Chrysler Repair: 2005 T&C window/door lock issue, rear windshield, voltage signals

Question
Hi.  I have a 2005 Town %26 Country that about a year and a half ago started doing weird things.  First, the passenger side window stopped working.  The dealer pulled the door apart and told me that it was a bad window motor and gave me the quote to fix it.  We decided we didn't have the $$ to fix it right then so we said button it up and we'll do the repair when we had the money.  Well, it's been working fine ever since they buttoned it up.  Since then, however, the driver's side door lock button will not lock the doors, but using either of the front window buttons will trigger the doors to lock.  Additionally, the rear windshield wiper will trigger the doors to lock every time it hits the home position as long as the wiper delay is on.  Also, when unlocking the car from the inside using the drivers side lock button, the doors will unlock for a split second and then re-lock themselves.  This is very frustrating and the dealer gave me a quote of some $2K to fix the problem.  I thought that $2K was a ridiculous price for a control module (don't know which one), especially since there should be no reason, other than a manufacturer's defect that would cause the thing to go bad.  Have you heard of such a thing? Can you suggest a more reasonable fix?

Thank you in advance for your help.
Jim
Lancaster, PA

Answer
Hi Jim,
There are several possibilities of which one or more may explain what is happening. The door lock actuation is controlled by the body computer which gets various voltage signals from switches and sensors that it interprets as to what is happening or being called for and so responds.
The lack of action by the front door lock switch may be due to a defective door switch or the wire upon which the voltage signal from it reaches the computer may be open or shorted. I suspect because the window swtiches appear to activate the door locks that there is a short circuit in the wiring where the two systems come into close proximity which is a disconnect at the driver side hinge area where there are 14 wires in a harness that are all related to the doors and the windows and if there was some damage at that disconnect it might inter-connect the window signals with the door lock signal. So look for a harness that comes out of the driver door and goes through door frame where you will find a connecter with 14 pins and examine it and the wires that connect to either side of the plug-together.
The doors wanting to lock by themselves could be related to the system that causes the doors to self-lock when the body controller get a signal that a door is ajar. Each door has a plunger type of swtitch which grounds a wire when the door is opened or is not closed tightly enough to signal that it isn't open. I would first try moving the door latch striker on the door frame of the drivers' door in-board a few millimeters to cause the door to be more firmly pressed against the door frame when it is latched. Similarly with the lift gate latch striker which may explain the door latching action involving the wiper. There may be a shorting situation at the leftgate harness disconnect as I described for the driver door as an alternative explanation.
I doubt this is a problem with an expensive part but rather an adjustment of the latch striker and/or a simple wiring problem where the systems pass close to oneanother which has a short between them.
Roland