Door Lock Actuator Replacement (6 Viewers)

[paflytyer]

Since I've done this a few times on a few different 100's, I'll add some tricks that will make this easier.

-To keep track of all the different screws and bolts you have to remove, draw a picture of the door panel on a sheet of paper. When you remove a screw, mark on the paper where it came from and push the screw through the paper to hold it. EASY!

Typo in the pic, you get the idea.... don't cut your hand.

 

[paflytyer]

more...

 

[Smackhawk]

After pretty much a full day in the tropical heat getting it out (kids... need I say anymore) I've had the actuator casing in the oven for 10 mins at 300F, smells bad enough, but geez it still wont budge!!!!!! Can't even see any movement, but managed to bust a few pieces of plastic off, including the bracket.

might go to a wrecking yard and see if there are any I can pry an actuator out of.... which will probably not work.

Oh the humanity!

 

[paflytyer]

After pretty much a full day in the tropical heat getting it out (kids... need I say anymore) I've had the actuator casing in the oven for 10 mins at 300F, smells bad enough, but geez it still wont budge!!!!!! Can't even see any movement, but managed to bust a few pieces of plastic off, including the bracket.

might go to a wrecking yard and see if there are any I can pry an actuator out of.... which will probably not work.

Oh the humanity!

Use a hair dryer right on the split of the clamshell. Then gently pry with a flathead and slowly work your way around. There is no need to break anything during this job.

 

[Smackhawk]

I finally got the clamshell apart. Boy was it stuck together good! No amount of hair-dyer or gentle use of screw driver was getting it undone... a bit of damage done ..but nothing a bit of epoxy cant fix!

Great thread, especially the last few photos.
Thanks guys

 

[Reverend]

I just wanted to say thank you to those who have participated in this thread. I bought my 100 a week ago, and the dealer wanted to tack on $500 to the cost of the car just to fix a door lock (they were going to replace the entire assembly).

Thanks to this thread and its contributors, I was able to knock it out with a $7 motor and a few hours of time.

 

[BeavrBob]

ebay

So my door lock just died -- is zinky86 on ebay still the best way to get these motors? I didn't see any with collars in the pictures...

Thanks for an awesome thread!

 

[paflytyer]

Get them from Jonharis. Forget eBay. Look for Jon in this thread, he'll have a link in his signature line.
EDIT: I'm on my phone up in the mountains, so this is harder than it should be. OP of this thread....
https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series...l-100s-hills-ouray-colorado-august-2-4-a.html
Link is in the signature.

 

[noelandry]

Just completed it. Took 90 min start to finish. That was awesome. I have a '99 LX470 and it required the one with the brass fitting.

 

[jtmosca]

Another Option

So I read through this entire 13 page thread. Buried a few pages back was a post by "ubiquityman" who had success by taking apart the small motor and cleaning it. Since I didn't have a new motor on hand and I'm not even sure which one to order for the 80 series and I'm not as talented as "cartercd" to weld a nail to the end of a motor shaft, I figured I would give it a shot.

It seems to have worked. After 2 years of classic symtoms, the lock is working great now. It appears that grease and crud had collected itself onto the commutators and brushes of the armature. With a little WD40, paper towel and a small screw driver I was able to clean it up substantially. Here are some before and after pictures to help you if you want to try it yourself. Note all the grease/crud on the paper towel in the background. I'm definitely gonna go this route on the other locks as they have issues. If I find one where the brushes are too wore out, then I'll try ordering another motor. I hope this info helps...

 

[2001 is300]

I had the normal symptoms of a door lock actuator gone bad (many threads on this) so I went about investigating this issue over the weekend. I was hoping I could find something that could be remedied by a little bit of cleaning / maintenance, but that wasn't the case.

Removal of the door trim wasn't bad, but getting the door lock assembly out was a bit of a pain (kept getting my arm hair stuck in the tar-like adhesive for the plastic sheeting). Once I got the lock assembly out, I detached the actuator (held on by 3 screws). The actuator itself is not a solenoid as some other threads state. I popped off the cover.....it is actually a small DC motor.

Actuator:

View attachment 255362

Actuator exploded:

View attachment 255363

I plugged in the actuator (without the cover and not attached to the lock assembly) to the electrical connector and operated the door lock switch. I could see the motor spinning strongly the first few presses of the switch, but then it would slowly die down. I tried cleaning all the contacts / moving parts, but nothing improved. Since I realized I had to replace the motor, I decided to take it apart and investigate. I immediately saw that the graphite brushes were almost completely disintegrated....not sure if this was the only problem.

So, in an ideal world I could just replace this little $8 hobby motor. The really unfortunate thing is that not even the actuator itself is sold by itself. I tried every avenue for parts searching and can only find the actuator sold with the entire lock assembly (lock mechanism, cables, actuator). This is really annoying since the actuator is a separate component and bolts (screws) on to the assembly. I didn't want to go the junk yard route since who knows how long the used actuator would last.

So I did find the lock assembly cheapest on CruiserParts.net for $169. I called my Lexus dealership to get a price on the assembly just for my own edification. They sell the assembly for $330 and would probably charge $500 total for them to do the job.

A few cents worth of graphite in the brushes of a motor results in a potential $500 repair.

If anyone ever finds a way of just buying the actuator and not the whole assembly, I would love to hear how you did it.

you can buy the motor from mabuchi motors for under $10 since you have it a part. you will have to do a few measurements to confirm the shaft length and case size.

 

[2001 is300]

here is the link http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-bin/catalog/e_catalog.cgi?CAT_ID=fc_280pcsc

 

[re_guderian]

Srsly?

 

[paflytyer]

here is the link http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-bin/catalog/e_catalog.cgi?CAT_ID=fc_280pcsc

Don't buy from eBAY......

Buy from Jonharis. Not only cheaper from him, but he's a loyal MUD member, friend, 100s in the Hills and FJ Summit director, and contributes an unbelievable amount to this forum.

Sheesh.......

 

[JZinNM]

I just replaced all five actuators on my 100 and wanted to share a tip. The hardest part for me was getting the "door handle" rod to separate from the yellow connector. After using a hammer and punch on the first three with limited success, I tried a different approach.

I sprayed the plastic and rod with penetrating oil and let it sit for a few minutes. I then used a spring loaded punch instead of the hammer and punch. I placed the punch right on the end of the rod.

On the passengers side it popped out on the first punch. It took two tries on the drivers side.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread and especially JonHarris for supplying the motors.

 

[petrotk40]

I lassoed the yellow clip with fishing line and pulled it

 

[prerunner84]

When the actuator is going out or bad what was the problem it was causing? If I open the door with my key the alarm will sound until I can get in to put my key in the ignition. any help? Thanks

 

[Dwight S]

When the actuator is going out or bad what was the problem it was causing? If I open the door with my key the alarm will sound until I can get in to put my key in the ignition. any help? Thanks

Yep... Door locks not 100% flipping when you hit the lock button. Alarm sounding when you open the door as you described...

Time to replace actuator motors as described in this thread. As cheap as they are, go ahead and pick up several from Jon Harris.

 

[prerunner84]

Anyway I can narrow down which one it is? thanks

 

[Dwight S]

Anyway I can narrow down which one it is? thanks

Most likely the driver's door. Go out and press the drivers side power door lock button several times. You'll probably notice the drivers door lock button not flipping over fully after about 5 or six times. The motor gets hot and doesn't have to torque to push the button over. You may also notice it more when it's hot outside.