The invention discloses a distributed fault checking and isolating method with an adaptive characteristic. The method is characterized in that when line fault of a transmission line is firstly detected, the automation of a distributed feeder is immediately started; fault positioning is firstly accomplished through information interchange of adjacent switch equipment; positioned faulty equipment is immediately subjected to tripping operation and then fault isolation according to a tripping mode. The method solves the problems in the traditional thinking that firstly whether permanent fault is required to be detected is firstly determined according to different logics, then direct tripping can be performed is determined, the automation of the distributed feeder is started, and fault isolation is accomplished after fault positioning, and the flow causes the problems that a set of independent logic program is required to be singly provided for each combination, and programs are required to be completely changed for all terminals if the scheme is changed, on-site maintenance is extremely complex, and mistakes are easy to cause.