Locked inside car

[agrajag]

Hi guys,

I did a quick search and didn't find any posts on this topic. I'm hoping someone else has run into the same issue and knows the fix.

I've gotten locked inside my FR-S twice now. Both times it was right after shutting off the engine. The first time it happened the doors were already locked. I shut off the engine and tried to pop the trunk + unlock the doors. The door controls stayed lit, but did nothing when pressed. The second time it happened, the doors were initially unlocked and immediately locked when the car was shut off. Again, the controls were dead. The remote doesn't work once the car is in this state.

Both times I was able to exit by switching the ignition to the run position (without cranking). I know I can flip the manual actuator, but I'd expect the door controls to work.

Any thoughts?

[dpgfunk]

lol

[Spartarus]

Few diagnosis questions:

Key in or key out?
What is the position of the trunk control disconnect switch in the trunk?
Monogram or base? (smart key or not)
Was it just the door locks, trunk? Both?

issue with wiring, or with body ECU comes to mind

If it's a monogram, it has an extra smart key certification ECU (D40[a], 41[b], and 48[c] in wiring diagram.

EDIT: whoops, didn't read carefully, you said turning the key... not monogram then. Whatever, in that case, the door lock system is controlled by the main body ECU. There's a few modes/conditions that automatically actuate the door locks, mostly to prevent you from locking your keys in your car, but if something's wired up wrong, it could be working backwards. Alternatively, if the issue is inconsistent, it could just be a bad main body ECU.

Try to replicate the problem, document the conditions. If you can't make it happen consistently, It's almost definitely a bad body ECU. Good news is that's an unplug-and-replace type problem. Easy to get fixed by the dealer under warranty. If it's consistent, it might still be the body ECU, but if it isn't, somebody's going to have fun chasing wires.

[Sammakko]

in before epicness

[Tcoat]

I had to try it. Doors unlocked and trunk popped in every conceivable ignition position. Would guess faulty door switch card except the trunk release would not have anything to do with that. Taking it into the dealer won't help unless you can duplicate the issue while there. Very odd but not the end of the world anyway since there is an easy work around.

[agrajag]

thanks guys.

the issue is not consistent at all. hopefully it either gets much worse so it is easy to demonstrate or goes away on its own. I'm not too hopeful about the latter happening though...

[soulreapersteve]

I always forget to lock my door so never had this issue.....

[RustySocket]

One thing that I found odd was that pulling the door handle doesn't unlock the door automatically from the inside.

[Wyattkb]

Also the doors don't automatically lock once speed is achieved. My 2003 Civic has that feature.

[Ultramaroon]

Came looking for a blonde joke but this is more interesting.

[soulreapersteve]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Came looking for a blonde joke but this is more interesting.

[Ultramaroon]

@Spartarus, could it be as simple as power to the body CU? Loses what should be constant power but an ignition-on parallel path restores it?

[Tcoat]