subiefan Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 (I apologize in advance for the long post.) I know I have not posted here in a while, and I have a good reason. I have had no problems with my subie! I posted a while ago about my mystery misfire and gas guzzling. I tried just about everything I could think of but finally gave in and ended up taking it to the dealership. There diagnosis: "Plugs not torqued properly" and "the throttle body looked like it had never been cleaned before." They re-torqued the plugs, cleaned the throttle body, and sent me home with advice to put in a good fuel injector cleaner and premium gas. (I think my stealership - oops...I meant dealership- wants me to loose as much money as possible. EXPENSIVE fuel injector cleaner and premium gas at $2.70 something a gallon!) I guess I shouldn't complain though, because it seems to have fixed it. The car does not run rough now and gets good mpg. But now my poor subie has a new problem. The doors now like to lock all by themselves whenever they want to.:-\ I discovered this about a week ago when I was getting into the car. I thought I had just bumbed the switch with my arm, but then they locked again when I pulled the door shut. However, when they lock by themselves, the driver's door does NOT lock; just the other three doors do.The problem happens completely at random. It doesn't matter if the car is parked, stopped at a light, moving, etc. This isn't a major problem but it is annoying. It is a 96 Impreza Sedan. If any of you have any ideas about my "lock phantom" they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. ~edit~ Before you ask, I have read some posts about aftermarket alarms causing this sort of probelm. As far as I know, my car does not have an aftermarket alarm sytem, remote starting system, or anything similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiefan Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 Hmm... 20 views and no replies. Must be a confusing little bug. :-\ I don't mean to sound impatient. It's just odd, that's all. Please take your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaySun Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 i have a 90 legacy wagon and it does the same thing. as to the source??? i just quit worrying about it and told my passengers that they don't know how to open doors properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoPete Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Hi! I also have a '96 Impreza sedan, although it has never had that problem. The Haynes manual shows that the door lock switch on the driver's door applies or removes a ground to the "door lock timer". This timer supplies both the power and ground to all the door lock motors to lock/unlock the doors. It evidenly applies one polarity of power to lock the doors and, by reversing the power connections to the locks, reverses the direction of the motors to unlock. Off hand, it looks like it could be the lock switch, lose or shorted wires on the switch sending an incorrect signal. Or the door lock timer could be acting flacky. Or maybe the wiring harness to the locks is shorting, applying a signal to the motors that the timer didn't send. That's about all I can guess from this distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoPete Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 1. The door lock control unit is behind the instrument panel to the right of the fuse box. 2. Test the switches for continuity. 3. Check for bad grounds at the switches or control unit. 4. It is common for wires to break in the part of the wiring harness between the body and the door. Opening and closing the doors fatigues the wires and eventually breaks them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ionic Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 I think it's a linkage problem. There are metal linkage rods which run behind the door panel down from the plastic door lock button by the door handle through the door to the mechanical door lock and to the electric actuator. If the linkage shifts ever-so-slightly in the door, as it might when the door is jarred, the latch or lock handle touched, or when the car goes over a bump, it causes enough movement in the linkage rods for the actuator to make contact and signal to the actuators in the other three (or four, if it's a wagon) doors to lock without having moved the linkage enough to mechanically lock the driver's door. I noticed the same problem in our '95 Legacy and '93 Impreza, but only in hot weather, which made me think it could have to do with the viscosity of the lubrication on the linkage, and thereby, how easily it moves. The problem in the Impreza vanished after the sheet metal driver's door shell was replaced after the door was dented in a parking lot. The strange thing is that no components of the door's interior were changed, including any lock components. I fiddled with the linkage in the Legacy, just making sure all the screws and bolts were tight inside the door, but not really making any adjustments, and that little bit seems to have solved the problem for several years. My theory is that it's an extremely tiny movement of something within the door that makes the linkage shift just enough to trigger the actuator. It may be that as the actuator wears, the switch inside it becomes overly sensitive to slight vibrations in the linkage. Replacing the electric actuator, just fiddling with the lock components inside the door, or maybe lubricating them may solve the problem. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 I would suspect the problem is either with the drivers door lock switch or the switch that is mounted on the outside door lock mechanism. You will have to get inside the door panel to work either of them. You could try disconnecting them one at a time to see which one is the culprit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiefan Posted August 21, 2005 Author Share Posted August 21, 2005 ...I noticed the same problem in our '95 Legacy and '93 Impreza, but only in hot weather, which made me think it could have to do with the viscosity of the lubrication on the linkage, and thereby, how easily it moves... Andrew I agree with you Andrew. It does seem like a linkage problem (happening when going over bumps or when shutting door). Also, this only happened last week when we had a bit of a heat wave here with temps in the upper 90's. Now that it has cooled down back into the normal 80's, it hasn't happened again. -crosses fingers- i have a 90 legacy wagon and it does the same thing. as to the source??? i just quit worrying about it and told my passengers that they don't know how to open doors properly. However, if it does happen again, JaySun's solution seems easier. Thanks again everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiefan Posted August 21, 2005 Author Share Posted August 21, 2005 Sorry everybody. Double Post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddbranden Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 My 90 Legacy L has the same problem. I thought it had auto locking doors. When I close the drivers door they all lock. I will try some of the posted suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydfloyd44 Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 My door locks started doing this about a week ago. My 95 Legacy L did not have keyless entry from factory so I had it installed at Tweeter. Pulled my door panel to see if it is something simple. I remember that when they installed the keyless entry system, I had to purchase an actuator for the drivers door since the system would not work without it. Sure enough, when I took the door panel off, first thing I saw was the setup for the actuator rods. One of the little screws came loose that holds one of the rods and was causing the problem. Took a few tries to get it adjusted properly, but a small phillips and a drop of Loctite fixed the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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