Car experts - auto door locks on '02 Camry

Factual Questions
1

Today the automatic door locks on my 2002 Camry suddenly stopped working. Neither the keyless entry transmitter or the lock switch on the door will lock or unlock the doors.

I strongly suspect a blown fuse, but I can’t tell from the diagram on the fuse box under the hood which fuse it might be. There is a 25A fuse labeled DOOR1, but it appears to be OK. Other fuses are A/F(25A), TEL(5A), AM2(30A), EFI(20A), ALT-S(5A), HEAD LH UPR(10A), ETCS(10A), HORN(10A), IGN(15A), HEAD RH UPR(10A), HAZ(15A), D.C.C.(10A), IG2(10A), ST(5A), A/C(10A), DRL(5A), HEAD RH LWR(15A), HEAD LH LWR(15A).

Some of these I can make a pretty educated guess about, but others I’m not sure. Any of you car dopers out there have an idea which fuse might be the culprit (or maybe some other culprit)?

Thanks.

2

Relevant fuses are DOOR1 (25A) in the underhood fuse block; and DOME (7.5A) and ECU-B (10A) in the underdash (left side) fuse block.

Test both sides of each fuse with a test light or voltmeter. Appearance is not a reliable indicator of a good fuse.

3

Thanks. I’ll give those a try. Why can’t they put all the fuses in one place?

4

Gary T, thanks again. I pulled the DOME and ECU-B fuses, and they checked out OK, but after I reseated them the locks work again. I guess one of them must have worked loose a little bit.

5

Gary T, how did you come up with that answer so quick? I’d still be poking through the schematics in my manual–is there a quicker way?

6

I buy professional-grade repair info. Wiring diagrams are broken down into specific areas, e.g. door locks, exterior lights, wiper/washer systems, etc. At the top of each diagram are the power sources for the circuit(s) in question.

7

What?!? And make it easy? That would spoil the engineers’ fun. :stuck_out_tongue:

8

As for why the fuses are in different spots, it’s rather like the electrical system in a large building with various sub-panels. Power is distributed “in bulk” to the panels on a few big wires, and it’s then sent along to the individual circuits near the panel on a multitude of smaller wires. The net result is less wire is needed, and less wire = less cost.

In the case of your car, most of the fuses under the hood are for things under the hood - the headlights (one fuse per lamp is a well-designed system - a single blown fuse won’t leave you completely dark), ignition system, horn, air conditioning and so on. Under the dash, you’ll find fuses for things like the radio, cigarette lighter / power ports, dashboard lights and other stuff like that.

9

FTR the most I have seen on any one car is seven different fuse panels.
No sir, you are looking for the C fuse panel, the one under the hood is the B fuse panel.