bugsysiegals

I'm so damn pissed right now this is unbelievable.

I get up early this morning excited to go do some cardio before work, I open the driver door, start the car, shut the door, open the rear door, throw my bags in the back, shut the door, try the driver door and it's locked just like every other door!!

I just bought the car and it didn't come with a 2nd key or remote so I call my neighbor who has a lock pick set to come help. He comes over and we're trying the piece that goes under and then back into the car at the bottom of the window. This tears up the weather stripping and gets stuck and will not work. He uses another piece to see if he can push the lock up from below and accidently scratches the paint on my door!! DAMNIT!! Then we wedge the door open and use this plastic banding to wrap around the lock itself and finally pop it open.

This has to be the worst default option to have on a car ever. I was so excited about my new car, 2005 Anthracite Acura, which was near mint condition and now am so depressed the paint is scratched (fingernail gets caught in it so I know it cannot be buffed out), weather stripping is all jacked up on both sides, tint is scratched, and the Silver molding on the inside of the door has dings in it from the one lock pick piece. Why in the world would a vehicle automatically lock with the keys in the ignition?? Even better, why would it automatically lock before the brake pedal is even pressed?? This option really F*'d me this morning and now I'm so depressed about what happened to the car because this happened.

I guess I'm off to search for how to disable this if it's even possible. In the meantime, any idea where I can get new weather stripping for the windows? How about the Silver molding on the inside of the door panel where the memory buttons are on? Can that even be replaced?

**WhItE-aNgEl**

Get a viper smart start. If you have An iPhone or BB you can unlock your car with your phone and Start it anywhere you are. It's a great investment and this won't happen again

TripAcez

i set my car to lock doors once it goes into D(Drive)..i have an 08 TL-S not sure if it makes a difference, but im sure your odometer is digital and you can change the settings from there.

jda123

You can disable it in the MID.

TLMunchkin37

Wow, craziness. There goes your motivation to get a nice workout in the morning!

I'm always concered that somehow this will happen to me. I have mine set also to lock once the car accelerates to 5 MPH, I believe. But, in all honestly...I lock them the second I'm in the seat. Maybe it's a NY thing or a woman thing, who knows..? Haha..

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Yea I also set mine so they lock only after I move the car out of park, and they all unlock after I set it to park, so this stuff doesn't happen to me

chapu08

I do exactly the same thing, don't know the reason why.

Tehvine

Protip to keep this from happening: NEVER close your car door with the keys in it without first lowering a window. The exception would be if you're at home and you know where your valet/spare is just in case the doors lock themselves. Another thing to note is that Honda/Acura vehicles do not allow you to use the keyfob to unlock the doors while the keys are in the ignition and on.

iheartintegras

Read the quick start manual. It'll tell you how to disable this.

Will Y.

x 2.
I carry a $2 key made from a Honda blank in my wallet just to open the door on the TL.
The key will not start the car because there is no ignition chip, but can be used to open the door if I were to lock the keys in the car. Haven't had to use it yet.
$2 key > worrying about lockouts, calling locksmith/AAA or getting other keys from home.

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

sucks..... mine locks when you start driving as i don't have a.. D

jisleyjr

I've always noticed if i leave my keys in the ignition, car on or off, that the doors unlock themselves if i try to lock them.

Not sure what happened in your case. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

In the MID i have only seen the option for auto-locking the doors when driving a certain speed or for unlocking all doors or just the drivers door when using the remote unlock button once, i hate having to double tap it.

Sandals

iTrader: (2)

Was your car on and it locked?

greco9885

iTrader: (1)

thats a good idea, but i dont carry a wallet.

quakerroatmeal

I don't understand how the car locked itself. The option is it'll either lock when you get out of parked, or when you drive a certain mph 5/10/15/20. Anyways I tend to leave my doors open when I step out..I get paranoid it'll happen.

bugsysiegals

UPDATE: I just went out for lunch to check on this. I went into the Keyless Memory Settings and Auto Lock was set for > 10 MPH. Also, the reset was set for >60 seconds. I selected reset to defaults and checked that Auto Lock was off.

I then started the car while inside, opened the door, shut the door, and it auto locked again. When I shut the door I can immediately here the locks make a noise like they are cycling although the don't move. Then a second later it makes the noise again without movement. Then a second later it makes the noise again but this time locks ALL doors.

I tried this multiple ways by acting like I got out after running the car and shutting the door. Arming the system, waiting a second, unarming the factory alarm, starting the car with the door still open or shut, once I open the door again after it's been shut the above stated cycle happens with the doors ultimately locking.

