Chrysler Repair: 94 Lebaron Convertible, electronic door locks, lebaron convertible

Question
The electronic door locks on both doors have gone bad.  The mechanic said they are backordered so I haven't been able to drive the car for two weeks.  Can the car be driven without the electronic door locks being hooked up?

Answer
Hello Melody,
Yes you can get around the vehicle theft security system but not by disconnecting the door locks. What you have to do is disconnect the module that controls the whole theft system. It is located behind the glove box. The most important action is to always disconnect the plug to the module with the engine RUNNING, otherwise the engine controller will make it impossible to start the engine again without a special diagnostic tool that plugs in to the engine controller to reprogam it. It treats such a disconnect without the engine running as an attempt to steal the car!
Here is what you have to do. Remove the lower right instrument panel silencer (I believe this refers to a panel on the lower edge of the panel, under the glove box).
Remove the glove box assembly (This involves opening the glove box door and looking around the edge of the opening for all the screws and removing them, then the glove box will be removable by taking it out and under the panel).
Then you will see a horizontal bracket that holds the module in place. The module will have a natural color plastic plug with 21 pins and a similar number of wires running to it. If you can't get at the plug, then you remove 3 scres that hold the bracket in place on the intrument panel substructure. Then you can lower the bracket and module to get at the plug(s) (there may be several plugs actually). But remember to start the engine and have it running when you remove the plugs.
Then you will be able to start the car after you shut it off and the system will be disabled. You can either put it back together or drive it that way until the parts arrive.
After the parts are installed, you can plug the module back the way it was without having the engine running, so long as you only plug in, not remove any plugs. The system will not re-arm until you use the ignition switch 20 times (on-off).
I have a trouble shooting manual for the system if the mechanic is not able to get the system to work again with the new door switches. Is he certain that the problem is the door switches? There is a self test you can do now that will verify whether that is the problem or not. Let me know if you would like to try it.
I hope this will get you back on the road.
Roland