Doors locked me out while car was running

[maestrosteve]

I got out of my 2010 Subaru Legacy to brush the snow off the windshield, and all the car doors locked automatically, locked me out while the car was running.  If I wasn't in my driveway, I wouldn't have been able to get the other key from the house and would not have been able to get in. This could have been a disaster if I wasn't home.   If it matters, I recently replaced the 12 volt battery.  Something must have reset, but what, and how can I fix it?

 

 

Steve

 

My first post.

[Fairtax4me]

How long were you out of the car before the doors locked?

 

Some of the newer cars have an "auto lock" feature. I don't think its supposed to work if the vehicle is running though.

Are you sure you didn't bump the lock switch by accident while getting out of the car?

[johnceggleston]

i did this once at a car wash, 30 years ago, datsun pickup.

 

i called a locksmith and he charged me $21 to open the door.

$1 to unlock it,

$20 for the stupid fee.

 

he picked the lock in about 20 seconds.

didn't even need the slim jim.

[MilesFox]

I make a habit of putting the window down if i get out of a car with the keys in it, running or not, such as working on the car or getting out while it is running.

 

While jump starting a forester, the guy i was helping locked himself out after attempting to start it. As he went to go fetch a spare key, i almost locked myself out, as wearing a bulky glove going for the inside door handle, my gloved knuckle was bukly enough to almost flip the lock lever. I'm sure this is how the other guy locked himself out.

 

I never trust new cars with automatic locking doors. I discovered this morning that my 96 legacy key will unlock my 98 forester, which my former 95 legacy key unlocks the 96.

Edited January 22, 2014 by MilesFox

[ShawnW]

Do you have the remote start package?

[maestrosteve]

I appreciate all the responses.  Thank you.

 

I don't have the remote start package, and I was out of the car less than a minute.  I also know for sure, that I didn't hit anything that could lock the door.

The car doesn't have an "auto lock" feature.

 

I was doing a google search, and found that this has happened to many others, and the common denominator was it happened when the temperature was especially cold.  We just had a big snow yesterday, it was 5 degrees earlier today when it happened. I had left my car outside on my driveway last night, and today after clearing snow off the driveway, I backed the car into my garage.  When I got out of the car to check the clearance, the doors automatically locked.  I got my wife's remote, and the doors wouldn't respond to her remote to unlock the doors (the car was running), but the driver's door did open with her key.  I've had the car a little over 4 years, never experienced this before.

 

I tried to duplicate this action about an hour ago, and couldn't.

 

I am going to take major precautions if I have to get out while the car is on, like leaving the window open, or always keeping the spare in my pocket.  What happened today was so unexpected, and many times I work 2 hours from home, and if I worked yesterday when we had the storm, I would have started the car, gotten out to clear the snow off the windshield, and this probably would have happened, with my spare key in my bag inside the car.  My friend is always bragging about his On-Star service, and he can lock and unlock the car from his cellphone.  I'm not going to get it for this car, and never thought it would be worth the money, but I now see a plus to him having it.

 

I'd still like to know for certain what made this happen.

 

[CNY_Dave]

I always open a window or open a rear door (so the snow from the windshield doesn't fall in the car).

Paranoid drives home, others try to figure out how to call triple-A with the phone and work access badge locked in the car

[idosubaru]

if snow/water gets on the door it can trigger various strange electrical issues involving anything in the door or that shares a circuit with it.

 

i would suspect the key/remote or door switches got wet and shorted something.  i've seen it happen before and once dried it never happens again.

 

get one of those key boxes you attach somewhere under the car, under a fender liner, behind/under a bumper cover, etc and you'll always have a spare key.

 

if it's still suspected to be somethign mechanical:

stopping in a SUbaru dealer would be a good idea

in older Subaru's it's caused by a defective door lock timer, a common issue, they'll randomly lock and unlock. oddly they'll normally do it when the car is sitting with no key in it.

the door switch could be the culprit too

[djmark7]

I ALWAYS keep a spare key in  my wallet

[maestrosteve]

I used to keep 2 spare keys (1 for each of my cars) in my wallet, but now the keys and the key heads are so much bigger, that no longer seems to work.

If the keys could fit, it would be fantastic.  Maybe I'll look into the smallest size key case where these big keys might fit and see if that will work, and always keep it in my front pocket.

[ivans imports]

the worst is when you put in new engine hook up battery and it locks all the drs with keys in ig on hoist PIA anyway I got good at opening them up with a brake line or coat hanger I go past window frame and push power lock button done last one took me under a minute to get in

[MilesFox]

if snow/water gets on the door it can trigger various strange electrical issues involving anything in the door or that shares a circuit with it.

 

i would suspect the key/remote or door switches got wet and shorted something.  i've seen it happen before and once dried it never happens again.

 

get one of those key boxes you attach somewhere under the car, under a fender liner, behind/under a bumper cover, etc and you'll always have a spare key.

 

if it's still suspected to be somethign mechanical:

stopping in a SUbaru dealer would be a good idea

in older Subaru's it's caused by a defective door lock timer, a common issue, they'll randomly lock and unlock. oddly they'll normally do it when the car is sitting with no key in it.

the door switch could be the culprit too

 

When i locked my forester (8, 240,000 mi) the passenger door lock somewhat shuddered as i locked it with the power lock. The temperature was single digits and snowy. 

 

a 95 legacy i parted out would rendomly rigger the door locks, but this car had collision damage in the b pillar.

 

I have seen the locks wig out in a rapid motion while experienceing a discharged battery.

 

With my experience with older and high mileage subarus, the passenger door lock cylinders are always sticky or non operational from lack of use by relying on the power lock. Conversely, a random key can open the driver door as the cylinder wears out as you always enter the car form the driver side lock.

[pginter96]

My buddie's Chrysler van did the same thing to him three times- just this winter. Haven't tracked down the problem. Check for shorts to voltage (loose wiring to lock module/actuator) otherwise it might be a computer gremlin if it has the keyless entry installed.

[rverdoold]

I have a key hidden under my car which can only open the doors. This as a lesson learned in Norway in the middle of no-where.

[Bushwick]

I learned my lesson years ago with a Lincoln that put the door lock switches up high on the actual door. It had rather heavy doors that liked to "close" from the weight, and what would happen is I'd be standing up while reaching in the car, the door would bump me in the rear and "lock". What I started to do was ALWAYS make sure that the window is cracked open enough in case the doors locked, so that this way I could reach in and manually unlock the doors. This has saved me PLENTY of times with other cars as well and becomes 2nd nature to the point I don't even think twice about it. So, if engine is running (i.e. the keys aren't in my pocket) the driver side window gets cracked open.