Something must be wrong with the electronics since I reset the settings and made sure they were off and the doors are still locking? I ordered a $12 key from eBay ... perhaps I'll have the locksmith program it but at a minimum I'll get it cut. How do you keep that in your wallet, couldn't imagine having a thick key in my wallet. I wouldn't mind having one of those plastic credit card types but not sure if those are any good and strong enough or where I'd even get that from.

P.S. I have rolled down a window or left a door open every time until now but never noticed it auto locking before otherwise I certainly wouldn't have left the key in without me being ready to drive off.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

yeah you should be able to disable it in the MID...also, did you lock the rear door manually when closing it ?

i have my car set to NO AUTOLOCK coz most times i start my car and check all the tire pressures and the doors are unlocked even after me closing the door....

i have the doors to unlock when i push to P and lock when i push out of P....

but then again...once you open the door, the door shouldnt auto lock....

Will Y.

Yeah, the spare-key-in-wallet idea does not help people who do not carry wallets or purposely lock their wallets in the car.
It sounds like the MICU is bad.

I have an '05, which uses a regular cut key with chip in the plastic head.
Do you have an '07-'08 with a milled key (internal cut grooves instead of teeth)? Those are thicker blades and heads-- maybe cut/grind away the plastic head (and chip) if you want to carry it in your wallet.

lylen

that's why i have my doors set to lock after i go 10-15 mph.

bugsysiegals

That's what I thought I may have done or perhaps the door handle has some type of button on it to lock it from the outside ... I didn't notice a button and to test whether or not I locked it from the back on accident I did the previous test while sitting in the drivers seat starting the car and opening and closing the driver door while still inside.

Yes it locked every time I opened and closed the driver door while the car was running while the car was in park and no brake pedal pressed or anything. Over and over and over again it did this. I'm certain that from what everyone else says something must be failing.

bugsysiegals

This is all well and good but apparently once you have the same component fail that I must have failing, you will have the same issue. For your sake, I hope you do not become dependent on the fact that it will not lock and then one day it decides to lock on you. I hope you at least have a spare key and you are not on some travel somewhere if this ever happens to you.

bugsysiegals

Hmmm ... not sure what the MICU is or how to test if it's bad. Mine is a 2005. I bought a key for $12 on eBay with the Acura logo and now just have to have it cut and programmed. At least if this happens again I'll have a spare key someone else or myself can eventually retrieve.

jwclements1

I had this problem, car would auto lock with they key in the ignition on or off. Turns out the body shop I had the car at bent a pin on the connector when they were putting the door back together for the lock system and caused it to act up. I got lucky and had the sunroof open when it happened so I just hit unlock with a stick. Get the dealer to check that. They showed it to me and promptly charged the body shop for the repair.

LasVegasTL

Damn that sucks. I used to have an Infiniti that did that to me once.

Will Y.

"Multiplexer" or Multiplex Integrated Control Unit.

I found a couple of threads with a similar problem to yours (you posted in one)-- it was the driver's side fuse box that caused the issues in those threads: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/door-lock-problem-my-04-tl-637758/ & https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/automatic-door-locks-garage-f-025-a-564468/.

bugsysiegals

UPDATE: Wow ... so I get out work, go to the gym, after I'm done and leaving I decide to try the door again. I unlock the car, get in and sit down, shut the door, start the car, open the door, shut the door, and of course the damn things locks as it did this morning.

I typically leave the parking lights on and let them shut off automatically when the drivers door opens and shuts; however, I had them off since yesterday. I'm not sure why but I decide to turn them on and try it ... wouldn't you know the damn thing stopped auto locking. I'm baffled at this point so I go through the entire motion all over again from locking it with the remote, unlocking it with the remote, opening and closing the door, starting it, and opening and closing the door again. No more auto lock. I turn the parking lights off and try it all over again ... this time no auto lock.

It seems that turning the parking lights on has halted the auto locking of my doors at least for now although perhaps it's just a coincidence. Who knows how long it will stay like this or will come back but at least I'm aware of the issue and in the future will probably never leave the car with the keys in the ignition without rolling down a window first. It would be nice to fix this issue; however, I'll never trust it again so I'm not even sure if it's worth it.

