lock or unlock the doors they constantly keep locking?

2012 TOYOTA COROLLA
130,000 MILES
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TONY02
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I have the car listed above that has a problem with the door locks, when I use the remote to lock or unlock the doors they constantly keep locking and unlocking even when I get inside the car they eventually stop when I start driving, this is more of an intermittent problem but it’s doing more often than usual I’ve disconnected the actuator one by one to see if that’s it but it’s not.
Aug 18, 2024 at 7:03 PM
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TONY02
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It also does it with the door lock switches on the driver and passenger side. I also took the battery out of the remote and unlocked it with the switches, but it still does the same thing.
Aug 18, 2024 at 7:05 PM
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STRAILER
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Yep, sometimes the switch inside the door latch goes bad which can cause the issue, usually the driver's side. I would start the car with the drive side window down then shut the door, with the door shut try to pull and then push on the door to see if the door locks act up. can I ask if this car has the "smart key"? The main body ECU controls the door locks which might be having an issue. We can tell for sure if you did a CAN scan. You can get a CAN scanner (Controller Area Network) which will work on most cars from Amazon.

Here is a video to show you how:

https://youtu.be/u-4syLc-ifQ

Please go over this guide and get back to us.
Aug 19, 2024 at 9:43 AM
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TONY02
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If smart key you mean that is has a remote to unlock the doors then yes, unfortunately I don’t have a CAN scanner just a regular OB2 scanner but I did try to pull and push on all doors but the door locks did not act up but now my door switch on both sides doesn’t want to unlock sometimes but will always allow me to lock.
Aug 20, 2024 at 2:00 PM
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STRAILER
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Thank you, the smart key door lock system is involved. It has a body ECU and a certification module; this is why I wanted to do a CAN scan but since the switch seems to be having an issue you might want to swap it out to see what happens. I would get the switch from Amazon so you can return it if it does not make a difference.

Here is one for $35.00:

https://amzn.to/4fRoDKq

Here is how to change the master window switch out. Check out the images (below). Let us know how it goes.
Aug 21, 2024 at 8:57 AM
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TONY02
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Okay, thanks, I’ll give that a try. but just wanted to ask wouldn’t it make a difference it a disconnect and in theory it should stop the problem, wouldn’t it? Because I’ve disconnected the driver side switch, and it still does the same thing so I’m kind of believing that’s not the problem.
Aug 21, 2024 at 9:16 AM
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STRAILER
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Okay, that is telling us the body ECU could be bad, that is why I wanted to do the CAN scan. Here is the location and how to replace it in case a code comes up for it. The only other thing I can think of is one of the latches is bad, you might want to disconnect the latches one at a time as well, I would start with the driver's door.
Aug 22, 2024 at 9:16 AM
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TONY02
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Yes, i disconnected all the actuators one at a time and I still seem to have the issues if i replace the body ECU is there any programming I have to do or just swap the parts and that’s it?
Aug 22, 2024 at 1:32 PM
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STRAILER
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I believe it needs to be programmed as all other cars do, you can get a preprogrammed unit by searching Google or Ebay.
Aug 23, 2024 at 7:13 AM
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TONY02
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Okay, thanks I’ll look into it.
Aug 23, 2024 at 8:04 AM
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STRAILER
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Sounds good, have a nice weekend.
Aug 23, 2024 at 8:55 AM