Driver Door Power Lock Gets Stuck When It Hot Outside (1 Viewer)

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Jan 15, 2011
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I live in Sacramento, California where the summers get quite hot. At the end of last summer I started having an intermittent problem with my driver door's power lock not working. I noticed the problem occurred on hot days over 95 or when the sun was directly hitting the driver door. No problems all winter and up until today when the temperature reached 98. Neither the key remote or interior buttons will lock or unlock it. The other doors work fine and the key in the door works fine. Any ideas? Thanks. 1999 LX470
 
Sounds like a door lock actuator. I have changed one in my other vehicle. My new to me LC is going to need one also. There is a long thread on changing them. The actuators are quite expensive but some on the forum have found a way to just change the motor inside of the actuator for a fraction of the cost.
 
I did the actuator motor swap Monday. Not too bad. Look at the thread, and the link i posted worked perfectly on my 04 LX (so I'm not sure if it'll work on yours). I outlined the pain points I had as well. Took me about 2.5 hours, and I'm a super slow wrench because if I don't take my time I break stuff.
 
My LX470 does the exact same thing. Last year it did it during the summer, then went away when it cooled off outside. This year it's back again. I've noticed if I park in the covered parking at my work, the lock will work. If I park in the sun, the lock will stop working. On really hot days, over 110, the rear drivers side door has the same behavior.
 
Wife reported the same issue last night. She is claiming the locks dont work on whatever side of car is facing the sun. It also happens to the back door. It also becomes an issue if she uses the inside button to lock the doors. If she uses the FOB at least the doors on the shady side of the car work.
Not looking forward to having to change all 5 locks.

While the motors are not expensive I just figure If I am pulling door panels I might as well change speakers.
 
Same here, but I've only noticed the driver's door doing this when it's very hot out. I just have to remember to check the door to make sure it locks before walking away. As long as you know it's happening, it isn't so bad.
 
I'm glad I found this thread, this is exactly what I'm experiencing. Bought the vehicle last year around this time and PO warned me about DS door lock. I neglected the issue for a while until last month and got a new battery for my remote key, tried it, everything worked perfectly. Then it got warm again just now and won't work. I found this out as I just got around to ordering a new remote fob to program as a second master key.

What's very weird to me is that if I use the key on the PS or rear hatch locks, the system will lock/unlock the DS door no problem. Any idea why that would work but not with the remote? I would think it's the same actuator.
 
Hi..same problem with my 2001 hdj100...I think it would be the main unit in the driver's door....any solutions?
Regards
 
I ran into this for the first time yesterday with my LX. I had to open the driver's door with the key. The passenger side looked to almost open. The driver's side sounded very weak and did not move. The driver side rear did not even attempt to move. I would love to know if this is a single part that can be swapped. I cannot imagine all of the actuators are going bad at the same time.
 
everything you want to know about the subject

split the case replace the motor $5, or replace the assembly: several options from $45 & up
 
I saw that. But is it all four motors? Are all the contacts driven off the driver's side unlocking?
 
I saw that. But is it all four motors? Are all the contacts driven off the driver's side unlocking?

My experience was that it was all motors becoming weak. On another 99 I had, I replaced driver, passenger, and rear hatch over the course of two weeks and the motor replacement restored functionality to each, as I did them, independently.
 
My experience was that it was all motors becoming weak. On another 99 I had, I replaced driver, passenger, and rear hatch over the course of two weeks and the motor replacement restored functionality to each, as I did them, independently.
You are right. And that is the correct thing to do. I am just upset because I had all the door trim off this weekend to rebuild the speakers. Now I have to tear open all the doors again.
 
Toyota door lock actuators are like the worst in the industry. How the Japanese can not figure out this simple part is beyond me. It just so happens that our 01 LX works fine (knock on wood) but the passenger one on our 2013 4Runner is totally dead, and it is *NOT* a cheap repair to have someone do it, especially the dealership. Typically runs 5-800 bucks which isn't any different than MB parts and labor prices. /vent off
 

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