LX450 Door Lock Motors

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Nov 17, 2009
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Location
Boulder, CO
I own a 1997 Lx450. All of my door locks are failing. The back two don't work and the front locks work only a few times before not working at all. Instead of replacing the whole assembly i thought i could save some money and replace the problem, being the motor. I have found other sites stating that the Mabuchi motors work for 100 series but no word on LX450. Also is the assembly for a LX450 door lock the same as a Land Cruiser? I have searched and searched with no luck. Here is the link for the ebay site. Any ideas?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-pack-20mm...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19d9e08718&vxp=mtr
 
I just ordered a 4 pack of the mabuchi motors on ebay. I read a couple threads from LX450 owners that showed they work, but I will be happy to confirm that as soon as I get them delivered and installed.
 
Looking forward to it. I replaced one actuator, but I'm sure the rest are on their way out and I'd rather not pay for OEM's.
 
Did you get the 20MM one?
 
Did you get the 20MM one?

Here's the thread that talks about it.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/237827-door-lock-actuator-replacement-2.html

It's from the 100 series forum but they use the same motor. They are made by Mabuchi with part number: FC 280PT 22125. I don't know what your refering to with "20mm". I just looked at the motor I had yanked from my door and compared it to the thread, picture, and part number and they all seemed to match. I just typed in that part number on ebay and found a ton of vendors selling them from about $2-10 a piece. There was a vendor selling a 5 pack for $5 a while back but I could not find him. I spent a little under $10 on my 4 pack and that included shipping.
 
Well.... It's a no go on the motor. It's the exact same motor and fits perfect but the gear/shaft is different from the 80-100 series. I tried to remove the shaft from the bad motor but in the process I destroyed the shaft and gear. I need to find the same motor but with a longer shaft. I also need to figure out how to get the press fit gear off the old shaft without destroying the thread. I guess this quick and easy cheap fix isn't gonna work until I find the motor with the perfect shaft. Back on the hunt again. Luckily I'm only out $10
 
Did you get the 20MM one?

NOW I understand your question and No I did not get the 20mm shaft. I got the standard shaft which is about 9mm which fits perfect on the 100 series but not on the 80. I DID need the 20mm shaft. That would have fixed the shaft issue. I still don't know how to get the copper gear/thread off the 20mm shaft without damaging it. At least I now know what I SHOULD have ordered. I will figure out the gear/thread removal first before I order more motors.
 
we got our 20mm motors in and the fit is perfect. Unfortunately there is no knurling on the gear to keep the gear spinning with the motor. After much research we found that Locktite makes an industrial sealant that can with stand 4,000PSI for gear attachment to motors and is very hard to find, you will not see it on their website as it is for commercial use only. I ordered this solvent and will let you know if that will keep the worm gear on. From everything I read from Hobby people this will work. fingers crossed. :)
 
I just got the gear/threads off the factory motor shaft. I had to use a small deep socket and hit it from the rear and it popped off. I now know how to remove and reinstall the gear and also what motor I need. My final issue is the splines on the factory motor shaft. The ebay 20mm "long shaft" motor is smooth. The toyota factory 20mm shaft has splines on it to keep the gear from spinning. Without the splines it's not a tight fit and it would just spin. Has anyone ever found the 20mm motor with a splined shaft? I found nothing on ebay.
 
For removal of gear First take the plastic cap from the backend of the motor, then place a rag between the motor case and the worm gear, then pound the shaft while holding on to rag and motor case, you will pound the shaft through and off the worm gear.
 
I just got the gear/threads off the factory motor shaft. I had to use a small deep socket and hit it from the rear and it popped off. I now know how to remove and reinstall the gear and also what motor I need. My final issue is the splines on the factory motor shaft. The ebay 20mm "long shaft" motor is smooth. The toyota factory 20mm shaft has splines on it to keep the gear from spinning. Without the splines it's not a tight fit and it would just spin. Has anyone ever found the 20mm motor with a splined shaft? I found nothing on ebay.

