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Okay, I ordered 4 of the actuators and they will be here July 2nd. Will update by the 4th hopefully.
Originally Posted by salimshah
I am not familiar with the kit as shown.
Door Actuator as sold by dismantlers and Lexus is a larger assembly and is unique for each door. Hopefully another member has used them.
I replaced mine [only one door failed] was by taking out the actuator and then taking a knife to open up the plastic and replaced the motor.
Salim
PS: Reminder ... what ever you decide to do, keep the door lining un-installed for few days.
I took out my actuator assembly from my driver's door when I replaced the cable (door handle is working as intended yay), and it looks exactly the same as the ones I ordered in the picture.
I don't know if it was brittle or what, but I spent a good couple hours whittling away at the glue to barely get anywhere, and any time I applied pressure upwards, the plastic snapped off. So I am just replacing the entire thing.
Also why is it recommended to keep the door panel off for a few days? Why not just until all of my tests are done and everything is confirmed working properly.
(P.S. for anyone who replaces the actuators, make sure the little levers on the assembly go into the little holes on the locking system so that it actually unlocks the door, I stupidly didn't do that and locked myself out of my car for a good 2 hours panicking, because I put the panel back on and shut the door without testing thinking I did it perfectly...) (I got the door unlocked and open by holding the manual key hole outside the door in the unlock position and pulling the door handle. Don't do what I did.)
Just got the 4 new actuator kits in the mail today, the little levers have about 2-3x more resistance on moving them back and forth compared to the one in my driver door. I will be putting them in tomorrow when I'm off work. Wish me luck in not breaking it even more lol.
Okay so 1 actuator installed, had a little hiccup with the pins for electrical not fitting but I just used a screw driver, shifted the pins right a fraction of an inch, and now it plugs in no problem.
Problem is, I got it all the way back to the door handle reinstalled and plugged in the door controls for the locks and windows, and when I use the button, yes it doesn't get stuck anymore after 2+ clicks, but it does not lock the entire way either.
But I also have a bigger problem to. The buttons on my key fob do not work at all. Neither lock of unlock do anything, not even the sound of the actuators attempting to unlock. And when it is in the door keyhole, when unlocking it unlocks the driver door about 1/4th of the way but not completely and it fully locks it. Yes I checked, the metal bar for the door lock is physically on there correctly before anyone asks.
For now I am going to re-take it out and put the old actuator back on. But why is the key fob not working anymore? It breaks after putting in 1 new actuator?
Also I should mention this, before I did anything to the doors, when using my key fob, about 95% of the time, the car doesn't beep when locking or unlocking, I just hear the locks being actuated in the doors and that's how I know it locked. Maybe once every other week I hear it beep when I hit lock and it jump scares me a little but it's kinda rare to hear it actually go off properly.
Last edited by Obscurations; 07-06-24 at 10:30 AM.
Key fob not working ^
I assume by looking online that the key fob needs to be reprogrammed after replacing the actuators apparently... Will I be able to reprogram the key fob when 3 of the other door locks still don't work?
(Another edit for this ^ : I did not figure it out yet but I am assuming I installed the thing in the door wrong cause that makes the most sense.)
It appears as though the new actuators have a little bit too much resistance compared to the old ones which moved freely back and forth. And that might be affecting the actual click that lets the lever lock and unlock the door.
As for fixes, I could maybe put some WD-40 on it? it's connected to the actuator body in a different way than the original one so I don't know if WD-40 would work...
(If it does work would that fix the issue with the thumb lock not completely going from unlock to lock as mentioned earlier?)
(Edit: Okay so ignore me being stupid in the strikethrough talk above, it's supposed to have more resistance, that's how gears work lol, I am just being dumb and I guess either the actuator needed to be broken in or it just suddenly works now but it's closing more to the locked position than the middle now so yay I guess.)
Last edited by Obscurations; 07-06-24 at 06:32 PM.
Reason: Me being dumb
Secondly, I decided to plug in the actuator by itself and the physical lock button that controls the windows and window lock and lock/unlock master button right? When both are in, the lever snaps to either side like it's supposed to every time and completely, so I don't think it needs grease and that's the problem, (not that it would do anything anyway after feeling how it moved). But the only other thing I can think of is that the plastic shield for it might be blocking the lever where the cable attaches, but the levers look the exact same as the old one so idk why that would be the case so im just confused now. (Edit: I just tried what I described above but with the latch assembly and door handle connected and now instead of locking about 75-80% of the way, now it locks about 90-95% of the way??? Can I just leave it like that and it be perfectly fine and still work as intended for locking the doors?)
As for the key and door handle on the outside issues, I might have just installed the metal rods incorrectly I guess, I have no idea why it would do that otherwise...
And the key fob doesn't work even when I reinstall the old actuators in the door so I am hoping that what I saw on a different post (unplugging the battery for 20 minutes) might fix it cause I don't think I can reprogram a key fob without all 4 door locks working (maybe I have no idea).
Last edited by Obscurations; 07-06-24 at 06:35 PM.
And the key fob doesn't work even when I reinstall the old actuators in the door so I am hoping that what I saw on a different post (unplugging the battery for 20 minutes) might fix it cause I don't think I can reprogram a key fob without all 4 door locks working (maybe I have no idea).
Okay I would delete some of the previous posts if I knew how but here's what the current problems are:
Fixed: Key Fob not doing anything.
(PSA FOR ANYONE IN THE FUTURE STUMBLING ON THIS THREAD WITH THIS ISSUE: I do not know why but whenever I unplug (or plug in? I haven't tested it) the power door locks switch in the driver door, the key fob becomes completely unresponsive to the car entirely, no buttons or starting the car. I don't know the exact amount of time but wait a few minutes and it starts working again. My best guess is something with how the security light works, idk.) (If that doesn't do anything, try using the key in the physical key hole outside the door and that will probably fix the key fob, if not your in trouble).
