GEN 3 automatic door lock and window lifter issues

[nz-dude]

Hi TN,

my 92 Camry Prominent, Japanese Export has got some issues with the automatic door lock

it has got 4 automatic window lifters
the driver panel has 2 additional buttons for locking the windows and open/close of the doors. it has central locking. central locking only works from the driver's door ... not sure if it ever was supposed to central lock the car from the passenger's door???

Also, on the bottom right of the steering wheel there is a button to turn of/off the automatic door lock function ...

the automatic door lock kicks in the first time I drove faster then ~20km/h ... meaning the doors will be locked. To open all of them I need to press the button of the drivers panel. So far not a big deal, but I can't switch off this automatic door lock, so apparently the manual on/off switch next to the steering wheel has no function. There is also no way to open the doors while driving ... for instance if you didn't close a door properly, I have to stop and fix it, my passengers or I can't do this while driving ...

And in addition, there are a couple of things not working:
I can't lift the passengers window form the driver side. I can lower it though. I also can't lock the windows, so that only the driver can control the windows ...

All of it is not a big deal, but somehow annoying ... so since this car is 18 years old, I assume that maybe the cables in the door (between door and main body) have some issues or maybe it's the panel itself. I've read in the forum that quite a lot of logic and electronic goes through that driver panel.

Do you guys have experience, what the issue most likely could be?

Of course I could just take the driver's door apart and check it, but I'd like to have a clear idea of what I'm doing before I start doing it ... so my guess would be the drivers control panel or wires .... but maybe there is a fuse causing the door issues????

Regarding the window .... I could be the panel or the wires between door and main body ...

Maybe you guys have a couple of recommendations how to check what the issue is ... I've got a multimeter and some other basic electronic tools available ...

cheers

[Mister_Perkins]

the window problem could definitely be a wiring problem. If you have access to an electronics schematic, then you can find out what wires go where. Our cars have a floating ground system so the ground wires switch depending on what direction the window is going.. Before tearing into the door wiring though, take the door panel off and check the function of the switch to confirm your getting power on both functions. You say that it goes down, so if you probe the wire on the switch (keeping the switch and harness connected) Make sure the wires are getting power first. It could be a bad contact on the switch. If that checks out, then I would proceed to tearing into the door panel / junction connector.

As far as the automatic locking doors .. I'm really not sure what the problem is there. I have a gen 3 camry, but none of them have doors that lock at 20km/h. They have automatic locks, but you have to actually push the button to lock it.

Maybe some feature that isn't available in USDM I'm guessing. Maybe some pictures would help

[nz-dude]

alright ... sorry I've got nothing to take pic with at the moment ...
I just found a pretty bad pic in my collection, that might help ... apologies for the quality though:




the switch down there is SIMILAR to:



but is labeled AUTO ON / OFF ... and some Japanese words / characters ... and the symbol of a key ...

So I believe its the feature to turn the automatic door lock on and off ...

so if it would be off, then the doors won't lock automatically
if it's on, then den doors lock once you are driving ... I know this feature from quite a few German cars ...

but what those German cars have is, once you park, switch of the engine etc ... the doors open automatically ...

that is apparently the problem with my camry ... it lock automatically but you always have to manually unlock it either by pushing each doors button or the main one in the driver's panel ...

Does this make more sense?

[Mister_Perkins]

Makes sense but I am not familiar with this system. None of my wiring schematics list the automatic door locks while driving. I'm sorry ... Maybe one of these fellas outside of the USA have the correct fsm that they help

EDIT:
One thing you could try to do is to remove the knee bolster and see where that switch runs to.. May give you a better idea of where the problem might be