Rear Door Lock Actuator - Help needed

[Bruneti]

My passenger side rear door never seems to lock or unlock on the first try. It almost always does on the second try. Is there anything that can be done to help this (fresh grease, etc.) or do I need a new lock actuator?

If a new actuator is required, does anyone have the Toyota part # or installation tips? I've had the door panel off, but didn't spot the actuator in my quick examination. Of course it worked perfectly while I was checking it. I have this problem with both the keyfob and the power lock/unlock switches on the front doors. It seems to be isolated to the actuator on this passenger rear door.

I've discovered that my TIS repair manual download was not complete, so if there is a page that shows any detail on this that someone could post, fax, or email me until I re-download I would be forever grateful.

Thanks,
-Tim

 

[PHAEDRUS]

On my 92 ther is no seperate actuator, it is part of the latfch mechanism. The whole thing needs to be replaced if some cleaning wont help. There should be 2 bolts on the outside, and then disconnect all the lock linkage to pull it out.
Dave

 

[teejnut]

I'm having the same problem on my 91, same door too. I'll have to take apart my door and try to clean it out when I do my rear speaker install.

 

[jonheld]

Same problem. The door latch is a wacky setup with long horizontal bars passing through nylon bushings and pushing/pulling on levers. Take the door panel off, peel back the plastic membrane, clean and lubricate. All fixed up.

 

[tech_dog]

I had this, and if I remember correctly it was a $300 fix at the dealer. I got sick of dealing with stop gap measures, and considered it a safety issue for the kids in the back.

Mine was also the passenger side rear door. Coincidence?

 

[stlcruiser]

Greetings:

If I recall, rear passenger actuator from CDAN around $70. Remove door panel, and locking mechanism. You have to be careful so that you remove the whole assembly intact though the access points in the door. Now you swap out the acutature. Took me about 1-1/2 hours first time. Now, I could do it in 1/2 hour.

Steve
94' 170,000

 

[Truckasaurus]

I had this, and if I remember correctly it was a $300 fix at the dealer. I got sick of dealing with stop gap measures, and considered it a safety issue for the kids in the back.

Mine was also the passenger side rear door. Coincidence?

Mine, too!

Same problem. The door latch is a wacky setup with long horizontal bars passing through nylon bushings and pushing/pulling on levers. Take the door panel off, peel back the plastic membrane, clean and lubricate. All fixed up.

Not all THAT wacky...how did you think they got the outside door handle, the inside door handle and the lock knob to all work in concert with the latch (and each other)?

That said, this is quite the "conspiracy." I've had times where it won't lock when the fob locks the rest of the truck and arms the alarm...nice to hear that horn going off when I check that PS Rr door. And the truly odd thing is that, theoretically, the PS and DS are symmetric. Therefore, the failures should be identical. From my understanding of OEM door assembly, a little grease is supposed to be slopped onto the plastic clip/guides for the rods. The actuators are electric, as we know.

The cost seems reasonable for a new one. There are good write-ups here on how to re-hab an old one.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bruneti]

Well I dug into it tonight after work. Door panel removal, peeling back moisture barrier, and lubed everything I could access in-place. No change. Time to get serious. Start of mechanism removal went without a hitch. Things got tense for a moment while figuring out how to access the bolts to the outside latch handle. Then trying to maneuver the whole mechanism out of the door access holes. I would compare this somewhat to the removal of the antenna motor (which almost everyone can probably relate to). It just seems impossible to fit through that access hole until you blink, and there it is outside and you're not sure how you just did it.

I removed the lock actuator motor, opened it up and applied fresh silicone grease to the worm gear mechanism inside and buttoned it back up. The grease inside there was all displaced away from the work gear and dried out. I used spray lithium grease on every pivot, hinge, spring, etc., etc. on the lock mechanism, slide rods, and manual lock. Then proceeded to manually work it into every piece and joint repeatedly and lube it some more. I was then told it was time for dinner, but kept working through for fear of forgetting where every last piece went. Fumbled around with getting everything back thru the door access hole until the planets aligned and it all fell into place. Put everything back together and it seems to be working good.

The true test will be the first press of the keyfob tomorrow morning after sitting cold all night.

 

[Bruneti]

At this point, everything seems to be working fine. I'm considering it a sucess.

 

[Truckasaurus]

At this point, everything seems to be working fine. I'm considering it a sucess.

Cool! Have a couple of these for a job well done.

How long would you say it took you to do the job?

And did you unhook the rods from the latch or take them with? With inner door handle, too? Lock knob?

Sorry for the goofy questions...I know that usually, these things go INTO the factory and then the door, as a unit complete...interior handle, knob and latch, and rod to external handle. And yeah, snaking that thing out, re-habbing, and then back in, would be a PITA.

Thanks for the feedback, and the thread...I've searched for this one, and this is the first I've seen.

 

[Bruneti]

Cool! Have a couple of these for a job well done.

How long would you say it took you to do the job?

And did you unhook the rods from the latch or take them with? With inner door handle, too? Lock knob?

