Power Door Lock problem

[scoutboy74]

Hello all. Please bear with as this will be a long and winding road. I searched the archives and did not find anything close enough to the issue I'm about to detail. My friend has a '96 Legacy wagon equipped with the poorest excuse for a PDL system I've ever encountered. Several months ago, she experienced problems with her battery running down and leaving her stranded. We replaced the battery as it was quite old and failed load tests. After about two months with the new battery and tight, clean terminals, the same thing happened again. We had already determined that the charging system was working fine before the old battery was replaced. I immediately began to suspect a dead short as the culprit and was able to confirm the presence of such in about 5 minutes. No wonder her battery kept running down with the constant drain. I then began the process of isolating which circuit was shorting out. I soon discovered it was the 15A fuse in the block under the hood which corresponds to the Clock/Room circuit. Pull that fuse, no more short. Obviously without that fuse, the clock, station memory and interior lights are negatively affected if not completely inoperable. What I didn't expect is that removing this fuse would also render the PDL inop as well. I know the locks have their own 20A fuse in the panel under the dash, I believe it is number 11. I verified the presence of voltage at that location and the fuse is good. The locks should work. Why would there be a relationship between the clock, interior lights and door locks? Logic dictates that there shouldn't be one, but sure enough, when I replace that clock fuse, the locks are once again functional and so to is the dreaded dead short. I must keep in mind that this is a disposable contrivance and not a real vehicle like an IHC Scout. Sorry Subee lovers! The sound system is factory original and to my knowledge has never been out of the dash. If I had to take a wild azz guess, which I hate doing when it comes to auto repair, I'd suspect that the PDL switch is malfunctioning. Which begs the following questions: 1. Where is the switch located? 2. Are replacements readily available? 3. Will she have to surrender her first born in order to cover the cost of said item? Anyone ever have a similar issue? Any obvious things I'm overlooking? Her budget is extra tight like a lot of other folks out there. this is her only transportation. A new Hoopdy is not in her immediate future. While the car is still quite driveable, this problem is quite nervewracking for her nonetheless. I'd be a superhero in her eyes if I could solve this for her in an economic fashion:wub:. Thanks in advance for taking the time to follow along and for posting any helpful thoughts and suggestions on this matter.

[stevenva]

The "switch"? This 96 Legacy operates with a master/slave system. The drivers lock and key act as the switch for the 3 door lock motors. Yes, 3 door lock motors. Since the drivers door lock and key act as the switch, The drivers door has no motor in it. Similar to Hyundai and some Mazdas. Perhaps you would have gotten an answer sooner if you didn't come across as sounding like an ass while trying to ask for help. If you left out the comments, "this is a disposable contrivance and not a real vehicle like an IHC Scout" "poorest excuse for a PDL system I've ever encountered", You surely would have gotten a response sooner. Grow up