Fixed (kinda, not 100% sure if it is broken or working as intended): Door electrical master lock inside car halfway working.
Not fixed: Outside key hole locking but not unlocking.
As for the outside key hole, I looked inside the door panel and the metal rod is fully connected to the latch assembly and lock actuator system, It IS going completely down when pushed down by the key hole and coming all the way up as intended.
But it is doing the same thing as in this video I posted before:
Here is a video of me manually moving the metal rod back and forth with the assembly out of the door (First half of the video, this is before I knew that the gears in the actuator were supposed to have that much resistance):
Okay so little update to ask a question: I'm not exactly sure why but it seems that the driver thumb lock is kind of stiffer than the other door locks, as in it takes slightly more force to lock/unlock it than the other thumb locks on other doors. I bet if I figure out why that is having issues, it might lead to the fix for the outside door key hole not working properly as mentioned previously.
In the video I use the thumb lock on the driver door and then pause the video and use the thumb lock on rear driver side door.
It feels like the driver door lock just moves as I push it but the rear door almost snaps to either side when I push it. Is this just a quirk of aftermarket actuator setups vs factory, or did I do something wrong that need's to be corrected?
Okay so little update to ask a question: I'm not exactly sure why but it seems that the driver thumb lock is kind of stiffer than the other door locks, as in it takes slightly more force to lock/unlock it than the other thumb locks on other doors. I bet if I figure out why that is having issues, it might lead to the fix for the outside door key hole not working properly as mentioned previously. https://youtube.com/shorts/xVIzjSDE6cU?feature=share
In the video I use the thumb lock on the driver door and then pause the video and use the thumb lock on rear driver side door.
It feels like the driver door lock just moves as I push it but the rear door almost snaps to either side when I push it. Is this just a quirk of aftermarket actuator setups vs factory, or did I do something wrong that need's to be corrected?
Remove the door lock actuator and sense how hard/easy it is to operate at the near end. If it is the actuator see what is binding and service it or worst replace the unit. I may be mixing up threads but having snapped cable requires lot of excessive wear/force. You can test out the force required to move the **** without the actuator to confirm or narrow down cable/link routing issues ... it should be without kinks and the rods should move freely.
Remove the door lock actuator and sense how hard/easy it is to operate at the near end. If it is the actuator see what is binding and service it or worst replace the unit. I may be mixing up threads but having snapped cable requires lot of excessive wear/force. You can test out the force required to move the **** without the actuator to confirm or narrow down cable/link routing issues ... it should be without kinks and the rods should move freely.
Salim
I think you are spot on, me and my dad did some comparing and trouble shooting and he thinks that the key hole in the door unlocking and the lock on the door handle having issues, is caused by the kit having a very slightly smaller range of motion on either side and that it's stiffer than the factory ones. I will do some testing tomorrow and most likely sending the kit back to parts geek.
Okay so I am not entirely sure what is going on in the videos but I have found the issue. Just not sure how to describe it, so I made videos showing it.
This is the OEM Actuators that came with the car when I got it 4 years ago:
This is the new aftermarket actuators I got from Parts Geek that doesn't want to work with the outside keyhole lock and is kind of stiff on the inside thumb lock when using key fob or master lock:
(Ignore my heavy breathing btw, my phone has 0 noise cancelling and I'm out of shape)
The first video was made 2 minutes before the second one, I just took off the old one off with a few screws and put the new one on.
You might see a small bend in the lock cable, that was caused by the failure to put it on correctly the first time after taking it off when I tried to cut open the actuators. The bend does not affect anything (I think) because it does not interact with the cable sleeve nor the part that goes on the actuator.
Can anyone describe the issue here? Is there some mechanism that's inside the actuator that connects the 2 levers on the outside or is it something else?
I have already started the return for these new ones and I am buying a cheaper set from amazon, cause I can't find anything else that's not absurdly expensive per actuator (granted I did like 2 seconds of research but oh well amazon is fast delivery and good enough reviews. That will be here Wednesday.
I will wait until 4 pm thread time tomorrow to put the assembly back in my car so people can recommend me test something if they want, but I will need my car back after that.
Last edited by Obscurations; 07-08-24 at 05:04 PM.
The release mechanism has independent paths for safety [backup]. At the end they do combine at the catch. The likelihood/odd of both mechanism failing at the same time are low. I would focus on where the combine to release the catch.
The release mechanism has independent paths for safety [backup]. At the end they do combine at the catch. The likelihood/odd of both mechanism failing at the same time are low. I would focus on where the combine to release the catch.
I'm not sure by what you mean when you say "release the catch", the levers do move independent of each other when it is not on the latch assembly if that is what you mean.
I'm not sure by what you mean when you say "release the catch", the levers do move independent of each other when it is not on the latch assembly if that is what you mean.
Not "release the catch" but the "catch mechanism". The catch is compound metal plates which hook on to the door jamb "U". The lock mechanism prevents the cath mechanism from moving. All this along with the motor for lock and sensor for the door being shut are part of the "door lock actuator". Since there are multiple and independent paths to the lock and release, I am alluding to where they start converging as you have evidence of two paths not working. I am just working the odds but my suggestion would fall flat if 2 of the independent paths have simultaneous problems.
One more issue that I faced was when I rebuilt my lock motor was that I gave a wrong twist in the way I tried to reattach the actuator on the door. It was bit frustrating but eventually I got it right ... but all this was very evident as the actuator was not naturally going in its place.
06-28-24, 07:17 PM
