Door Locks Triggering Off Randomly

[thisisludicrous]

My '95 door locks have an intermittent problem, it's happened 2 or 3 times now within a month. It happens regardless of how I enter the car, whether the doors are already unlocked, or I have to unlock them with the key.

Once I'm driving, the door lock actuator begins to sporadically trigger the "off/unlock" mode for the locks on all 4 doors (I'm assuming the signal is coming from the master in the driver's door, or maybe even passenger's door). Sometimes in a stream of 8-10 'clicks,' sometimes just 1 or 2 at the car's whim.

During a 'stream,' I can't manually override with the driver's door lock/unlock button. The condition seems independent of the outside weather. It will happen for the entire drive time, up to at least 20 minutes, not stopping until I turn the car off. A day later, the condition will be gone.

A 365-day search through the site's archives didn't turn up anything. Coincidentally, the wife's '98 Sienna sometimes does the same exact thing. Pray tell, any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[ToddLS400]

Sounds spooky....

Both cars doing the same thing makes you wonder. Think about the remote unlock feature. Maybe you're depressing the remote by accident (in your pocket?) or you have a electronic device that triggers it? Maybe a cell phone that changes cell sites in a certain area (from digital to analog?) that somehow crosses the same frequency? That really sounds like a long shot but who knows?

Look where you're at (geographics) or remember where you were at and see if it happens in the same area again. It could be some RF interference in that area that is transmitting on the same frequency as your car's remote system. Microwave transmitter? You can report it to the FCC and they will investigate it pretty fast. They don't mess around.

[SKperformance]

real good advice todd

only other possibility is a wiring short

but in both cars

and tehy are toyotas

[VBdenny]

Yeah, that is wierd. did you take the key apart and see if it was dirty inside? Maybe there is some junk in the key that is causing it to short out. Does it do it with all your keys or just one?

[ToddLS400]

Yeah but with both cars VB? That's like winning the Lotto.

[thisisludicrous]

Good ideas - I don't actually have a remote for the LS400, just one standard issue laser-cut key that came with the car.

So, no remote to be accidentally pushed while in pocket, and no electronic key to be dirty inside. I DO have an dual-mode analog/digital cell phone in the car, so I'll remove that from the equation in the future. And I'll need to check out different geographic locations, per ToddLS400's suggestion.

A wiring short is my biggest fear. My indie Lexus repair shop doesn't like to track down electrical gremlins, and a 1+ hr drive to the nearest Lexus dealership for an intermittent problem sounds perilous, "Sorry, but your locks are working fine, we can't seem to find a problem. That'll be $80. Have a safe drive home."

The wife's Sienna has an aftermarket keyless entry/remote starter that I installed myself, so I thought I had bungled that one somehow. But now that the Lexus is doing something eerily similar...may have to check the Toyota TSBs. Thanks for the ideas, gents. If you can think of any others, please let me know.