Drivetrain Whine: Car has a noticeable whine in 1st/2nd gear. Any idea what would cause that?

Door Lock Gremlins: when locking / unlocking the doors using the key fob, the door locks will go through the lock/unlock cycle multiple times. Even while driving, the doors will randomly go through the lock/unlock cycle multiple times. The driver door electric lock actuator does not work at all.

At Idle: engine idles along smoothly, then a random "kick" as though it has skipped a beat.

Any ideas on this?

 

Differentials are prone to failure, preceded by noise/whine. Not sure why it would only be present in 1/2 and not 3 and 4, though, so I would start with a renewal of the transmission fluid.

Replace that driver door lock and I suspect your other lock issues will cease and desist. You probably have driveaway locking enabled ....same mechanism at play with the FOB...you lock the doors, the SLCM is not satisfied with a "4 down 'n locked" report because the failed driver's door is not reporting...so it cycles the locks and checks again.

Remove the coil cover and fire the car up in the dark. Observe the coils to see if any are exhibiting a lightning show. If not, pull all those coils and fit a new set of plugs. Put it all back together and hope the problem doesn't return. These cars are not keen to set a misfire code, so if you don't have the MiL illuminated, chances are it will be hard to know which cylinder is responsible. You could buy one coil (read the coil thread first, though) and replace number 1. If the problem recurrs, put the coil removed from #1 into #2 and retry....continue apace until you don't have the problem anymore....that'd be your problem coil. As last resort, maybe try replacing the crankshaft position sensor. These are prone to fail at 100k mi plus, but normally result in stalling or more likely, no-start situations...though much mischief has been attributed to the component of late.

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