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'08 Prius, both locks on driver's side failed simultaneously.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Fellwarre, Jan 3, 2015.

  1. Fellwarre

    Fellwarre Junior Member

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    2008 Prius, both locks on drivers side failed simultaneously. This was out of the blue. Worked in the morning, and failed in the afternoon and have been feeling ever since. Smart key will not unlock anything. Using the button on the inside of the door only unlocks the passenger side front and rear. In order to unlock the driver side front and rear you have to manually unlock them or lock them. When the button is pressed to unlock the doors, I hear no attempt by the actuators to move. Does anybody know what is causing this? I thought maybe a fuse, but the fuses seem to run all four doors. Could it be a loose wire? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
    #1 Fellwarre, Jan 3, 2015
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    it would be a good idea to check for a loose wire. the door panels are easy to remove. strange to have 2 actuators fail at once.
    che
     
    #2 JC91006, Jan 3, 2015
  3. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    Both actuators probably share a common wire on the non-switched side.
    That likely is a ground (negative) wire but it could be either depending on the design.

    If that is true, that common wire might be broken somewhere along the line.
    That might be where it goes from the frame into the front door, at the point where it flexes when the door is opened.
     
    #3 Easy Rider 2, Jan 3, 2015
  4. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    I assume that the OP has double checked their 12v battery? They generally have a life of about 5 years/80k miles and weird error messages, warning lights or locking issues are often (but not always) an indication the 12v is failing.
     
    #4 GrumpyCabbie, Jan 3, 2015
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the smart key should unlock the passenger side doors if it's a loose wire on the drivers side. i think.
     
    #5 bisco, Jan 3, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2015
  6. TampaPrius.com

    TampaPrius.com Active Member

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    I would bet on actuators. I have only had to do a handful of these but the cars that I have done them on have had multiple doors fail typically.

    It may be possible rear door failed first and wasn't detected because it isn't used as often.

    There are a couple threads on here on replacing and repairing the actuators.
     
    #6 TampaPrius.com, Jan 3, 2015
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