2008 Chevrolet Silverado, Driver’s Power Door Lock Switch Does Not Work

This 2008 Chevrolet Silverado came in with the complaint that the driver’s power door lock switch would not work the door locks. The passenger side switch works but only the lock on the passenger side door.

I needed to check signals at the power door lock switch on the driver’s door but some dis assembly was needed. The interior pull handle has to be removed before the switch can be. The insert can be lifted on the end.

Or on the side.

I lifted it at both positions. Once it was out far enough, I had to slightly depress the tab as you cane see below.

After the tab was released the insert came the rest of the way out with little resitance.

There are two 10 mm headed screws that hold the pull handle in place. One upper as shown below.

And one lower screw.

It should be noted that the bolts have shoulders on them and should not be mixed with other bolts in the door panel.

Now that the pull handle was removed and out of the way, I used a plastic pry bar to lift the switch panel from the door. I started at the front edge first.

Then I lifted the rear of the panel up to release all of the spring clips.

Note the spring clip at the front of the switch panel.

I was pretty sure that I had found the problem when I spotted the light corrosion. You may need to click on the next picture and enlarge it for a better view.

To test I used a fused jumper wire with the correct size terminal to briefly connect the black wire to the pink/black wire. This made the passenger side door lock. Connecting the black wire to the orange and black wire unlocked the passenger side door.

This told me several things.The driver’s side wiring was okay except for the corrosion issue. The driver’s side power door lock switch was indeed faulty and there is yet another problem with the driver’s door lock actuator. To see the information on replacing the faulty door lock actuator please click here.

I used a nylon bristle brush and some gentle elbow grease to clean the corrosion from the harness connector and terminals. I inspected the terminals closely and determined that there was no real problem here. The real problem was inside the power door lock switch. A thorough cleaning, some dielectric grease and a new switch and this part of the problem would be fixed.

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