Driver side door lock possessed (Unlocking itself)

[4RunnerIdiot]

My driver side door lock has started randomly unlocking itself. So far, I can't find a consistent way to make it happen, but it will happen after all four ways of locking the door, sometimes.

These four ways are: locking it with the fob, putting it in drive, hitting the lock button on the door, and manually flipping the lock on the door.

It is not failing to lock, it is locking, and then immediately unlocking as if the unlock button on the fob was hit. Sometimes it will stay locked until I move the door, then it will spontaneously unlock again. It doesn't always do it, but I'm worried that at some point, it will happen a while after locking it and my vehicle will be sitting there unlocked without me knowing. It is only the driver side door. When it is happening, it keeps happening over and over unless I do something differently. Like open the door, lock and then unlock it manually, close the door, and try the fob again. A couple times I just waited like 5 seconds, tried again, and it stayed locked.

 

[rwh963]

possibly a short in the cable bundle exiting the drivers door? i had a crv that started acting up as well. the locks would sometimes lock themselves. eventually only the drivers system worked with fob or master. was told the cables leaving the drivers door were probably frayed, causing spontaneous action, then nothing. i never fixed it, just operated it the old fashioned way with the key or manually inside.

 

[4RunnerIdiot]

possibly a short in the cable bundle exiting the drivers door? i had a crv that started acting up as well. the locks would sometimes lock themselves. eventually only the drivers system worked with fob or master. was told the cables leaving the drivers door were probably frayed, causing spontaneous action, then nothing. i never fixed it, just operated it the old fashioned way with the key or manually inside.

Yeah, I was thinking a short, but thought it was weird that it pretty much only happened when locking the door, even manually. Makes me think it has to be something wrong with the actuator itself, since with the door closed, and the lock being moved manually, nothing else is physically moving besides the actuator.

 

[2003-4x4runner]

sounds like it your lock actuator. You can buy a remanufactured one on ebay for $50.00 and it comes with a lifetime warranty. The seller only asks that you send in your old actuator.

 

[Dadeveryday]

Door lock actuator

Dont be afraid to take the actuator out and look up how to dissasemble, you may find a simple issue. I took mine apart and replaced the little motor inside and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. Just take pictures along the way and have a mirror, flashlight and time handy. Also, get QD cleaner by crc and you can pull each wiring connector off and spray them out with the electronics cleaner and then put dialectric grease on them. And check fuses, you would be suprised how many fuses and be close to bad but not actually faulty all the way