Looks like bad news for me

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texasmike

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After my power door locks finally quit working and taking my door panels off at least four times, I finally discovered that the 30 amp metal fuse is getting 12v to the left connector and 0v to the right one. The fuse itself is good. Does anyone have any ideas on the cause? The thought of pulling the panel out does NOT appeal to me so I guess I will have to get use to no auto locks. I will really miss that feature as I use this truck all of the time. BTW, I pulled and shoved all of the wires around the box and got no readings on the meter. Does anyone know what that pink connector with an orange and black stripe wire goes to?
 

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Radiohead

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They do offer replacement connectors for the fusebox and related area, but it is a bit of a job. Are you certain that you have continuity from the other side of that fuse to the switch(es)? Might be in a door wire. Keep checking before you pull off the fuse panel.
 

Bextreme04

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After my power door locks finally quit working and taking my door panels off at least four times, I finally discovered that the 30 amp metal fuse is getting 12v to the left connector and 0v to the right one. The fuse itself is good. Does anyone have any ideas on the cause? The thought of pulling the panel out does NOT appeal to me so I guess I will have to get use to no auto locks. I will really miss that feature as I use this truck all of the time. BTW, I pulled and shoved all of the wires around the box and got no readings on the meter. Does anyone know what that pink connector with an orange and black stripe wire goes to?
I'm confused by what you are saying? With the fuse pulled... you will have 12v on the supply side(left) and 0v on the line to the door locks(right). The fuse is the connecting piece that moves the power from the left pin to the right. If you have the fuse installed, and no power going from the left to the right... you have a bad fuse.

Did you put the multimeter on the fuse and check for continuity(less than 2 Ohms) between the two blades of the fuse? When you plug the fuse in, do you get 12v on both little metal stubs on top of the fuse? If you have the fuse plugged in and show 12v on one stub(inside the top of the fuse) but not the other, you have a blown fuse.
 

texasmike

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Yes, the fuse checks good. Before I put the fuse back in, should I check for continuity from the right pin to the switch? The switch has three wires. Which one needs to be tested for continuity? Sorry for the dumb questions.
 

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Without looking at a schematic, I would check center pin first. Then if nothing, check the others too (can't hurt).

Seems like feed would be in the center and distributed to either side. I might be wrong, but...

Wait. Isn't that "metal" fuse in reality a circuit breaker? Have you tried putting an actual fuse in its place and retesting?
 

Bextreme04

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After re-reading this.... you don't have a fuse in there. The metal "fuse" is a self resetting circuit breaker. I would go buy a new one and see if that fixes your problem. If it doesn't, then check for voltage at the lock switch. There should be three pins, power comes in on the center pin and goes to the outside pins when you push the switch up/down. If NOTHING works and you have power out of the breaker, it could be the relay has gone bad.

This thread has a wiring diagram on the first post.
https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/power-door-lock-help.8606/
 

texasmike

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I checked the metal fuse (breaker) for continuity between the two spades. It quickly went to zero.
 

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I think you and your meter may need a little instruction. I hope I am not insulting you, but what you are telling us makes no sense.

First, as others have already said, with your "fuse" out there should be 12 volts to ground on one side of the fuse holder and no voltage on the other side. That is what the fuse does, it is the path for current to reach that other side.

Second, let's discuss your meter and "0". I assume you are using a digital multi-meter? If you set it to read Ohms, touch the two leads together and see what the meter reads. That reading should be the lowest amount of resistance you could possibly measure with that meter. Is it "0"? It usually reads about 0.3 ohms lead to lead.
Now put a lead on each of the blades of the fuse. That reading has to have more resistance than you measured lead to lead because you now have that component between the two leads.

Sometimes a meter will read O. L. and folks assume that is zero. It is not, that is an open circuit.
 

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Power goes in one side of the fuse box,through the fuse,and out of the fuse box to the load. If the fuse is bad power does not go through it does not power the other side of the fuse connector to power the load. If the fuse is good ,it is what supplies power to the other terminal in the fuse box.
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Thanks guys, you have not insulted me and I appreciate your time and help. I'll give it another try. BTW, that window/power lock diagram is really helpful.
That's the spirit. You will get this.
 

Bextreme04

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Also... this is NOT a fuse. I have seen these metal auto resetting circuit breakers go bad in such a way that they will show continuity when unplugged, but the second ANY amount of current goes through it, it pops. The way they work is that there is a small strip of metal between two contacts. That piece of metal(it is actually two pieces of metal bonded together) naturally heats up a certain amount in a linear fashion based on the amount of current running through it. The two pieces of metal expand at different rates, which causes the piece of metal to bend when it heats up. It is calibrated to bend enough to break contact with one of the points at a certain amount of current, but it takes a little while to do so if it isn't a dead short. When they get old, the metal can have a bunch of corrosion on it(which increases resistance) or the metal strip can be deformed or damaged, and this can cause the breaker to either not make contact at all or to trip with very small amounts of current load.

All this to say, you need to test the breaker with it installed and also when you push the switch. Put the breaker in part way and check voltage at both pins with it inserted(red probe on the pin, black probe on a good clean ground point). Then check voltage on the right pin while pushing the lock button in both directions. If the voltage drops to 0 when you push the switch, you might have a bad breaker. If that happens, pull the breaker out and repeat the test on the right pin but checking for resistance. You have more than 50 ohms resistance to ground when not pressing the lock switch(it should really read OL). When you press the lock switch in either direction the meter should read the coil resistance on the relay. If that reading is less than 5 Ohms, the relay is bad. Unfortunately... I don't believe that relay is made anymore, so you would probably have to do some wiring changes to switch to modern relays.
 

texasmike

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OK, here is the latest. With my digital VM, when I touch the red lead to the org/blk center pin wire on the switch and the blk lead to a door bolt, I have 12.45v but the locks still do not work. I tried my original switches and nothing happens. I also tried all of this with the metal and plastic fuses. Do you still suspect the relay and where is it located? I haven't tried that relay test that was suggested.
 

Bextreme04

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OK, here is the latest. With my digital VM, when I touch the red lead to the org/blk center pin wire on the switch and the blk lead to a door bolt, I have 12.45v but the locks still do not work. I tried my original switches and nothing happens. I also tried all of this with the metal and plastic fuses. Do you still suspect the relay and where is it located? I haven't tried that relay test that was suggested.
Yes, sounds like the relay to me. Not sure where it is located though.
 

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