that same day i disabled the auto lock feature and unplugged the lock switch. and i have problems with the driver side mechanism too cause its really hard to push the lock down manually (with door closed) and using the key usually wont work. i need to get in there and see whats going on. maybe parts just need silicone lube.

 
Rep Power: 308

Sounds like the passenger actuator is weak. My 05 passenger side had a similar issue for a long time got worse over time.

The unlock pulse sent when using the keyless is very short compared to using the unlock button, not much but it will make a weak actuator show problems.

And yes that is normal for the drivers doors operation.