Sorry for the goofy questions...I know that usually, these things go INTO the factory and then the door, as a unit complete...interior handle, knob and latch, and rod to external handle. And yeah, snaking that thing out, re-habbing, and then back in, would be a PITA.

Thanks for the feedback, and the thread...I've searched for this one, and this is the first I've seen.

Probably took me close to 2 hours. Now that I know what I'm doing, I could do it in an hour. At first I tried to unhook the rods from the latch, but was afraid of breaking the plastic retaining clips. I thought they looked like they may be brittle. I removed it all as one complete assembly. This would include the outer door handle, inner door handle, manual lock latch, door lock and latch mechanism, and all rods connecting it together.

Here's a pic of it all in one piece. I lubed every joint that I could with spray lithium grease. Yes - I did remove all that stuff on the left side of the picture through the door sheet metal access hole in one piece. Don't ask me how...


This is a picture of the access hole in the door sheet metal that the mechanism must fit through. You can also see the bolt holes for the exterior handle. Your 10mm socket and 1/4 ratchet with extension will reach these. One through the access hole, and the other through the door latch hole in the lower right edge of the picture (after the 3 phillips screws holding the door latch are removed and the latch is pushed to the side).






This is the actuator seperated from the rest and opened up for lubrication (6 philips head screws). I used silicone grease inside of this. The worm gear moves that large gear a very small amount, so once the grease is displaced from where the teeth engage it cannot get circulated back in there. The factory grease also begins to dry out with age which probably contributes to the sluggishness of the lock. There is a thin rubber o-ring seal that you can see in the picture that must be put back into its groove before putting the two halves back together and buttoning it up:


Tools required: Philips head screwdrivers (1 large, 1 med), 1/4 inch socket with extension, 10mm socket, grease (I used silicone grease, as well as spray white lithium).
1 job now that I know what I'm doing. Be sure to put the moisture barrier back properly when reassembling to prevent issues down the road. Patience when removing and re-installing the mechanisms is required. After that perform step #6 cause you're home free...

It's snowing on and off here today, and my lock is still working good. It's usually at it's worst when it's cold. I'm considering this done.

-Tim

 

[TOY350]

Bump for those with lock problems right now. I will be in my drivers door this weekend trying to fix it.

 

[tbo_cruiser]

tail gate lock

I have a similar sounding problem to this but with the back door (tail gate door). All the other doors lock with the keyless remote, but the very back door does not lock or unlock. The locking mechanism in the door makes a noise like it is operating, but the lock does not move. I assume this is supposed to operate with the remote like the front doors, yes?

This is on a '97 LX450.

 

[theyis]

Not so hard...

Just got done doing my driver's side rear door. Just a couple of suggestions to what has already been posted. If you can get the clips off (one for the lock, one for the door handle on the inside and one for the door handle on the outside) it makes the job way easier. If you remove them all you have are 4 phillips screws (3 on the edge and one on the inside) and then the whole mechanism just comes out. That way you don't have to mess with either the inside or outside door handles.

My problem was just that the grease on the outside part of the locking mechanism was old and dry. I removed it and put some new stuff on there and all is well.

Took about an hour when all was said and done.

Kyon

 

[Manuelsv]

91 actuators same as 97?

Anyone know if the door lock actuators are the same in the 91 thru 97 models?
Mine are all shot work about 1/2 the time.. and the local pick-a-part said I can have all 4 + the hatch actuator for $50 off a 91 FJ80..
think they'll fit my 97 FZJ?? Anyone??

 

[Bluetribal]

Thanks to this thread I got the whole assembly out in about 10 minutes. I then greased up the outside moving parts for the lock and hooked it up and still not working. I then took the actuator off and unscrewed it and popped it open. Hooked it up again and could see the motor work and the gear move. But I think my problem is the plastic piece that gets moved by the gear is not positioned correctly to flip the switch. I could not figure out how to place it for it to work. So I hoped for the best, put it back together and put everything back in place and gave it a try. Now it seems like it's worse, before it seemed like it giggled the switch. Now I feel nothing when I hit the door lock. I ran out of daylight today and had to put it back together with a head lamp so maybe tomorrow if it doesn't rain?

 

[NGUDE]

my DS rear door locks/unlocks maybe 25% on a normal city driving day. it almost always works after going over bumpy stuff on the trail though!

 

[Bluetribal]

The wifey just saw me messing with this again and told me to just buy a new one. So I guess I will see if Dan can still get these and for how much. Time to look up the part number.
Not sure what the deal is with mine? The grease inside is fine, the motor works but it doesn't flip the lock switch.

 

[floridan surfer]

That is probably because the arm itself has broken loose from it's pivot. Test it. Can you move the arm freely? If so, I have heard of someone repairing this by drilling a hole through the pivot/ arm base and installing a pin.

 

[Bluetribal]

No, all moving parts are working. I have a feeling it's the little gear inside the moving arm. So the gear from the motor is fine, the large gear that is spring loaded is working. But there is another gear inside the arm to the far left that you can't get to and that I think is my problem.

*Not my motor, pic copied from above*