P.S. My neighbor owns a Toyota and pre-warned me about the auto parking lights and sure enough it's the same on my car too so I figure I'd point it out in case you guys didn't know this. If you leave your lights on, get out of the car from the drivers side, and then shut the door, the lights will automatically turn off (perhaps not if not set to do this I'm not sure about the settings); however, if you re-enter the car from another door and then close that door, the lights will remain on and possibly kill your battery. Now I can't remember if I put the key in the ignition when I entered from another door or not which caused the lights to go on or if they just went on by opening another door. The way my neighbor parks his truck is so the passenger side faces his doorway ... when he leaves a CD in the player he enters the passenger side, puts the key in the ignition, pulls the CD out, then shuts the key off and leaves the truck. If lights are in the on position the other doors do not kill the lights which caused him to have a dead battery. Again, not sure if you need to put the key in or not but hope this saves someone from a dead battery.

mau108

My prelude has the same problem, your door lock actuator (probably driver side) is on its way out. Replace it.

On my prelude if I have the key in the ignition and close any of the 2 doors the actuators go crazy (lock and unlock then lock lol). But I have a remote start on that car, if I remote start it and close any of the doors its fine, as soon as I put in the key then its a problem.

dinks07

iTrader: (4)

Man this sucks sorry to hear it always try and wedge and pop the lock other methods tend to get messy

stiffdogg06

iTrader: (1)

Sucks but you should've called a locksmith and not your neighbor, at least the locksmith might have some skill.

butnin

i had this happen to me where the door lock would lock and not able to open the door.
went to the dealer and the driver side lock is the master. it is electronic. it was replaced on warranty and all is fine. if water gets into it then all hell freezes over.

jda123

Get a $2 key and use some baling wire, zip tie or a coat hanger to tie it underneath your car somewhere. You will always have it that way.

The magnetic hide-a-key boxes can fall off - I know from experience.

nfnsquared

OP, do you have NAVI? If so, try this. I had forgotten about this until I went into the NAVI diagnostic screen this morning to set the seconds hand of my watch:

Press and hold the MAP, MENU, and CANCEL buttons until the diagnostic screen comes up (about 5 secs). Then press on the B-CAN icon. It will run a diagnostic on the MICU and door look master switch(and a few other items). If they're both OK, you should get a green "OK" next to them. If one of them shows bad, that should narrow your search....

b.ike

I know on my 2G TSX I've experienced that if you use the remote to unlock all doors, then manually open the trunk and close the trunk, all doors lock up again after 10 seconds if no doors are opened anymore.

jr27

lol... im with u on this one man, it has never happened to me on this car and i had never heard of it happening on a tl but i am always paranoid it will happen. everytime i turn it on and leave i crack the window enough to fit my hand if i had to or leave a door open. i have mine set to lock after 10 mph and to unlock when ignotion is off.

bugsysiegals

Yeah I would've but it was 5 AM. The sad thing is I had the plastic strap, which is what I opened it with finally, and the wedges but the plastic strap fell in the garbage when I set the kit on the garbage can next to it (closet thing to where the car was parked in the garage). I forgot I had that piece otherwise I would've wedged it open and use that and avoided the scratches.

I ordered a spare key and had it cut and programmed so if it happens again I don't have to damage the car. Live and learn....

bugsysiegals

The previous owner did some hack to do a custom logo and the diagnostic menu ... not sure if it's the same one but thanks for the tip. Perhaps it will show me what's wrong.

P.S. I'm not so mad about the small scratch I did by breaking in after being in a hurry while washing it the other day and scratching a bigger scratch with paint missing on one of my doors!! I was using one of those car brushes with a pole which didn't have rubber over the end of it. I guess I was in to much of a hurry. Another lesson learned. Now I have to see if a body shop can spot paint these 2 areas which are smaller than 50 cent pieces and for how much. I wonder if they can do that or will want to paint the entire door and if the paint will match or not.

sandmn3

I also just had this happen to me 2 days ago on my 2004 TL. I was attempting to replace my driver's side door lock actuator and wanted to listen to the radio as I was working. So, I had the keys in the ignition with the radio on. I went to shut the door for some reason and TaDaaaa, the brilliant Acura Gremlins automatically locked me out of my car.

Luckily I had the trunk open and the pass-through panel between the trunk and rear seat, unlocked. I was able to rig a long rigid wire tie with a rubber band (for friction) so my fiance could stick her head and arm through to maneuver it over the passenger door lock and unlock it. I wasn't able to squeeze through there like she was. Wheew, that was a close one.

But, I did end up having to take the car in anyway, to get the actuator replaced, since I totally stripped the screws holding the door lock mechanism in the door. TIP - invest in a hand impact wrench, it will definitely come in handy one day!