Doors unlock but won't lock

[krash]

99 LC - Doors won't lock when I use the inside lock button or the remote. Remote works fine for unlocking - 1 click driver door, 2 click all doors. I can unlock all doors from either the driver side or passenger side. The red light on the remote comes on when I click the lock and unlock button, juist throwing that out there for information. Also the alarm button doesn't do anything except light up the little red light on the remote - (no clue what's supposed to happen with that though)
I've switched out the motor in the door actuator already and I also had to reprogram the remote - both of these I used this forum in learning how - so thank you guys for that.

Back to my current problem - I can tell you when I click the lock button both on the remote and the door lock nothing happens with the locks themselves but I do hear a soft tick sound that seems to be coming from under the driver side dash. any ideas?

 

[cosmicWy]

I believe you have to replace the little motors inside of your lock actuators. I just had this issue and I replaced 3 of my 5 locks. I'm new to the scene, but from everything I've read your '99 is ripe for some lock motor replacements.

you gotta go buy a couple of these. If you want to find them cheaper, you can head to ebay. If you do that, send a question to the seller and make sure the motor has the collar on it. I learned this the hard way. There (to the best of my knowledge) is no way to add the collar after you bought 5 of these from china.

 

[Spike555]

Broken wire in the drivers door wire harness.
The lock button is not getting enough power to lock the doors because of a broken wire.
The unlock button is getting enough power.
The noise you hear under the dash is the relay or whatever sending the signal, but nothing happens because of the broken wire.

 

[Enrique Sonora]

Broken wire in the drivers door wire harness.
The lock button is not getting enough power to lock the doors because of a broken wire.
The unlock button is getting enough power.
The noise you hear under the dash is the relay or whatever sending the signal, but nothing happens because of the broken wire.

I have a similar problem, but sorta related more to heat. I can unlock but locking is a problem and each door acts differently.
I am curious as to where this wire may be?

Thanks!

Oops, my bad. You did mention it as being located in the Drivers door side in the wire harness.

 

[krash]

Broken wire in the drivers door wire harness.
The lock button is not getting enough power to lock the doors because of a broken wire.
The unlock button is getting enough power.
The noise you hear under the dash is the relay or whatever sending the signal, but nothing happens because of the broken wire.

So replacing the driver door wire harness would fix this? Any idea how hard or expensive of a job this is?

 

[Spike555]

So replacing the driver door wire harness would fix this? Any idea how hard or expensive of a job this is?

I know exactly how hard and expensive this job is.
$275 for the harness.
Half a day to replace it in your driveway.

But before doing that, open the door grommet and look for broken wires. I cut mine open, found half a dozen broken wires. Spliced them. That got me through half the winter, late spring I replaced the wire harness.

But your first step is looking for a broken wire.

 

[krash]

Ok, I'll take a look - thank you for the help.

 

[Spike555]

You're welcome.

 

[Sam Lin]

Do you happen to have the part number for the door wire harness?

 

[Spike555]

My truck is a 2004. Your part number might be different.

 

[Sam Lin]

Thank you, just ordered one, $274 shipped.

 

[Enrique Sonora]

Thank you, just ordered one, $274 shipped.

Let us know how it work out, any pics would be appreciated. I may have the same issue on my LX and so i am curious to your results.

 

[Sam Lin]

I'll try to get pics. I won't see the car until Thanksgiving, and will be doing new (rebuilt used) window switch assembly, Camry lock actuator, and new wiring harness, so I won't be able to tell you what actually fixed what. I'm shotgunning it all while I'm in there.

 

[Enrique Sonora]

I'll try to get pics. I won't see the car until Thanksgiving, and will be doing new (rebuilt used) window switch assembly, Camry lock actuator, and new wiring harness, so I won't be able to tell you what actually fixed what. I'm shotgunning it all while I'm in there.

I hope all goes well with that project. Nice thing is, there is great help in this forum. Looking forward to your posts!

 

[Spike555]

 

[ccasteel]

PN for a 1999 LX470 is 82152-60321. At the moment it's running just under $400 at 82152-60321 - Lexus Parts Now

 

[Sam Lin]

I also got my rebuild from Switch Doctor (straight from them, not Amazon). Mine is a 1998, cost was $88.

 

[geargarcon]

Having this exact same problem today. I pressed lock on my remote and the doors made the sound like they were locking but did not actually lock. I went up to lock the car manually and again made the noise but did not lock.

I got in the car, drove it around the block, and then suddenly it worked again.

Anyone able to fix the issue in this thread?

 

[archerwolf]

There are several components in the whole door lock/unlock system, so before you start replacing things, try to narrow down where exactly the problem is.

Does the problem happen with the power lock button, key in the door, keyless remote, or all?
Does it happen with every door lock or just specific ones?

About the noise you heard, did you hear the relay click in the driver's footwell? Did you hear the door lock motors whining?

The most common issue is the door lock actuator motors going bad. Usually this affects some doors first and not others. This also gets worse with heat or hot weather. There are several previous threads about how to replace the motor themselves or replace the whole door lock assembly.

A less common issue is the door lock / unlock relays going bad. If you can hear the relays click in the driver's footwell, but the door lock motors don't make any noise, then you may need to replace the 3 door lock related relays in the driver's footwell fuse/junction box.

 

[gregnash]

Door lock actuator motors? Door Lock Sensors? Could be either of those as they are main culprit I am finding in lots of these issues. Have you ever replaced any of the motors?