The front left (Driver's) door lock actuator in my 2013 decided to give up the ghost at 52,435 miles.
I made a dealer trip yesterday to pick up the part since manually locking/unlocking the door was becoming annoying. Got the dealer (Groove Toyota) to beat the internet prices and sell the part to me at wholesale for $265 + Tax.
Removing the door panel in these is quite easy, here's a non-picture document / how-to. (Since I couldn't find one online.) I own a set of panel removing tools which is helpful.
Remove the small triangular panel which is behind the door mirror at the top-right of the panel by pulling straight out carefully.
Remove the small panel cover behind the door handle. Carefully pry from the front side near the loose (non-hinged) end of the door handle. There's a screw behind here to remove.
Remove the escutcheon (power window/lock switches) by prying directly up on the forward end of the panel. Carefully pry around and pull the whole module directly upwards. Disconnect the cable by pressing the release tab.
Remove the grab handle cover by using a small flat-bladed screwdriver inserted toward the front of the vehicle. VERY CAREFULLY pry outward and slowly work around and up the grab handle. Behind here are two more screws to remove.
Remove the three screws in the door panel (first one behind the panel behind the door panel, the other two behind the grab handle.)
On the bottom of the door, there's an arrow and an open location into the bottom of the panel. If you look up into there, you'll see the first of the plastic door panel clips. I use my panel removal set to pry directly out on them. Work along the bottom of the door to carefully pop them all out. (I managed to not break any.)
Disconnect the puddle light connector by pressing on the catch and pulling straight out.
Continue to work up and along the sides of the door panel to pop all of the door panel clips out. Panel removal tools work best for this operation.
Once all the panel clips are disconnected, grab the sides of the door panel and carefully lift straight up toward the top of the door while keeping the panel as close to the door as possible. Try to slide it directly up to remove it from the window channel.
Disconnect wiring for the seat memory switches.
Disconnect cables going to door lock and door handle by carefully pulling them out and rotating them around to the release location (more obvious than it sounds.)
Set panel aside.
Door Lock / Actuator removal:
Carefully pull plastic sheathing away from door metal. I found using a sharp-ish putty knife invaluable to separate the plastic from the sealant goop holding it along. Goop is a technical term.
The actuator is located behind the window regulator rail. On the left hand side of the door metal frame is a bolt that must be removed that holds the final section of the window rail in place. Remove this 10mm bolt.
Reach directly inside door and pull STRAIGHT DOWN on the window rail to disconnect it from the upper rail. It has some window/weather stripping in it that can easily be removed/reinstalled. Notice on the top here that there is a small tongue that slides into the upper rail. Set aside.
Disconnect power/comm connections from lock/door/actuator mechanism by pressing catch and pulling out.
Remove three bolts from door lock/actuator from door near striking/actuating location. Hold onto the actuator inside the door while you do this.
Carefully rock the actuator top toward the inside of the vehicle to disconnect it from the door handle lock mechanism. Then carefully lower actuator down to disconnect it from the door handle bar.
Disconnect cables from actuator (these will be reused with new actuator.)
Smash / trash poorly engineered door lock actuator module that has led to this.
Prepare new actuator by reinstalling cables recently removed.
Place actuator in door while reconnecting external door handle bar to handle and re-engaging exterior lock mechanism into socket.
Replace 3 external bolts for door lock actuator (lightly tighten them until you can verify the door works properly and the handle/external lock engages and works.
Re-install window regulator rail all the while making sure that the tongue fits into the groove pressed into the upper window rail.
Press fit the window strip back into rail. MAKE SURE IT IS EVEN.
Reconnect power/comm cable to door lock/actuator.
Tighten 3 bolts for door lock/actuator module.
Reinstall bolt for lower rail and tighten.
At this point I plugged the window switches back in and tested the window as well as the lock. (Worked like a champ.)
Reattach plastic to goop.
Reverse door panel removal procedure to reinstall. Make sure you reconnect the cables for the door handle and lock. Also make sure you plug in the seat switches as well as the puddle light switches.
Give it a few opens/closes after reassembly and ensure the door closes, opens, locks, and unlocks successfully.
This job took me about 45 minutes since I went SLOW removing the door panel since I could not find a howto nor any information of anyone doing this DIY in the past. The pucker-factor of tearing into my $82K truck was high but this goes to show Toyotas are still damn easy to repair and are well built. I was impressed with the consistency of quality and consistency of materials used in the door panel and all electrical connectors/modules built in.
