[NB Ranger]

Maybe someone can shed some light on this issue I'm having.

My passenger side door lock controls work just fine, they open and lock the entire car.

On the driver's side, the button for unlocking the car works, but the button for locking the car does not. It doesn't even make a tick sound. Literally nothing happens when you press it.

I know it's not the lock control assembly itself, because I have two window/lock control assemblies and they both are fully functional except for the door lock control.

Is it a fuse? Is it a break in the wiring?

 

[71Corolla]

Most likely a break in the wiring.

 

[NB Ranger]

I went through my Haynes manual to see if I could find the relay as it was pictured here:

I wasn't sure whether that was the exact spot however, because I kept hearing a clicking noise whenever I toggled the lock button, the sound was definitely coming from the passenger side, so I decided to take apart the glove compartment and see if I can get behind there. It's accessible by removing the 4 screws holding the inside of the glove compartment and then removing the 5th screw which holds the arm that allows the compartment to open/close.

After removing the glove compartment, this is what the inside looks like:

Here's where I got a little confused. Again, I'm not adept at figuring cars out, I build computers, but never really dabbled in cars before since this is my first. I found the door control module but I'm not sure if this is a relay as well. To be clearer, I don't know if the wires coming from this meet again somewhere else, and then split up to service the two doors:

I decided to take it apart anyway, to see if any contacts were messed up:

Another photo of the module (When I first bought my gaming mouse, one of the selling points I read was something about "Omron" switches. It didn't make much sense to me, but now it does. It's amazing that technology that's in my '89 Camry is in my gaming mouse as well):

Everything seemed to be in order so I just put it together and re-assembled the glove compartment. Driver's side door lock still doesn't work, but I got to learn a little bit more about my car today. If it really is a wiring issue, I think I'm not even going to bother. I don't want to take off entire door panels and dashboards to find a small break in one cable, when the other lock on the passenger side still works.

Hope you guys enjoyed the photo dump.

 

[71Corolla]

Nice pics.

The lock control module has an external relay module as part of the system. It was added early in the production of these cars due to failures of the main module. To repair the wires, you will need to remove the door panel, and remove the connectors behind the kick panel and the harness out of the door frame. Remove the tape and pull away the boot and solder in new sections of wire.

It's not the easiest job, the best way to do the repair I've found is cut a section out of the harness from a donor car (where there is no flex) and use those wires to replace the broken sections. The last time I did this repair I replaced all the wires so I'd never have to do the job again.

Omron has been around a long time, I recall buying their relays many years ago. High quality made in Japan.

edit- you should confirm a bad wire by using an ohm meter before you start ripping apart the harness.

 

[NB Ranger]

Right, I figured I went after the wrong module. Thanks for the step by step instructions. I copied it to a notepad in case I ever get brave enough to try that. For now I'll just deal with leaning over and locking from the passenger side like I always have.

 

[cd8000]

Is there a way to disable the power door locks on the camry without disabling the power windows?

 

[NB Ranger]

Is there a way to disable the power door locks on the camry without disabling the power windows?

I'm not sure. When I took apart the door control module, the door locks didn't work, obviously, but I wasn't curious enough to try out the windows.

Try it out. Taking apart the glove compartment and reaching that module should take you less than 10 mins tops. Just remove those 5 screws and you're good to go.

 

[NB Ranger]

On second thought, that's retarded. The window is on the door, and the module says door control, so...yeah. I'm betting nothing will work.

 

[white90dx]

The Door Control Relay only does stuff for the door locks. Why would you want to disable the power locks?

-Charlie

 

[cadillacdude1975]

my passenger door lock hangs when locking the car. it has to be pushed down so it locks. it unlocks fine. i had an old cadillac that started doing that. now i dont know what the lock solenoid looks like on the camry, but the one on the cadillac had a dust boot that protected the shaft and the top of the solenoid.

over the years, the rubber boot cracked and dry rotted, and it allowed moisture to get in there and corrode the lock shaft and the solenoid. then it just burnt up from trying to lock and unlock the door.