Door Lock Failure: Quick Guide to Common Causes & Fixes

Had the same problem on my 2010 Chevy Cruze last month. The door sensor was completely dead, but the real culprit was a damaged wiring harness where it connects to the door latch assembly. The rubber boot between the door and frame had worn out, exposing the wires to moisture. The automatic locks stopped working entirely, just like yours. After checking the fuses (which were fine), we found several corroded wires in the harness. Required removing the door panel and replacing a section of the wiring harness plus the door latch mechanism since the contacts were shot. Not a major repair in terms of complexity, but it's finicky work getting everything lined up right, especially reconnecting all the vehicle doors to sync with the central locking system. If you're handy, you can test the door sensor connections with a multimeter before heading to a shop. Check for continuity between the door latch and the main harness. The worn boot is a common failure point on these models, so worth checking that first. Look for any visible wire damage where the harness feeds into the door.

Thanks for the detailed explanation about the wiring harness issue. This sounds exactly like what I'm experiencing with my Spin, same symptoms with the door sensor and latch assembly. Quick question, do you remember roughly what the repair ended up costing you? I'm trying to budget for this fix and wondering if any other problems popped up after the initial repair. Good tip about checking the rubber boot first, I'll take a look at that before heading to a shop.

Just got back from the mechanic last week, really glad I followed up on this issue. The diagnosis was spot-on, it was indeed a faulty door contact signal caused by a damaged cable connection at the door latch. After fixing the connection and testing all vehicle doors, the automatic locks are working perfectly again. Total repair was 95€, which included checking all door sensors and ensuring the central locking system was properly synced. No other issues have popped up since the fix, and everything's working like new. The door switch responds immediately now, and there's no more weird behavior from the security system. Smart move checking the rubber boot first, it can save you some diagnostic time at the shop. The mechanics confirmed that these cable/plug connections are pretty common failure points in the door latch assembly. Worth noting that they also checked all other door latches while they were at it, just to prevent similar issues down the line.

Just got back from getting this fixed at a local shop. You all were right about the door latch assembly being the main issue. The mechanic found exactly what was described, corroded wiring in the boot area where it connects to the door sensor. Ended up needing a new wiring harness and they fixed some worn contacts in the door switch while they were in there. Whole repair took about 3 hours and cost around €200 including parts. The automatic locks are working perfectly now, nice crisp response when pressing the button. They also checked all the other vehicle doors and found a bit of wear starting on the passenger side, but nothing serious yet. Much better experience than my last mechanic visit. They walked me through everything they found and even showed me the damaged parts. Really glad I checked here first, saved me from getting overcharged for unnecessary work. The door contact signal is clear now and all systems are synced up properly.