98 pontiac grand am - door lock buttons do not work - help!?

[sam]

The other day, the driver's side door lock stopped working (for both unlocking and locking). I started just reaching over to the passenger's side to lock the door until tonight - when that lock stopped doing anything. Now the only way to lock my car doors is to physically push the lock in on each door. What could be wrong?

Some other information: a couple of months ago the speedometer stopped working. Also the driver's side door speaker is wired incorrectly. I am pretty sure the wiring was done incorrectly after an accident the vehicle was in before I owned it. I am also pretty sure the vehicle should have been considered totaled...but I'm not complaining too much since I didn't pay for it.
I have also noticed that the lights in the dash stay on for a few seconds after shutting off the car, slowly dimming.

 

[Brain Wave]

1) Your door lock motor is probably shot. Was it giving you any signs of weakness or did you ever have to try two or more times until it worked? Or are you saying you think the button is not working. In this case you will have to do a little handy work and take off your door panel. (Email me for directions.) pull out your button and close the circuit. If it locks/unlocks it was your switch.
2) Check your fusses. You have fusses under your dash, Follow the guide to find "door locks".
3) You could have a short in your wire that caused this to go out. Due to the accident and a cheap replacement of some sort.
4)Speedometer cable has probably gone bad. You can take this to a shop or you can get handy and get under your car and find your speedo cable. (In your transmission).
5) I dont have a grand am so I don't know if this dash lights normally do this.
This wouldn't be caused by any thing very bad so I wouldn't worry about it, unless you think this is not right.

Good luck with your car.
Email me if you have any questions.
-recap- Check your fusses first.
then check your door lock switch. Not much money from a parts store.
John

 

[Tex G]

I Have a answer for you, but you are not going to like it. The part about the dash light not going out like they should . That they stay on go slowly dimming. You are luckily you have not got a battery ran down. You have a dead short in the wiring. There is no way to tell you were to look. A good place would be in the door and were it go into the body of the car.It be a good idea to take it to a wiring shop work on vehicle wiring mostly. Because they have skill and training locate it faster than locate mechanic. And the special tools to work with to speed it up.