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Can't Unlock my Truck

GreyGhost

Full Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2022
Messages
19
It's been about 10 days since I last used my truck (03 Z71). I locked it with the remote when I parked it up. When I went to unlock it today, with the remote, nothing happened (other than the little LED on the remote flashing when I press the buttons). I get the same result with the second remote.

On the odd chance that the battery might be dead (new battery back in February), I thought about jumping it from my car - first challenge was to get the hood open, as I am locked out - the single key on each remote does not unlock the doors. Got the hood open, and connected the jumper cable, but not joy with trying to unlock the truck.

It appears to be getting a signal, as the horn beeps once when I press the lock button, and 4 times when I press the unlock button, but the power locks don't work.

I'm not sure what to try next, so am looking for suggestions (practical, hopefully ;) ).
 
First off, make sure to obtain a key so that you can physically unlock the doors if you need to.
Last thing you want is to be stranded somewhere and unable to enter the vehicle.
Based on the information you provided, it's apparent that the truck is receiving the lock/unlock signals from the fob if the horn sounds correspondingly as you state (that said, my Avalanche does one beep for lock, and no beep for unlock...different for who knows what reason).
Do the power locks work from inside the truck when you press the lock/unlock button on the door?
 
Call local Pop a lock locksmith.
Get them to open truck and make proper door key.
 
First off, make sure to obtain a key so that you can physically unlock the doors if you need to.
Last thing you want is to be stranded somewhere and unable to enter the vehicle.
Based on the information you provided, it's apparent that the truck is receiving the lock/unlock signals from the fob if the horn sounds correspondingly as you state (that said, my Avalanche does one beep for lock, and no beep for unlock...different for who knows what reason).
Do the power locks work from inside the truck when you press the lock/unlock button on the door?
I have been able to lock/unlock the doors manually with the key in the past.

I can't say if it works from the inside, until I get into it, which looks to be my next task :)
 
How to get in your truck? A "slim jim" (long flat flexible metal tool) slid between the window and the outer skin in the rear area near the latch can do the job.. (release the lock) (any 1 door is all you need)
Can I do it? maybe a 10% chance , In my youth I did it once to get in my 1973 Caprice (using a dipstick) .. a locksmith can do it in about a minute.. worth whatever he charges.

Once you are in your truck I recommend replacing the door lock as a high priority.

My similar dilemma. When I "acquired" my 04 Avalanche the Door locks worked with the 1 remote, the key did not work in the door, or anywhere except the ignition. Turns out the original key was broken in the ignition by a previous owner, the ignition cylinder was replaced (and a not similar lock). In the interim I would NOT lock my AVY (fear of being locked out, and no easy way to get in). I went to my local Chevy dealer, based on the VIN they made me an original key. It fit the tailgate and the side lock boxes. Sadly it did not work in the door nor the spare tire. I totally believe it is the right key, but 18 years of likely no use and Michigan winters they were frozen / rusted.. after a month of WD40 to no avail I replaced the door lock, and cut off the spare tire lock, Good news is the door lock works great, the spare tire "mechanism" was toast, and the OEM rim was rusted so bad it would not hold air... Now a spare tire rides in the bed (apparently none of the previous 18 years worth of owners did what I do with my trucks..., I lower the spare tire each oil change and lube the linkage.)
 
I have been able to lock/unlock the doors manually with the key in the past.

I can't say if it works from the inside, until I get into it, which looks to be my next task :)
Sounds like you have a key, but it will no longer work in the door manually - and the remote will no longer work to unlock any of the doors?

If so, I would call the locksmith. Can On-Star unlock your truck? Might be worth a try. Can't remember what year they did away with analog communication but my 04 On-Star works.
 
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Sounds like you have a key, but it will no longer work in the door manually - and the remote will no longer work to unlock any of the doors?

If so, I would call the locksmith. Can On-Star unlock your truck? Might be worth a try. Can't remember what year they did away with analog communication but my 04 On-Star works.

Hi

I tried OnStar, but no joy there (too old).

Just to be sure, I put fresh batteries in to both key fobs and tried again, but no success. The side lights flash once to lock and twice to unlock, confirming that there's a signal from the key fobs, but the power locks don't do anything.

The first two locksmiths I tried have said I'm too far away (90 mile round trip - I'm in a rural village), and I'm waiting for two others to get back to me...

