Could Do With Some Pointers On My Alarm/locking System (tvss Iiib)

February 17, 2008

Hi guys, I've been doing a bit of reading both on this forum and a number of others to see if I could find some detailed information on my RAV's alarm system. It didn't have the owner's manual with it when purchased a couple of weeks back, and with the exception of the central locking/alarm it's in pristine condition.

The problem I'm having is that the unlock button on the key fob does not unlock all of the doors, but has to be pressed to deactivate the alarm. If I press the button every door on the car except the driver's side one will unlock, to get past this problem I just use the key in the door instead, which unlocks all the doors correctly but doesn't deactivate the alarm - so if I open it the damn thing goes off. At present I'm having to do a random series of key turning in the lock and button pushing to eventually get all the doors unlocked and be sure that when I open the car it doesn't go ape at me; which is a bit of a pain. To make matters worse the alarm automatically arms itself after a period of time from the doors being locked, so if I get out of the car to fill it up at a petrol station as soon as I close the fuel cap cover the alarm goes off (unless I push the button on the fob again).

From what I've read I've managed to ascertain it's the TVSS IIIB system, and that there's a series of dip switches hidden away behind a panel in the driver's foot well which configure things like it's automatic arming delay and such. Unfortunately I've not been able to find any detailed instructions on the alarm system so I don't know what the dip switch settings are. I've also read that issues with the driver's door lock and remote central locking can sometimes be down to the solenoid?

I'm basically just after a bit of advice, ideally I'd like to get as clued up on the system as possible and potentially resolve the issues myself, but failing that I'd be open to paying to get it sorted but wouldn't know where to go to do that. It's due a cam belt change & service in just under 1k miles so I was planning on booking it in for one in the not too distant future at a local garage but they're not a Toyota one and I don't know whether they'd be able to help with the locking/alarm issues. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

February 17, 2008

I've one that is a bit similar - dunno which version of alarm it is, but it arms itself automatically even when I fill up at petrol station...

I've been told its the dip switches need altered, but as the car is away getting some work done, I've mentioned it to The Garage in the hope they sort it.