Toyota keys (why do they lock themselves in the car?)

[June Bug]

The date is 25/09/2017 07:59

It appears to be a stock 2005 Camry LE automatic with none of the fancy options.

I saw in the owners manual on page 31 the "theft deterrent system" but that simply describes the alarm if a door is opened when it's already locked.

On page 25 it talks about what you said, which is that it can lock all the doors when the car is in motion, where this car, I think, does to that because the doors are always locked, annoyingly. I never understood this car-in-motion locks because we don't live in a place where someone is going to carjack us while we're moving for heaven's sake. It seems like a lot of scared people are out there who are afraid of everything.

On page 23 of the owners manual there is something about the power door switch and "resetting" something, but I couldn't make sense of it.

If someone has a 2005 Camry, maybe they have the secret decoder ring?

[June Bug]

The date is 25/09/2017 09:36

Two things are required.

1. The key
2. The immobilizer

There is a third doohickey which is just a remote unlock/lock thingey. Pictures are in the original post.

The key is a duplicate without a chip (it's all metal). The plastic key on the second fob also has no chip (Home Depot tested it).

So you need two things to start the car.

1. the key
2. the immobilizer

But none of that has anything to do with the fact that the car locks all the doors when it moves forward and when it sits for a while.

I only wish it could be turned off as my friend said she hates that 'feature' of the Toyota Camry 2005.

[pandora]

Heh. At least I made certain of that first before I called.

I learned *that* a long time ago. I always push it back and forth several times before I call for help.

Yep. People are just darn stubborn and can't believe it is that simple.

That was kind of you. :-)

[pandora]

Much too complicated. That's BMW for ya.

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

What's done is done. She has a problem, and got it fixed... that's all her boss needed to know. I'm sure he didn't hire her to be a secretary/electrician. I showed her how to do it in case she ever had to again, and life goes on. Hopefully, her boss wasn't some tyrant.

Down time costs money too if you're running a business. I got a call from a USPS sorting facility one night, because they had a sorting machine that was manned by eight employees, and it quit unexpectedly. When I got there, there were suits running around all over the place, and they were absolutely frantic, which meant I'd better get that machine back up ASAP... no pressure there!

It turned out to be a simple problem... a burned connection on a power transformer, except that it was twenty feet in the air. They had their own scissorlift, so I had them back in business in about an hour.

What I didn't tell them, was that I took the cover off the transformer while it was hot, because I didn't want to shut off any more shit until I knew what was going on. As I removed the cover, it came pretty damned close to touching the live 480 volt primary terminals inside. It wouldn't have shocked me, but it would have made for some spectacular fireworks and an arc burn on my hands. I forget what I charged them, but it probably wasn't enough.

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

You should see the electrical schematics and all the computers everywhere... a total nightmare. I have to admit that since the starter problem, I haven't had any other surprises.

[Ralph Mowery]

You might as well have a key if you have to do all that.

[Ralph Mowery]

My 2007 Toyota truck came with one of the immobilzer things. In the glove compartment was a small relay just laying in it. I took the immobilizer thing outof the fuze block under the hood and replaced it with that relay to eliminate the immobilizer thing.

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

I think it was more of a security feature to immobilize the car, but Beemers do seem unnecessarily complicated IMO... like when I back up, the side view mirrors tip down slightly. More complicated and useless features to go wrong and cost a fortune to fix. Here's another feature I could live without:

"The Adaptive Headlights cast their beam in the direction of the curve and ensure better visibility and more safety during night drives on winding roads. Sensors measure speed, steering angle and yaw (degree of rotation around the vertical axis). ... Driving at night is even safer, particularly when visibility is poor."

If that system gets borked, you're looking at around $2500 to fix it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Many cars have that now. I find it useful maybe twice a year when parking. I can just go to the settings and disable it though. Takes 30 seconds if you know where to look.

[pandora]

Well, ya know, secretaries have to be multi-faceted, sometimes.

Heh.

Good job!

More than likely. Reminds me of the time when I worked for a newspaper in the distribution department. We had a machine that inserted *slicks* into the main paper after it came off the presses. It would shut down now and then (it was old, built in the 1930s) and if we couldn't get it to work we'd have to hand insert. (Tedious job that). I calmly went to the plug, pulled it out and put it back in. Magically, the machine started up again. (My husband taught me that.)It didn't always work but it was certainly worth the try.

[pandora]

I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm glad nothing else has come up.

[Wade Garrett]

Must be nice, living back in the 50's ;-)

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

Like mysterious computer problems. Most of them can be fixed with a simple reboot.

[Frank]

I may have mentioned to look into the software for settings to change.

Now see it probably is not that easy but others may have solution:

New cars have all kinds of computer like things in them controlling car functions. Took me a half hour first time I had to go to DST time setting but easier once I learned.

PITA and I know folks that have to go back to dealer to change settings or learn how to do it yourself.

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

I wouldn't know where to begin without a lot of research. I'd be more inclined these days to simply take it to a mechanic. I have way too many fixit projects as it is.

[pandora]

Indeed. I've learned to NOT panic until I've tried a reboot a couple of times. Mostly (so far) that's worked for me.

[pandora]

I have several projects that I need to contact someone about. I try to do what I can but these are way beyond me.

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

It's when you get the dreaded BSOD that it's time to panic.

[Checkmate, DoW #1]

My neighbor and I are going to chip in to have part of a diseased oak tree removed. There was a time when I'd tackle that project myself, but I'm learning to live with the limitations of getting old. I used to have a pair of climbing gaffs and a safety belt. The last time I used them was almost 15 years ago, so I reluctantly sold them. I don't even own a decent chainsaw anymore, just a couple of cheap electric ones from Harbor Freight, and they aren't worth a shit.