Gen 2 Power Door Lock Problem

[505sailor]

Hi All,
I have a 1989 V6LE Wagon. The driver's side door lock will not lock or unlock the other doors when using the key. The inside switch on the drivers door will lock all the doors doors but not unlock them. Everything operates normally on the passenger side door. Any thoughts on what it might be? Car has 178K on it, all in our family, great car! Thanks

[dem2757]

Your ground wire seems to be fine since you can lock the doors with the switch. You are going to have to take the door trim off and do a continuity test to see which wire is broken. W just fixed the ground wire (white black) on my car. The wires in the loom that span the door to the body get brittle and fray and eventually break over time. You most likely have a broken door relay wire inside that loom. Easiest fix is to just splice new wires.

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/o...1016101027.jpg

[zythr]

Sounds like a PITA job

[dem2757]

it is, even when you have the entire book of the electrical wiring for the car itself. Also i suggest checking your fuses to see if any have blown.

[hairball]

Heck, I had my Camry 14 months before I even found out you could unlock or lock all the doors instead of just the driver's door if you simply turn the key a second time within a few seconds. I never realized it, then after I hooked up my alarm I never have to use the keys in the doors.

But yes, the wires coming out of the door jamb that go into the door do break from so many years of opening and closing, so this could easily be your problem. I had that issue with my driver's window. It would only roll up or down when it wanted to! Sometimes it would move until I moved the door. I had to cut into the huge rubber tube the wires go through and indeed found a broken wire. Simple fix.

Here is how to test the switches (but I'm guessing it's a wire):

If you save this image and open it on your computer it will be big enough to read clearly.

[505sailor]

Thank you everyone! I'll start with the wires exiting the door and go from there. I may decide to just be happy if it gets to the point I have to take the door apart. Thanks for your replys.

Cheers!

[89Camry89]

Interesting. My car does the exact same thing. Mine is an 89 LE not a wagon. 4-cyl.

I can lock the doors with the switch, but it does not unlock any of the doors. Passenger side is fine.

With the key on driver's side it does not power unlock any doors, only manually unlocks the driver side. With the key on the passenger side, all doors power unlock.

I did a little bit of troubleshooting a while back but did not reach a conclusion. What a pain.

I will be very interested in reading about your resolution to the problem.

[hairball]

Well, the PROBLEM may be a mystery, but the CAUSE is obvious... it's like all the DRIVER's side locks, windows, seats, seat belts, doors, hinges, and everything else. The driver's side gets used and abuse more than any other area of the car! It's not just on Toyota, it's every car on the planet. Ever notice how many cars you have owned over the years where a driver's door hinge was bad but not the passenger side? Or how a driver's window was messed up but not the passenger side? Yep, it's just a matter of over-use.

I'm also anxious to find out what you found and how you fixed it. Good luck!

[dem2757]

There is actually a good DIY if you have the time and patient to do it. This was in the DIY sticky on the top of the forum pages. Its basically what i did, except we shimmied just one wire through to repair the broken ground wire. I still have more wires broken though as i cant lock all the doors automatically. Its a luxury, not a necessity. It justifies not pulling the door trim off one more time.


http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ness%20Repair/