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Door won't lock with headlights on

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by shaun5stu, Apr 19, 2010.

  1. shaun5stu

    shaun5stu Junior Member

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    Just noticed this this morning. I drove to work with my headlights on. Parked the car, shut it off, and exited the car. Tried to lock the car by touching the handle. The doors would not lock. I noticed my headlights were on, so I turned them off, and then locking the car by touching the handle worked.

    To test this again, I unlocked the car, turned the lights on, then tried locking by touching the handle. Nothing. I could use the key fob to lock the door (which also shut the headlights off), but it seems I cannot lock the door using the handle if the headlights are on. Is this normal operation? (Gen III, by the way.)
     
    #1 shaun5stu, Apr 19, 2010
  2. Wix

    Wix Junior Member

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    Take it to a dealer. It must be a setting that needs to be changed.
     
    #2 Wix, Apr 19, 2010
  3. Tickwood

    Tickwood Active Member

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    Since the headlights stay on for maybe 30 seconds after I park I always lock the car with the headlights on. Something does not compute.
     
    #3 Tickwood, Apr 19, 2010
  4. PriusCrazy

    PriusCrazy Blizzard Pearl for Me

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    Just checked mine... Opened the door, turned on the lights, closed the door and locked it by touching the handle. The lights stayed on BTW. Just to double-check, I layed the key fob down out of range and tried to open the door...

    Sounds like something is amiss with your situation. Are you sure the other key fob isn't somewhere inside the car?
     
    #4 PriusCrazy, Apr 19, 2010
  5. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    Wrong test. You need to turn the headlights on while the car is on, not off (as you would during normal driving). If after shutting off you turn the headlights on, auto off won't work.

    Did you turn the headlights on before starting up the car this morning?
     
    #5 32kcolors, Apr 19, 2010
  6. going red baby!

    going red baby! still a n00b

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    So are you saying that the car won't lock because it knows the auto off won't work? I would love it if that is the case because I'm afraid to trust the auto off since things have to be done in a certain order for it to work. So I just make sure I turn the lights off myself, even if I've already locked the car I open it again and turn off the lights.
     
    #6 going red baby!, Apr 21, 2010
  7. shaun5stu

    shaun5stu Junior Member

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    Hmm.. The first time this happened, I think I turned the headlights on after I started the car. For the other times i tested, the car was off when I turned the headlights on. Don't recall what happened this morning, but I will check it out again.
     
    #7 shaun5stu, Apr 21, 2010
  8. shaun5stu

    shaun5stu Junior Member

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    Performed another test at lunch today. Started the car, turned the headlights on, shut off the car, and tried to lock the doors by touching the door handle. Nothing. I repeated the test, this time putting the car in gear and moving it slightly. Still could not lock the doors. Tried touching just the top of the door handle and also both top and bottom simultaneously. No matter what I try, I am unable to lock the doors by touching the handle with the headlights on. With the headlights off, I can.

    I checked the owners manual and this does not appear to be a setting the dealer can change (at least, not one that's listed in the manual).

    Again, I can lock the doors using the button on the key fob, which will turn the lights off. But I can't do it by touching the door handle.
     
    #8 shaun5stu, Apr 21, 2010
  9. ABL

    ABL Member

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    I just did the same test. Start, Turn headlights on, Stop (Ignition Off) Open the door slide hand across door handle and door locks and lights go off after 30 second timeout as designed. Call your dealer handle should work with the headlights on or off.
     
    #9 ABL, Apr 21, 2010
  10. toyolover

    toyolover Member

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    Take it back to the dealer. Ask to check their demo car. My locks alright. No problem as you indicated.
     
    #10 toyolover, Apr 25, 2010
  11. shaun5stu

    shaun5stu Junior Member

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    Took it back to the dealer yesterday. They said they didn't do anything, but they must have because now it is working. With the headlights on, you have to touch the door handle twice to lock it. This is how the dealer said it should work and how my wife's Prius works.
     
    #11 shaun5stu, Apr 26, 2010
  12. toyolover

    toyolover Member

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    You don't have to touch the door handle twice to lock it, even with the headlights on. I only need to touch mine once to lock. Why didn't you ask them to try one of their's in front of your eyes? If they claimed they didn't do anything and now it works (with two touches), there is obviously something wrong with the control chips or handle sensor. If they don't want to perform any diagnostic or repair, take it to another dealer.
     
    #12 toyolover, Apr 27, 2010
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