It is both irritating and concerning to hear your car's automatic door locks clicking while you're driving. What can you do to finally stop the noise? We turned to the experts for answers and here's their advice.
Power door locks keep clicking because of:
- broken lock actuator,
- defective wires,
- blown fuse,
- damaged solenoid,
- defective key fob,
- and weather-related issues.
It's best to take your car to your trusted mechanic who can diagnose the problem and have it fixed right away. You can buy batteries or replace your key fob if it's the cause of your lock's erratic behavior.
Keep on reading to learn more about what causes the clicking noise in your power door locks and how you can have this issue fixed. We'll also teach you how to disable automatic door locks. Let's get started!
Why do my car locks keep clicking?
Power door locks are so convenient. They allow you to lock or unlock all the doors in your car without having to use the key. They also help keep you and your car safe from burglars and strangers.
You just press the button and you can open or close your car as you want to.
But it can be pretty annoying when the lock keeps clicking while you're driving. This means it locks and unlocks itself. For some, it happens once in a while but others experience this far too often that they couldn't ignore it anymore.
If you're in the same situation, you'd want to know the reason behind all the clicking. Aside from the noise that it makes, it can be a potential safety and security issue.
You think that your vehicle is locked but then it really isn't. This defeats the lock's main purpose to secure your car.
Common Causes of Power Door Locks' Clicking Noise
One of the drawbacks of using automated door locks is that you rely on power and electrical wiring to make them work. Many things can go wrong with their sensitive connections and it can be pretty hard to pinpoint or isolate the cause of the problem.
But experts share some of the most common reasons why your door locks are not functioning properly.
Broken Lock Actuator
A car door lock actuator is composed of electronically-controlled gears and pistons that can be raised or lowered to move the rods that will lock or unlock the doors of the vehicle.
When the lock actuator is broken, your power door lock won't function properly. Clicking noises and erratic lock operation are symptoms of a broken lock actuator.
Defective Wires
Electric wires are the channels where electricity flows from the car battery all the way to the locks making automation possible. They bring power to your locks so that you don't have to use the key to open or close your car.
When the wires are frayed, this will disrupt the flow of these electric signals and your locks will behave erratically. Thus, there's a clicking noise as it locks and unlocks on its own.
Blown Fuse
Your vehicle has a fuse to protect all the electrical connections in its system. It also shields your car from further damage should a problem arise in its electrical system.
Since your car has different electric components, its circuit can be overloaded when all of these are activated at the same time. This will cause the fuse to blow. In turn, the electric signals will be disrupted which could lead to problems with the operation of your power door locks.
Damaged Solenoid
Some cars have a solenoid in their door locks. It is an electromagnetic switch and serves the same purpose as the door lock actuator discussed above. It pulls the door latch to unlock the door and pushes it back in place when you push the lock button.
When this switch is damaged, your car door won't lock and unlock properly.
Defective Key Fob
Sometimes the problem is with your key fob. Its battery may be getting weak or something is wrong with its programming which causes it to send vague signals to the door lock switch.
Weather
Some people might find that they experience lock issues depending on the weather. These locks and your keys aren't waterproof. Moisture or snow could seep into them and affect their electrical components leading to malfunctioning of the system.
These are just some of the issues that you could look into to find out why your power door locks are making a clicking noise.
How do you fix automatic locks?
When your power door lock is constantly making clicking noises, it means that it locks and unlocks on its own. This can compromise your safety and security. That's why you should have the issue fixed right away.
Mechanic: For Diagnosis & Repair
Since automatic door locks in your car are composed of numerous sensitive electrical wirings, it's best to have them diagnosed by a trusted mechanic to ensure that it is done properly.
Do not attempt to fix it yourself especially if you don't have the skills and experience because you might cause further damage to your car.
Most of the time, it entails taking the car door apart to expose the wires and fix the issues. The switches and other parts involved are also inside the door panel.
Car mechanics have the expertise to diagnose the problem and fix it accordingly. It usually doesn't take long to repair automatic door locks so you can have your vehicle back in no time without the clicking noise.
Prepare to spend around $300 for the service and parts to be replaced if needed. Of course, the rate would also depend on the make and model of the car and the parts for replacement.
Key Fob
But if the problem is with your key fob, you can replace the batteries yourself. If you need to replace the fob itself, you can buy one from your locksmith or online. You can do the programming by following the directions from your car manual. The locksmith can also do it for you.
Check out this car key fob on Amazon.
Otherwise, you can have it programmed at your car dealer but expect to pay higher fees when you take it there.
How do you disable automatic door locks?
Some find the automatic lock feature inconvenient because they have to keep pressing the unlock button every few seconds as it'll automatically lock itself after a short while.
For example, you're loading stuff in your car's trunk. You have to pause now and then to unlock the trunk door because you won't be able to proceed with putting the rest of your stuff inside since the door locks itself automatically.
Good thing you can disable this feature and it'll only take a short time to do so.
Here's what you need to do.
- Put the key inside the ignition and turn your vehicle on.
- Push the unlock button three times.
- Turn off the ignition and repeat Step 2.
- Turn on the ignition and wait for the horn to beep. This is your car's control system's way of communicating with you. It is telling you that programming has been initiated.
- Press the "Unlock" and "Lock" buttons consecutively.
- Your vehicle will beep once to tell you that the auto-lock feature had been deactivated.
- Turn off the ignition. You should hear another beep as a confirmation of your reprogramming.
That's it! Always remember to lock your doors manually when you deactivate the auto-lock feature. You can always turn the feature back on when needed.
To reactivate, just follow the same steps above. Instead of one beep in Step 6, you will hear two beeps to confirm the reactivation of your power door lock's auto-lock feature.
Final Thoughts
Let a mechanic diagnose why your automatic door locks keep making clicking sounds so that you can get rid of the noise once and for all and enjoy a safer and relatively quieter ride.
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