See post above about locktite
 
we got our 20mm motors in and the fit is perfect. Unfortunately there is no knurling on the gear to keep the gear spinning with the motor. After much research we found that Locktite makes an industrial sealant that can with stand 4,000PSI for gear attachment to motors and is very hard to find, you will not see it on their website as it is for commercial use only. I ordered this solvent and will let you know if that will keep the worm gear on. From everything I read from Hobby people this will work. fingers crossed. :)


We must have been typing at the same time. You posted the issue with the missing splines the same time I did. If it doesn't work then I will just have to cough up the dough and buy the entire assembly from CDAN.
 
Very interested in watching you guys go back and forth. Once you have found the solution, post up or even better film a Youtube video so I can watch it over and over to get mine done!:D
 
I just replaced my troublesome motor today, and ran into this same problem. I bought the long shaft Mabuchi motor from eBay, and pressed the brass gear off the old motor, then soldered it in place on the new one. It is very secure and I have no doubt it will hold up well. I scored the shaft with my dremel and a cutting wheel to promote better adhesion of the solder, degreased the gear, and hit it with my soldering gun, though a brazing torch would have worked better. Also, my casing was screwed together, and the connectors on the old motor were soldered on. I ripped the old solder lugs out of the old motor and trimmed them to fit the push connector on the new one. It works great, the whole job only took about an hour.
 
I just replaced my troublesome motor today, and ran into this same problem. I bought the long shaft Mabuchi motor from eBay, and pressed the brass gear off the old motor, then soldered it in place on the new one. It is very secure and I have no doubt it will hold up well. I scored the shaft with my dremel and a cutting wheel to promote better adhesion of the solder, degreased the gear, and hit it with my soldering gun, though a brazing torch would have worked better. Also, my casing was screwed together, and the connectors on the old motor were soldered on. I ripped the old solder lugs out of the old motor and trimmed them to fit the push connector on the new one. It works great, the whole job only took about an hour.

I will dig out my old soldering gun and give it a try. I have some extra new motors and two bad old motors so I can definately have some room for error and redo's.
 
I finally got around to repairing my 80's passenger side, rear door lock actuator that had been non-functional for the past several years. Like many others with this issue, the problem was the little DC motor that runs the actuator: the motor brushes had completely disintegrated - nothing whatsoever was left of them when I opened up the motor.

I purchased one of these from eBay for $6.40 - in the "20mm shaft" version:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mabuchi-Doo...ta-/120935451126?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

The shaft of the new motor is plenty long enough, but it turns out the shaft diameter is slightly smaller than the original. As stated by the earlier post, this means that the gear won't securely press fit onto the new motor's shaft without doing something extra (e.g. solder, bearing setting compound, physically dimpling/kinking the new shaft, etc...)

I thought I'd get "smart" and just swap the end bell containing the brushes from the new motor onto my old motor - that way I wouldn't have to mess with pulling the gear from the shaft and getting it to fit securely onto the new motor's skinny shaft. While I eventually got this to work, in retrospect, this is definitely NOT the right approach. The diameter of the old motor's commutator (the cylindrical copper contacts inside the motor on which the brushes ride) is larger than for the new motor. So, the brushes have to be spread apart farther than they were designed to accomodate. They do work in this position, but it's not optimal, for sure. Secondly, the end bearing in the bell had to be drilled out to fit the old motor's larger diameter shaft.

A smarter person would've stopped as soon as all of this became apparent and just dealt with the more straightforward problem of fitting the old drive gear on the new motor's shaft. But as they say, in for a penny, in for a pound... (plus, if I completely botched this job, I'm only out a few bucks) So I pressed ahead, and eventually got this franken-motor new/old hybrid back together. Happily, it all works.

I also had to fab up some contacts onto which I could solder the actuator's power leads.

The moral of the story is: the Mabuchi motors you can get on eBay will work fine, but the best way to solve this is to secure the old drive gear onto the new motor's shaft. Soldering seems to be the most accessible answer here.

Sorry no pics, was in too much of a hurry to get the job done, but it does work!
 
Yeah, yeah... linky. :)
 
Sorry - is the ebay link in my post not working? It seems to work for me, but if not, you can search for "Mabuchi Door lock motor" on ebay and you'll get a bunch of hits. You defnitely want the "long" 20mm shaft version.
 

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