Auto Door locks keep locking and locking
 

Ever since I got home from the car wash last night, my power door locks keep firing off on their own. They keep locking the doors repeatedly, sometimes triggering again before the last one was done. I pulled the remote's batteries to make sure it wasn't getting a button stuck or something. It doesn't trigger the signals when it goes off which means its probably something with the internal switches, right? At one point when it was firing off incessantly, the interior switches would not work to unlock the doors, but they would lock them, even tho they were locked. Doesn't seem to happen when I was driving this morning, but when I parked, it started again. I'm waiting for another unrelated part to come in before I go to the dealer so I don't make two trips. I'm just worried that this may wear out the lock mechanisms or kill my battery off while I'm at work. It didn't have much effect on the battery between when I went to bed and when I drove out this morning, but that was only like 5 hours. The full day has me nervous.

The ONE thing I did differently was to use the Spot-Free rinse at the carwash for 45 seconds. I hoped it was just filtering the water but it felt like there was something in the water and I'm wondering if it may be messing with something down in the door,...

Any ideas?

gremlins

suggestion for the time being:

-disconnect your battery while at work.

-water got into a logic circuit connection. tiny electrical leakage is throwing the circuit into mental chaos. It should fix itself in a week or less by simply drying out



IF salt water got into the circuit or connctions then (salty winter??) you should wash again and again. let the thing dry out- it will take days--- if time does not cure, warranty will.

path of least hassle? is? patience and a battery kill switch for ten bucks: the kind wiht the green screw-out knob/switch. Battery disconnect switches carry their own risks: Keep the connection clean and tight.

hope this helped

btw, the contant random operation won't wear out anything. these things don't "wear"; not the mechanics and not the electronics. Only age can hurt them. And water. :P

Mark, are the lock knobs themselves going all the way down? Maybe the kids stuck something in the little gap causing it not to close fully?

Yes, the knobs are all the way down. Kids haven't been in it in a week. At least it's not unlocking itself...

They don't use salt in CA, they use sand and not around here anyway. I usually wash it weekly so it seems odd that something new started getting wet now. That's why I'm wondering if whatever is in that rinse water maybe was more conductive than just water but seems unlikely. I'm going to try to pull the door panels off tonite and see if I can see anything that looks Abby-Normal...

I rolled all the windows down when I drove into the garage, but I often do that after a wash so I can listen to LoveLine...

Im at 34K+ miles so I need my other part to come in so I can go in ONCE while it's still under the B2B warranty and get it looked at.

I appreciate the suggestions, but the reason I buy new cars is so I don't have to mess with engineering around a problem

Mark, if you need help, call me.

yes, I know that salt is not used in Northern Ca. but I write suggesting another kind of gremlin which exists in other states.

Look: I doubt it's in a door but I do not know a thing specific about Scion electrics. I-think- that what you have in the door is solenoids and connectors and wiring leading back to a logic circuit which is very sensitive to stray currents.


A bit of water got, perhaps, into a connector to a solenoid in the door. It's bleeding a small current to the brain. the Brain farts.

Then, too, it could be water in the logic board itself? Well, if that's located in the engine compartment I suppose its possible. A bit of condensation perhaps. Hot engine, cold water, steam... fogs a circuit board. Maybe.

Wet micro electronics do not work well but do revive when returned to bone-dryness

ah, you can pull off door panels and speed the drying out. you won't find or see a thing wrong. The gremlin will go away anyway. YEAH, it does seem odd but it is clearly water ingress. First time for bad luck.

dry out :P

Mine does it every once in a while,I just figured I had a leak in the coax for cable TV.
It only does it when I am in the drive way parked under the coax,
But it could be water as that is where it gets washed at also.

Scott

I'm experiencing the same exact problem right now. The worst part is that I have an additional Add-on Hornet alarm. As the lock keeps locking, locking, locking, and etc.. the alarm siren goes off and makes a scene and I look like a crazy person with a new car that has a retarded alarm.

Wow, digging up a thread from the dead. My locks still do this occasionally, but they are pretty much blasted out from the overuse.

Got the same problem, already replaced one of the actuators and now going to the fuses. Its a bummer having to go out in subzero temps in a bathrobe at midnight to disconnect the battery because the panic alarm is going off.

It was the Passenger Side Actuator..
 

Replaced a 2nd actuator and it worked. The front door one was harder to replace than the backdoor one.

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