Chrysler Repair: Door Locks & theft mechanism, power door locks, door key

Question
Occasionally our car does not start..but then if we push the unlock button once, let it sit, it will start.  The door locks  do not auto go down when the car get to 20 miles per hour.  Is there a way to reset those locks or is there something wrong with the computer that makes the car not start, (anti theft) if the locks or doors are touch manually instead of the auto locks? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks!

Answer
The anti-theft system does prevent the engine from running for more than a couple of seconds when it is actually or falsely alarmed. The disarming depends upon either unlocking the armed system via a door key in either front door lock or via the key fob remote unit if you have that feature. The likelihood is that the wire from the door lock to the body computer is fatigued so sometimes the unlock of the door is not sensed at the computer. You can try to lock/unlock the opposite front door to see if you can clear the situation. Unfortunately the system can not be simply unplugged, but you can work around it by never using the power door locks when you prepare to leave the vehicle, nor the door key to secure the locks. Rather, push the manual door lock buttons down to secure the doors as you exit which will not arm the system against theft, but at least avoid being shut out of access to a running vehicle when you return. The alternative is to have the system checked out by means of a Chrysler diagnostic readout box to isolate where in the circuit you have a problem. This is very typical so I would not believe you are atypical. The self-lock feature depends upon the body computer getting the speed signal from the transmission. If the speedometer is not working properly then that would be a sign of a failure in that communication link.
Roland