Looks like I may have to get creative to get inside. :)
 
Hi

I tried OnStar, but no joy there (too old).

Just to be sure, I put fresh batteries in to both key fobs and tried again, but no success. The side lights flash once to lock and twice to unlock, confirming that there's a signal from the key fobs, but the power locks don't do anything.

The first two locksmiths I tried have said I'm too far away (90 mile round trip - I'm in a rural village), and I'm waiting for two others to get back to me...

Looks like I may have to get creative to get inside. :)
Before "using" a brick :D , I'd try a slimjim type of tool. Like I said. years ago I opened the hood, and used the dipstick on my Chevy.. There may be a YOU TUBE video out there to help you along.

The lock disengages the door handle, so "if you are lucky" you can either re-engage the door handle OR hit the door latch and have it release. Like I said a you tube video cold give you better insight, than my OLD Memories.
 
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Hmmm... $185 service charge... Brick (and replacement glass) is starting to sound reasonable...:D:D:D
 
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It's difficult to get these to unlock, I wish there was a key hole on all handles. Mine has only drivers handle key.
Someone tried prying my drivers handle away from door frame to access latch so I put sheat meatal inside my door to keep slimjims & hooks from easily unlock Mine.
Did put new latch on twice as electronics failed in cheap replacements water I think had caused open door codes & more.
Anyway back to opening. If you can see in crack down door try pushing orange plastic part down should allow opening.
Attached pictures.
 

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I would use a inspection camera best investment I made to see in small spaces. 20$ they can show on cellphone screen.
The lock might be hard I don't remember if it will move with the meatal bar attached.
Locks are controlled by the black plastic slide leavers either pull upwards unlocks.
Hopefully pictures helped you, took last I opened door to change latch.
Good luck, long meatal hangar can work or any strong hook can fit in window water seal joint.
I've used this with help of borehole camera.
 

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It's difficult to get these to unlock, I wish there was a key hole on all handles. Mine has only drivers handle key.
Someone tried prying my drivers handle away from door frame to access latch so I put sheat meatal inside my door to keep slimjims & hooks from easily unlock Mine.
Did put new latch on twice as electronics failed in cheap replacements water I think had caused open door codes & more.
Anyway back to opening. If you can see in crack down door try pushing orange plastic part down should allow opening.
Attached pictures.
Thanks - I've got a full day at work today and tomorrow so, weather permitting (had snow again yesterday) I'll have a go this weekend.
 
In the end, I managed to wedge the top right corner of the driver's door out far enough to get a long half-inch dowel (all I had that was rigid and long enough) down to the lock button. Try as I might, I just couldn't get the angle right - the closer I got to it, the more the end of the dowel moved away from the door. In the end, I got a length of cord, looped it around the dowel, ran the cord to the front of the door to maintain pressure on the dowel so it stayed in contact with the door panel. Didn't work on the first try, but it did on the second!

Interestingly, once I was inside the truck, with both doors unlocked, I could then lock and unlock the doors with the key fob, so really not sure what has happened. I can, however, confirm that when the doors are unlocked, I cannot lock them with the key...

I'm going to have to do a little more investigation and research on this. In the meantime, it's unlocked with the window down, in my garage (which meant I had to spend a couple of hours rearranging the garage... :D - ah well, perhaps it's for the better anyway).
 
In the end, I managed to wedge the top right corner of the driver's door out far enough to get a long half-inch dowel (all I had that was rigid and long enough) down to the lock button. Try as I might, I just couldn't get the angle right - the closer I got to it, the more the end of the dowel moved away from the door. In the end, I got a length of cord, looped it around the dowel, ran the cord to the front of the door to maintain pressure on the dowel so it stayed in contact with the door panel. Didn't work on the first try, but it did on the second!

Interestingly, once I was inside the truck, with both doors unlocked, I could then lock and unlock the doors with the key fob, so really not sure what has happened. I can, however, confirm that when the doors are unlocked, I cannot lock them with the key...

I'm going to have to do a little more investigation and research on this. In the meantime, it's unlocked with the window down, in my garage (which meant I had to spend a couple of hours rearranging the garage... :D - ah well, perhaps it's for the better anyway).
More then likely the ignition key was changed out and the previous owner just didn't give you all the keys, you need to go to a locksmith and have them key the door locks to you ignition.
 
The key fits the ignition but also fits the side bins and tailgate - just not the door locks.
 
