STONER

Just got off the phone with the local dealer. First off, $389 for the door actuator. Not going to happen. BUT, I think that my particular problem (and the tech that I spoke with on the phone agreed) may be solved with the replacement of the inside door handle $59. I like the direction this is going. The sheath that I spoke of earlier, although it has threads, is apparently fastened to the actual handle with a clip. If the clip is what broke, I may be able to replace just the clip. At this point though it seems that I may get away with a repair under a hundred dollars That would be a first.

gserep1

GREAT, Great STONER. Take it apart and check it out, and if the cable sheath is moving, then the clip is broken. That WOULD be nice to do a cheap fix. Disconnect the rod from the door handle assembly and see if it actuates properly. If it does, then the handle itself may be binding.

Otherwise the cable sheath is binding, and you have to buy the actuator. I don't think they sell the cable sheath separately. Call Carson Toyota before buying it at the dealership. They have great prices in comparison to the Lexus dealership.
GOOD LUCK!

STONER

It' s the rear so no rod to disconnect. But I remember now that the door handle cable had a white sheath with a slot that slid into the handle assembly, and the lock cable had a black sheath with the threads. I will take it apart later and try to take some pictures as this may save somebody some dough in the future.

UDel

gserep1 can you go into a little more detail how you changed the door lock actuator yourself and what you did and what you do not need to do. I plan on doing it myself if I can get a good deal on the part. Stoner that $389 for just the actuator is insane, I am pretty sure you can get a much better deal on it especially at salvage/junk yards.

I urge everyone who has this expensive to fix design flaw to contact Lexus corporate and complain or at least let them know of the problems you are having even if you are past warranty. This should not be such a common thing on a 50K+ luxury car with a reputation like Lexus. This problem has been known on the GS since the 1998 model was first released and even earlier on other Lexus models and Lexus has not done anything to correct it on our 2nd Gen or offer to pay for it past warranty and I don't think it is right that owners get stuck paying for this design flaw to fix. When I contacted Lexus corporate they said there were no TSBs and did not think it was a problem and did not consider the internet a reliable source of other people who had the same problem. If this was something that cost less then $100 to buy the part and have it installed it would not be as big of a deal but they are charging rediculously high prices for this part and are making alot of money off of it when it is their design fault we have to keep buying it.

EyesOnly

Does this sound like the same actuator problem:

Almost every time I unlock my car with the remote, it does a second 'unlock' and beep (not unlocking any other doors, but sounding the mechanism throughout the car). Thus, when I hit unlock on the remote only once, I hear "Beep beep... ... beep beep." Sometimes I hit unlock on the remote, the door unlocks but the alarm does not beep. Both remotes that I use have new batteries.

Then when I start the car, it activates the 'unlock' sound (not the beep) twice more. When I lock the car, it never unlocks by itself.

Just thought I'd add my symptoms for others reading this thread. I think I will write to Lexus about this problem if there is a known actuator issue.

UDel

Eyesonly that does not sound like the same problem most people including me are experiencing with our door lock actuator failures. What happens is simply a door lock will not lock or unlock using the keyfob or the electric button and the only way to unlock or lock the door is to manually reach over and flip the switch or insert the key to lock and unlock. When a door lock actuator fails the power lock or unlock does not work any more. Your problem seems more like a electrical problem or programing problem. If all your power door locks work at a certain time or method then it is not the known doorlock actuator problem that affects many Lexus vehicles.

STONER

I didn't get any photos because I was flying solo and had to hold up the door panel. My particular problem was nothing more than pushing the sheath that surrounds the locking cable back FULLY into the handle. I fear that this may have been the same issue that people may have solved by purchasing and replacing the actuator. At the inside handle there are two cables, one for the door release and one for the locking mechanism. The one for the handle release has a white cap on the end of the cable with a small groove or nipple that slides into the handle itself to hold the sheath still while the cable slides inside opening the door. The other sheath has a black end and what I thought were threads on it. They're not. They are just small ridges that prevent the sheath from sliding while the lock and unlock functions are done with the cable.

My problem was that the sheath was not snapped into the handle. This didn't allow the cable to extend far enough to actually lock the door. The inside lever would only move about half way when I operated the power locks or remote.

The removal of the door panel is a piece of cake and if someone needs to ask questions, I may have some more helpful information seeing as I've been behind there twice recently. Hit me on the PM

gserep1

WAY TO GO MAN! I knew you could do it. You did the fix for zero dollars. I knew my actuator was worn out because sometimes it would work perfeclty, but failed after two or more attempts to lock and unlock,

Now you have that valuable experrience, and know that you don't have to totally disassemble the door to get where you want to be.

GWELEX

Perseverance wins through again!!! Way to go. There have been a few times in my DIY repairs that I have given up and bought new parts only to find out later something like this was my problem. Thanks for posting the info, others will benefit later on.

jonathancl

Link to gallery.

Nice work, Stoner.
Huh. Normally that's a sarcastic insult, as said to someone who just spilled bong water on the carpet.