Doors Locking Spontaneously

[claydoctor]

Several times lately , while in the garage with my keys lying on the workbench , the car has been locking itself . I'll pick up the keys and unlock it but within 10-15 seconds it locks itself again . I read the manual and it says something about how if you unlock the car with the remote and don't open the door within 30 seconds it will lock itself again but I'm not unlocking the car with the key fob . I'm nowhere near the keys when it starts doing this . It just seems to decide to lock itself out of the blue . Any thoughts

 

[eddiebx]

I am not sure if this is the same with Toyotas...but I remember on my old Hondas, I think it's usually a sign of a failing door lock actuator?

Do you just see it lock itself, or do you see it lock itself and the signal lights blink (as if you pressed the lock button on the remote)?

 

[riceandpho]

Take the battery out of the remote and see if the truck still doing it, also is it just keyless entry you have or an actual alarm.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I am not sure if this is the same with Toyotas...but I remember on my old Hondas, I think it's usually a sign of a failing door lock actuator?

Do you just see it lock itself, or do you see it lock itself and the signal lights blink (as if you pressed the lock button on the remote)?

Its also very common in European Cars also.

 

[claydoctor]

Take the battery out of the remote and see if the truck still doing it, also is it just keyless entry you have or an actual alarm.

I think it is just a keyless remote . The only alarm I have , to my knowledge , is a panic button on the remote . It only does it sporadically so taking the battery out of the remote would not tell me much. I will say , I have only seen it happen when it is in close proximity to the remote . The remote is in my pocket or nearby .

 

[WXman]

My 4R started doing this back in April. It would also randomly change the radio station by itself. After I replaced the battery (TRUCK BATTERY, not key fob battery) all my problems went away.

Today's vehicles have very sophisticated electrical systems and any voltage drop across the system whatsoever can do weird things. I would recommend a new battery if you have had yours for quite some time.

 

[claydoctor]

My 4R started doing this back in April. It would also randomly change the radio station by itself. After I replaced the battery (truck battery, not key fob battery) all my problems went away.

Today's vehicles have very sophisticated electrical systems and any voltage drop across the system whatsoever can do weird things. I would recommend a new battery if you have had yours for quite some time.

Yeah, in retrospect , that is probably the problem . I will try replacing the key fob battery . Thanks .

 

[yeauxkna_at]

My car right as it ran out of warranty had 2-3 actuators go out. The car would not lock. So when i would lock it would move back to unlock. Sounds like a similar issue. Or you just may have someone locking with the other set?

 

[WXman]

Yeah, in retrospect , that is probably the problem . I will try replacing the key fob battery . Thanks .

Read my post again, I was not talking about the key fob battery. :artist2:

 

[claydoctor]

Read my post again, I was not talking about the key fob battery. :artist2:

Sorry ! I did replace key fob battery . When I got home late this afternoon , I drove in the garage , rolled down the windows and turned off the ignition .
I just went into the garage to get something out of the car . It's sitting there with all the windows down and the doors are all locked . Key fob was in the house somewhere . In that condition , it is also apparently true that you can't reach in the vehicle through an open window and unlock it with the door switch . As for the main battery , it is the second one and was replaced sometime within the past year . Toyota factory battery . I've had the truck since Fall of 2005 . Bought it new . I'm not confident about figuring this out because after 180,000 miles , I still haven't figured out the automatic HVAC system .

 

[MICA4R]

if you hit unlock and dont do anything for 30 seconds i believe your vehicle will automatically lock all doors.

 

[claydoctor]

if you hit unlock and dont do anything for 30 seconds i believe your vehicle will automatically lock all doors.

CORRECT . (read original post) but today as I said , I stopped the car, rolled down windows and turned off ignition . I did not lock it . When I came back later , it had locked itself . Not supposed to do that . Especially makes no sense with the windows rolled down .

 

[toybox]

I replaced my battery with a factory toyota battery and it must have been a bad one because 8 months later it was going bad. took it back and they confirmed that the battery was bad and replaced for free since it was Toyota and it wasn't that old.

 

[stevec5000]

Several times lately , while in the garage with my keys lying on the workbench , the car has been locking itself . I'll pick up the keys and unlock it but within 10-15 seconds it locks itself again . I read the manual and it says something about how if you unlock the car with the remote and don't open the door within 30 seconds it will lock itself again but I'm not unlocking the car with the key fob . I'm nowhere near the keys when it starts doing this . It just seems to decide to lock itself out of the blue . Any thoughts

Either your kid is playing with the other remote or something is laying on top of it in the drawer that is heavy enough to press the buttons sometimes when it's disturbed.
Same thing happened on the Leo Laporte Tech Guy Show last week. A women called in who couldn't figure out why characters kept getting typed on her PC all by themselves, turned out to be her kid playing with her wireless keyboard! LOL
Why does my keyboard type numbers and letters on its own? | The Tech Guy

 

[TRDCal]

It only does it sporadically so taking the battery out of the remote would not tell me much. I will say , I have only seen it happen when it is in close proximity to the remote . The remote is in my pocket or nearby .

If you take the battery out and the problem goes away, then you put the battery back in and the problem comes back and repeat a couple times, bingo tells you everything you need to know. It could be shorted internally...did you ever get it wet?