I have a 97 Avalon. The headlights are supposed to go on when the ignition is turned on, and turn off when the door opens after the ignition is turned off.. On my 97, this usually happens, but occasionally (especially in winter), the lights remain on and drain the battery.
Is there anything short of replacing the computer that will resolve this? We try to use the lights the opld fashioned way (TURN THEM OFF!), but we get seduced by the system working most of the time.
Dave
There are 2 relatively inexpensive things you an do to prevent the headlights from draining the battery.
1) check to make sure that the courtesy light switches are working properly. The courtesy light switches are under rubber boots on the door jambs, and if they stick, they will not pop out when the door is opened. Carefully peel back the rubber boot and give the switch a shot of WD-40 and make sure the plunger moves freely. 2) install a lights on alarm, available at auto parts stores.
I bet it's #1. On my '98 Avalon XLS I've been having similar headlight gremlins, and now I recall it roughly tracks the driver's courtesy lights switch's anomalous behavior. I'll report whether Ray's fix relieves the situation.
Ray, I've also been having phantom door-lockings that I think might have the same trigger. Is that plausible?
When I give multiple possible causes/cures for a condition, I try to list them in the order of likelihood of cause/success. Occasionally, I think of somthing else and stick it on at the end. Having a repair manual for each vehicle would make diagnosis a little easier so I don't have to rely on my memory.
Does the phantom locking occur when the car is running or when it is parked?
Toyotas with power door locks have a switch/sensor in the lock cylinder that will keep you from using the power door lock switch to lock the door with the door open and the key in the ignition, but I have not heard of that system working in reverse, where it unintentionally locks the doors.
I know some Avalons have the auto door-lock if the car goes above a certain speed, but I believe that feature came in later models.
The motor must be off.
I took the Avalon for service a couple of weeks ago. I left the key in the ignition with the ignition off and all doors closed and the windows up. When the service rep went to move the car, the doors were locked. I had to pay for an emergency key.
This uninvoked locking happens intermittently whether the driver's door is open or closed. When it happens it always occurs around the
30-second mark after the door was opened, although I haven't clocked itThe service rep said it happens often and there's no way to fix it. A mechanic actually claimed it was supposed to be that way. I'm thinking your idea about the courtesy light switch just might be the ticket to happier motoring.
Our Prius has it right. If there's a key anywhere inside, it won't let you lock the car. It simply sounds three beeps and leave the car unlocked. That's an advantage of the SmartKey system.
My guess is that it's a fairly common fault
Yes. That's not on my car.
And even the version without SmartKey gets it right, IMHO: unlock the car but then fail to open it in some way (door or rear hatch) within around 30sec and it relocks itself. OTOH open the car and it waits for you to do a locking action (remote or mechanical key are equivalent -- as established in a thread a week or two back). The way it's constructed, you cannot use the remote while the fob is in the dashboard or get at the mechanical key held in the fob. I haven't tested other, obscurer, screw-up modes. But you really have to put some effort into locking yourself out.
Even so, I am careful: as we see in this thread, stuff can break.
The factory keyless entry system is designed to re-lock the doors after unlocking with the remote if one of the doors is not opened within around 30 seconds. When exiting the car with the engine off, the doors are not supposed to lock with a key in the ignition unless you close the doors first and then lock with a key.
There is a switch in the ignition lock cylinder that is activated if the key is in the cylinder, and it may be bad. If the switch is bad or intermittent, the system would not know that the key is in the ignition.
If the courtesy light switch in the door jamb is sticking, the system would not know that the door is open. Unsticking the courtesy light switch is an easy do-it-you yourself job, as I mentioned before.
My guess is that a combination of several factors is what is causing the anti-lockout feature to not work.
(Not picking on anyone in particular, just a "General Rant")
So how hard is it to always have a second car key in your pocket? And/Or if you have a regular passenger or second user of the car (husband, wife, teen) they have the other key in theirs?
If I'm going out with others, I give them a car key for the day - If we get separated, they know where to meet up.
I can't understand people who walk out the door with one car key on them, and the Spare is hanging on a hook at home, 20 miles away. Or worse, 500 miles. And the front door key to the house is on the same key ring that's locked in the trunk...
Stuff Happens. "I thought you had the key, so I locked the car..."
Keys get dropped in the trunk and forgotten when you are loading the groceries, keys fall on the back seat. 'Key in Ignition' sense switches wear out and allow the automatic lock feature to trigger.
Go to the Auto Club and get a Key Card cut and stash it in your wallet. Do Something Practical. Think Ahead.
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