Hope this helps! If I do it again, I'll take pictures and update this.
I made a dealer trip yesterday to pick up the part since manually locking/unlocking the door was becoming annoying. Got the dealer (Groove Toyota) to beat the internet prices and sell the part to me at wholesale for $265 + Tax.
Removing the door panel in these is quite easy, here's a non-picture document / how-to. (Since I couldn't find one online.) I own a set of panel removing tools which is helpful.
Remove the small triangular panel which is behind the door mirror at the top-right of the panel by pulling straight out carefully.
Remove the small panel cover behind the door handle. Carefully pry from the front side near the loose (non-hinged) end of the door handle. There's a screw behind here to remove.
Remove the escutcheon (power window/lock switches) by prying directly up on the forward end of the panel. Carefully pry around and pull the whole module directly upwards. Disconnect the cable by pressing the release tab.
Remove the grab handle cover by using a small flat-bladed screwdriver inserted toward the front of the vehicle. VERY CAREFULLY pry outward and slowly work around and up the grab handle. Behind here are two more screws to remove.
Remove the three screws in the door panel (first one behind the panel behind the door panel, the other two behind the grab handle.)
On the bottom of the door, there's an arrow and an open location into the bottom of the panel. If you look up into there, you'll see the first of the plastic door panel clips. I use my panel removal set to pry directly out on them. Work along the bottom of the door to carefully pop them all out. (I managed to not break any.)
Disconnect the puddle light connector by pressing on the catch and pulling straight out.
Continue to work up and along the sides of the door panel to pop all of the door panel clips out. Panel removal tools work best for this operation.
Once all the panel clips are disconnected, grab the sides of the door panel and carefully lift straight up toward the top of the door while keeping the panel as close to the door as possible. Try to slide it directly up to remove it from the window channel.
Disconnect wiring for the seat memory switches.
Disconnect cables going to door lock and door handle by carefully pulling them out and rotating them around to the release location (more obvious than it sounds.)
Set panel aside.
Door Lock / Actuator removal:
Carefully pull plastic sheathing away from door metal. I found using a sharp-ish putty knife invaluable to separate the plastic from the sealant goop holding it along. Goop is a technical term.
The actuator is located behind the window regulator rail. On the left hand side of the door metal frame is a bolt that must be removed that holds the final section of the window rail in place. Remove this 10mm bolt.
Reach directly inside door and pull STRAIGHT DOWN on the window rail to disconnect it from the upper rail. It has some window/weather stripping in it that can easily be removed/reinstalled. Notice on the top here that there is a small tongue that slides into the upper rail. Set aside.
Disconnect power/comm connections from lock/door/actuator mechanism by pressing catch and pulling out.
Remove three bolts from door lock/actuator from door near striking/actuating location. Hold onto the actuator inside the door while you do this.
Carefully rock the actuator top toward the inside of the vehicle to disconnect it from the door handle lock mechanism. Then carefully lower actuator down to disconnect it from the door handle bar.
Disconnect cables from actuator (these will be reused with new actuator.)
Smash / trash poorly engineered door lock actuator module that has led to this.
Prepare new actuator by reinstalling cables recently removed.
Place actuator in door while reconnecting external door handle bar to handle and re-engaging exterior lock mechanism into socket.
Replace 3 external bolts for door lock actuator (lightly tighten them until you can verify the door works properly and the handle/external lock engages and works.
Re-install window regulator rail all the while making sure that the tongue fits into the groove pressed into the upper window rail.
Press fit the window strip back into rail. MAKE SURE IT IS EVEN.
Reconnect power/comm cable to door lock/actuator.
Tighten 3 bolts for door lock/actuator module.
Reinstall bolt for lower rail and tighten.
At this point I plugged the window switches back in and tested the window as well as the lock. (Worked like a champ.)
Reattach plastic to goop.
Reverse door panel removal procedure to reinstall. Make sure you reconnect the cables for the door handle and lock. Also make sure you plug in the seat switches as well as the puddle light switches.
Give it a few opens/closes after reassembly and ensure the door closes, opens, locks, and unlocks successfully.
This job took me about 45 minutes since I went SLOW removing the door panel since I could not find a howto nor any information of anyone doing this DIY in the past. The pucker-factor of tearing into my $82K truck was high but this goes to show Toyotas are still damn easy to repair and are well built. I was impressed with the consistency of quality and consistency of materials used in the door panel and all electrical connectors/modules built in.
Hope this helps! If I do it again, I'll take pictures and update this.