The key fits the ignition but also fits the side bins and tailgate - just not the door locks.
Do what RON stated and go to a Locksmith who can key the doors to fit your Ignition key.
 
More then likely the ignition key was changed out and the previous owner just didn't give you all the keys, you need to go to a locksmith and have them key the door locks to you ignition.
Or what I did, replace the lock cylinder in the door.. took about 15 minutes once I got the new cylinder.. around $20
 
Or what I did, replace the lock cylinder in the door.. took about 15 minutes once I got the new cylinder.. around $20
Did you match the ignition key? if so than your golden, if not than more keys to manage. R.
 
Did you match the ignition key? if so than your golden, if not than more keys to manage. R.
I've disassembled (house) door locks and done the tumbler thing to have all doors match 1 key, However I didn't think I had the right parts to do this w/ the aftermarket lock on this 18YO truck so:

Not exactly GOLDEN, but Silver anyway:
(now the long story)
I bought my (04) AV used.
A previous owner broke off the only key he had in the ignition, He replaced ignition switch and it has a "new" different key, which did not fit anything else (door, tailgate, spare tire lock, side boxes).
The good news the FOB worked to lock / unlock the doors, although I didn't lock it because of "lack of trust", (FOB battery , AVY battery or any other FOBesque failure on an 18YO truck).
The local Chevy dealer made me a key based on VIN, it works great in tailgate and side boxes, since the key they made would not work in the door they didn't charge me.. They offered to replace the cylinder quoting 1 hour of labor.. I declined..
The door lock and spare tire locks were so corroded from 18 years and lack of use, no joy there. Solution(s): I cut off the spare tire lock, and after a month+ of WD40 applications to no avail I replaced the door lock cylinder.

And the (Golden / Silver dollar) comedy is: Even thought the cut looks a bit different, the ignition key that came with the AVY works to lock / unlock the door. SO just like the "good old days" => 2 keys (and the remote FOB).
 
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Man I forgot all about back in the 1900's when you had 2 keys for a car.
Igntion and doors locks.

WHY?
Why did they do that back then?
 
OK - end story on this is that the key I have opens the side bins and the spare tire lock, as well as working the ignition, but will not lock/unlock the doors (only the fob will do that).

A bit of a moot point now as I was able to isolate the parasitic draw (fairly quickly) on the battery - it was down to the aftermarket Clarion audio/GPS system.

For the time being, I've just pulled the fuse for the circuit and, when I've got a bit of spare time, will look at how the audio unit was wired in. I know that it needs to have some sort of constant feed to it, but it seemed to be drawing far more that it should have been.

I also realize that the reliance on the key fob to lock/unlock isn't ideal (given the issue that if the battery is low or flat, it won't work) so the current situation needs to be revisited soon.

On the plus side, going through other little tasks, I've discovered that the spare tire hoist mechanism works fine :)
 
Glad you came back with the issue. Fix that door handle! 😛

Reminds me of a few months back when i had a similar situation with my 06 BMW X5. I parked at the airport for a business trip and get back to freezing weather, dead battery, and key wouldn't manually unlock the door, of course only one with a key hole.

Ended up having to back-feed power through my license plate light to get enough juice for the key fob to work. Makes a GM truck easy peasy after trying to figure it out on a German car.

I came prepared with a plan A, B, C, and D. Plan D was a BFH.. I was driving that car home one way or another!
 
First off, make sure to obtain a key so that you can physically unlock the doors if you need to.
Last thing you want is to be stranded somewhere and unable to enter the vehicle.
Based on the information you provided, it's apparent that the truck is receiving the lock/unlock signals from the fob if the horn sounds correspondingly as you state (that said, my Avalanche does one beep for lock, and no beep for unlock...different for who knows what reason).
Do the power locks work from inside the truck when you press the lock/unlock button on the door?
Yes, they do.
 
Interestingly, once I was inside the truck, with both doors unlocked, I could then lock and unlock the doors with the key fob, so really not sure what has happened. I can, however, confirm that when the doors are unlocked, I cannot lock them with the key...
Sounds like an intermittent connection.
I would start with the driver's door (since that is the one that gets used all the time) and check the wires that run between it and the door jamb. One or more of the wires might be hinged and broken under the insulation. Common problem on many vehicles. When the locks start acting up, try activating them on the fob as you wiggle the harness in the door jamb.
Regarding the locks, can you unlock then with the key when the doors are locked?
 
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