Electrical Techs - 97 Civic Electric Door Locks Quit Working
05-30-2012
#1
Registered!!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rep Power: 0 
Electrical Techs - 97 Civic Electric Door Locks Quit Working
Recently my electric door locks quit working on my 97 Civic LX. They wouldn't work with my aftermarket alarm remote or the door lock switch, but you could lock and unlock manually with the key. First they would work sometimes and not other times. Then they stopped working all together. I did a lot of research on the web and decided that either the driver door lock actuator was bad or there was a problem with the wiring. So I started to check the wiring going to the power lock control module. Right away I found that the black ground wire did not have continuity to ground. So I hooked up a temporary ground to the black wire in the module plug to one of the bolts on the inside of the drivers door. Locks now work. There is probably a break in the ground wire going through the rubber boot from the door to the body, as this sounds like a common problem. I do not want to have to take this boot apart to try to run a new wire as it looks like it would be quite a job. Since there are no other wiring issues at this time, I am wondering if there is any reason why I couldn't just make a new ground connection right on the inside of the drivers door and splice into the black ground wire connected to the lock control module. Seems to me a ground is a ground, so it shouldn't matter where the connection is. Do any of you knowledgeable in electrical see a problem with this?
05-30-2012
#2
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: Electrical Techs - 97 Civic Electric Door Locks Quit Working
As long as it works, no.
However, all the grounding is only through the hinges right now, so you may want to use a flexible strap to supply a sure ground to the door itself.
Some of these cars, the only way to replace the jamb wiring is to replace the entire floor harness. Sucks. I have cobbled and built my own wiring before, but I can't do this for a customer that is expecting proper repairs. Some of the cars (not just Civics) can have 20-30 wires or more in that plug.
However, all the grounding is only through the hinges right now, so you may want to use a flexible strap to supply a sure ground to the door itself.
Some of these cars, the only way to replace the jamb wiring is to replace the entire floor harness. Sucks. I have cobbled and built my own wiring before, but I can't do this for a customer that is expecting proper repairs. Some of the cars (not just Civics) can have 20-30 wires or more in that plug.
05-30-2012
#3
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: Electrical Techs - 97 Civic Electric Door Locks Quit Working
Also, you started FAR too many threads with the same question. Try to delete some of them.
05-31-2012
#4
Registered!!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rep Power: 0 
Thread
Thread Starter
Honda Civic Forum
Replies
Last Post
