padolph

The door locks on my 1997 ES300 are failing intermittently. If I toggle the lock/unlock physical switch on either front door, all for door locks will toggle (lock/unlock) strongly for a few times but if I keep toggling the switch the lock actuators start sounding weaker and weaker and eventually stop flipping the lock lever after maybe 2-7 toggles. From there door locks do not change state at all. I do hear the noise of the actuators trying at this point, but it's like they are no longer strong enough. In all cases I hear the relay or whatever activating under the dash, even when the physical levers don't change state.

If I let it sit for maybe 10 minutes the actuators come back working strong but then show the same fading behavior on repeated cycles. Otherwise the car is in tip-top condition with a strong battery and no other issues.

A few things come to my mind as to what the problem might be:
- Failing relay module under the dash?
- Bad actuator in one of the doors stealing too much current after a couple of duty cycles, maybe when it gets hot?

Anybody else have and fix this issue? Any other advice?

Thanks in advance!

LeX2K

All the actuators do this?

padolph

Yes, all four seem to act the same. They all work for the first few toggles then all fade and stop working almost at the same rate.

LeX2K

I haven't tried this on my car, but I doubt they will fade after a few cycles I'll try later. You sure your battery is good? What happens if you do the same with the engine running? Would be odd if all the actuators were going bad at the same time. Seeing you used both door switches that is ruled out so that leaves the actuators or the door lock control module.

Assuming they are not supposed to fade after a few repeated cycles.