4Runner won’t stop locking itself

[Bootboy]

I went out to a dead battery this morning. While fidgeting around and popping my hood I could hear the car feebly actuating the locks periodically.

Got it jumped but now, whether the car is running not, and even when driving, the car locks itself every 5 seconds. Even when car is off and manually locked, the locks keep actuating, thus arming the security system. Now every time I go to unlock the car, the alarm goes off and the then locking continues and I have to disarm it by putting the key in the ignition. It’s getting old fast and I was wondering if anyone had any solutions or ideas.

I’ve disconnected the battery long enough to reset the computer, to no avail.

I’ll have to disconnect my battery tonight but I’ve got to get this figured out before a trip next week.

I don’t have the fob but the car did come with factory security.

Help!

 

[T4R2014]

Check the switches in the door jamb. I notice on mine that they stick in the closed position when cold.

 

[Bootboy]

Check the switches in the door jamb. I notice on mine that they stick in the closed position when cold.

Switches are good. No dice.

Warmest day in two weeks.

 

[T4R2014]

Switches are good. No dice.

Warmest day in two weeks.

Which one is it, the 97 or 2000? Two very different alarms. Also consider that it might have an aftermarket alarm that you don't know about. You won't know until you remove the kickpanel under the dash.

 

[Bootboy]

Which one is it, the 97 or 2000? Two very different alarms. Also consider that it might have an aftermarket alarm that you don't know about. You won't know until you remove the kickpanel under the dash.

2000.

It does have an aftermarket ignition disconnect with the little key under the steering wheel. I’ve never messed with it and it’s been fine for as long as I’ve owned the vehicle.

The after market system appears to be just for the ignition. When the key is removed the electrical in the car still works but the ignition doesn’t. I can’t see that it’s integrated with the cars factory security system at all.

As a side note, Ive heard those things are damn near impossible to remove and I’ve dreaded the day it gives me any problems.

 

[Gary Blake]

There was a thread with a similar problem not too long ago that had quite a few suggestions;

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-...ocking-rear-window-goes-down.html#post3199980

Same thing happened on mine with the locking/unlocking killing the battery, the rear window also kept going down by itself, got lucky and it was just loose connections on the fuse box behind the drivers side kick panel. Sometimes the fuse box itself goes bad. Other things to consider are the door lock actuators themselves and the rear tailgate ECU.

Gary

 

[spartacus]

Have you checked. the fuse labeled door ?

 

[Bootboy]

Have you checked. the fuse labeled door ?

In the kick panel fuse box?

I’ll look at it and let it air out in case moisture is the problem.

 

[Bootboy]

There was a thread with a similar problem not too long ago that had quite a few suggestions;

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-...ocking-rear-window-goes-down.html#post3199980

Same thing happened on mine with the locking/unlocking killing the battery, the rear window also kept going down by itself, got lucky and it was just loose connections on the fuse box behind the drivers side kick panel. Sometimes the fuse box itself goes bad. Other things to consider are the door lock actuators themselves and the rear tailgate ECU.

Gary

No issues with the rear window.

 

[Bootboy]

Have you checked. the fuse labeled door ?

There isn’t one

 

[Bootboy]

Pulled all my fuses looked good. Cleaned and flipped them. Still locking.

Disconnected both harnesses from driver door. Still locking. So it’s not the driver window actuator.

I guess my next step is to go in the rear hatch and check that stuff. I had the license plate bezel leak on my old 4Runner which lead to the disabling of the rear window from the front seat. This could be a similar issue I suspect. I’ll pull the lock/window assembly and clean and dry it.

Any other ideas?

 

[spartacus]

Pulled all my fuses looked good. Cleaned and flipped them. Still locking.

Disconnected both harnesses from driver door. Still locking. So it’s not the driver window actuator.

I guess my next step is to go in the rear hatch and check that stuff. I had the license plate bezel leak on my old 4Runner which lead to the disabling of the rear window from the front seat. This could be a similar issue I suspect. I’ll pull the lock/window assembly and clean and dry it.

Any other ideas?

My bad, check these three fuses 30amp by the driver door the ecu-ig, and the mpx-b.

 

[Bootboy]

Ok, so here’s the dealio:

Pulled the rear hatch apart. Pulling the middle of the 3 connectors just inside the interior panel stopped the problem.

I removed the bezel and the lock. Cleaned the lock and dried it. Reinstalled. Still no dice. But leaving the middle harness unplugged keeps the problem at bay. Only down side is I don’t have power to the hatch and really have to crank the key to lock it as there is no power lock assist.

Something in the rear hatch is wet and shorting out in the “locked” position which keeps telling the ECU that the hatch is being locked as if with the key.

I need new weatherstripping for the bezel anyway so I’ll wait a few days for things to dry out, reconnect and see what the status is. If things dry out and normal function resumes, then new weather stripping should solve the problem looking forward.

I needed to remember the first rule of troubleshooting:

Start with the easiest thing first.

 

[TheDurk]

This kind of weirdness is usually due to broken or shorted wires in the harness between the liftgate and the body up by the liftgate hinge. The antenna/receiver for the wireless lock system is in the liftgate so those wires control all the locks.

 

[StreetCreeper]

Throw some Holy water on it — def sounds possessed by the evil spirit of an 87 Dodge Aries k-car. Trust me on this.

Don’t ask ok — I’ve been places ... I’ve ... seen things ... things a man ought not see

 

[Lastplace]

I had the opposite problem, unlocking on my 2000. Reading on interweb was told it was the fuse block, replaced no change. Turned out to be a shorted wire going to the drivers side door lock. Unplugged it and the problem went away. Now you have to unlock door, open and hit the unlock switch to unlock all of the doors.