Why is my jeep locking itself?

I have a 2004 Jeep Liberty. I was in my garage when it unlocked itself. I used my key fob to lock it back. A few seconds later the Jeep again unlocked itself. After several lockings and unlockings I decided to just leave it unlocked. However, even unlocked, the Jeep tries to unlock itself about every 30 seconds. Help?

I’ve turned the Jeep engine on and off to see if that would reset anything, but no luck. Eventually I’m sure it will drain the battery. Any idea what could possibly cause this and maybe fix it?

I did move my key fob far away from my jeep to make sure it wasn’t the key fob acting up, and it wasn’t. I would be okay with even bypassing the auto lock to stop and simply inserting my key into the lock to lock and unlock the door in the future.

Děkujeme za radu.

posted by ratherbethedevil to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

Maybe Captain-Obvious, but starting at the start. cars normally come with at least two fobs, so track down the other one.

Also, check all the door unlock switches inside the car, in case one is stuck or has something jamming it closed. Check that they’re not stuck, and also check that every single unlock system is working properly (ie the car instantly unlocks when you touch the button, as it should.) If hitting the switch does not instantly unlock the door, then (I’m guessing) the switch (or the wiring to it) might be shorted or damaged, which might be the problem.
posted by anonymisc at 4:15 PM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

Happened to me with my partner’s car when the battery inside the key fob was dying. Shortly after the phantom unlocking, it was completely kaput. Could have been coincidence, though, I guess.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:24 PM on November 18, 2015 [4 favorites]

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posted by mudpuppie at 4:24 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don’t believe it’s the key fob because even when it’s out of its range the unlocking continues.

Could it be as simple as finding the correct fuse and taking it out? Sorry, not great around cars.

My jeep is 2010 and it was the battery.
posted by justgary at 4:38 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

How far away? 50 yards? A mile? Try wrapping it in foil to completely block the RF signals from the fob.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:47 PM on November 18, 2015

Tossing you fob in your fridge will attenuate the signal sufficient to prevent it working. Make sure you do this with all the fobs you have. I had a similar problem caused by the spare fob for my car hanging on our key rack.

ratherbethedevil: » I would be okay with even bypassing the auto lock to stop and simply inserting my key into the lock to lock and unlock the door in the future. «

The number 4 fuse in your fuse panel is for power locks but it is also one of three fuses labeled body control module so pulling it might make other things not work. No real harm in trying it though.
posted by Mitheral at 4:53 PM on November 18, 2015

Response by poster: I thought I was out of range with the fob, but I’ll wrap in in foil and throw it in the fridge to make sure.

Thanks for the fuse number! I’ll give it a try as well.

I unhooked the battery until the morning when I’ll try all these suggestions. Thanks for the help.
posted by ratherbethedevil at 5:05 PM on November 18, 2015

I have a 2001 VW that will sometimes lock the doors on its own. The culprit is the circuit board in the door that runs the electro-mechanical locking system. Essentially, the board fails in a way that makes the central locking system think the doors should be locked.

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I suspect something similar is happening in your Jeep, only it thinks the doors should be unlocked.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:37 PM on November 18, 2015

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Forgive me if this is in the wrong place or has been covered, but it’s a bit of an emergency. I’m on a road trip in my CRD, sitting outside a concert venue waiting for a show, and the Jeep has suddenly started automatically triggering the door locks repeatedly. Once every 5 seconds, click. It will stop when I turn the ignition switch on (don’t have to start engine), but start doing it again after a few minutes. Just keeps going and going. I don’t want it doing this all night while I’m in this concert, at the hotel, etc. I can disconnect the battery I guess, but any ideas why this might be happening? This is really frustrating.

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Předmět příspěvku: Re: door locks keep automatically locking over and while pa
Zaslal: Po 10. 2014. 12 43:XNUMX

Ztracený feťák

Is your key FOB on the fritz? Did you try removing the battery from it to see if the locking/unlocking stops? I’m just brainstorming. I have not heard of this specific problem before.

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Předmět příspěvku: Re: door locks keep automatically locking over and while pa
Zaslal: Po 10. 2014. 12 53:XNUMX

LOST člen

Is your key FOB on the fritz? Did you try removing the battery from it to see if the locking/unlocking stops? I’m just brainstorming. I have not heard of this specific problem before.

Yep, just tried removing batteries from both fobs, still goes. This is so strange. Maybe its a bad actuator? Really stinks to have this come up now, I’m 700 miles from home and have concerts the next two days. I don’t want to run down the battery or get locked out of the car ( or in it, ha . Guess that can’t happen as there’s the manual plunger).

Předmět příspěvku: Re: door locks keep automatically locking over and while pa
Zaslal: Po 10. 2014. 3 13:XNUMX

Doživotní člen

Try disconnecting the engine battery for 10 minutes or so which may reboot the system.

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Předmět příspěvku: Re: door locks keep automatically locking over and while pa
Zaslal: Po 10. 2014. 3 50:XNUMX

Doživotní člen

I had this happen on my Chevy. Turned out to be a battery on the edge of going bad. Do a load test on your battery and see if it dips below voltage for the temp your testing. I think its 9.1v for 32F.

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Předmět příspěvku: Re: door locks keep automatically locking over and while pa
Zaslal: Po 10. 2014. 4 43:XNUMX

LOST člen

It’s a brand new battery but I suppose it could be a dud. I’ll check it out and try disconnecting as well. For now I’ve just taken the fuse out and using the key manually.

Předmět příspěvku: Re: door locks keep automatically locking over and while pa
Zaslal: Čt 20. února 2014 7:05

LOST člen

Hi guys, I’m bumping this to update the symptoms and hoping maybe someone can direct me as to where to even start.
The Jeep hasn’t been locking itself recently, but I’ve had the alarm go off spontaneously a couple times, and what happens all the time now is the «passenger door open» warning coming in, with the door clearly shut, while parked, driving, etc. I have to turn the dome lights off. Sometimes the warning stays on, other times it comes on and off rapidly, complete with incessant chime while I’m trying to drive. It did this for a short portion of a trip I went on in Oct. as well, then never did it once until now.
The battery is new, so it’s done it now on two different batteries. I’m now resorting to leaving it with the battery unplugged so it doesn’t drain it or do who knows what else. I was just taking the door lock fuse out, but now it’s not just that problem.
My best guess at this point is some short in that door, which could also have caused the self-locking issue. Should I just pull the door lining off and look? Maybe the wiring at the door hinge? Where can I find a wiring diagram?
I’ll probably end up having to take it to the dealer, where I’m sure they’ll charge me $100 just to check for codes (which I’ve done: none) let alone anything else. But if there’s anything obvious I can check for first, I’d like to do it.

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