Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

According to Lexus of South Atlanta, the door assembly (parts), which includes the mechanism for Easy Close, the actuator, cables, etc. and the door lock actuator can be ordered by itself. They said the part that includes the little Mabuchi motor that gives everyone problems is # 69120 LH or 69110 RH

Check out 69120A below. With Easy Close, this part can be ordered separately vs without Easy Close and it comes as a package.

Those are my two motors for $25.00 from Amazon. They are not Mabuchi but made my Central. Don't know if that really matters.

This is a bit confusing. I think you guys are looking at the whole assembly and I'm looking at the actuator alone.

http://www.lexussouthatlantaparts.co...912050030.html

vs

http://www.lexussouthatlantaparts.co...904050200.html

Anyway, it's such a cute little motor. Crazy how cheap these little babies are. My drivers side front is beginning to act up. Taking longer to lock vs the other doors and at one point not responding at all. Johnson Lexus, where I purchased the car, agreed to pay for the part so I am waiting for it to be shipped to me. It has not failed but is failing. The other Amazon motors are backups.

69charger

The actuator system is very different in the self close system from the one without. The Mabuchi door lock motor is the same in both which is just part of the actuator system (enclosed in black case). Since I've replaced 2 motors it's great that you ordered extra motors. My other door issues were the door lock cables which may stretch in hot weather, unable to lock. YES, Lexus wanted $960 for the door actuator case plus labor, they do not replace just the motor, so please ask to keep the old actuator when they replace it w/ new, all the parts are still good . Good Luck

69charger

Info. The CASE that houses all of the locking system, gears, motors, arms,self closer is the actuator assembly. The small $5 motor (locking) Mabuchi is just one componet of the assembly.
Good Luck

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info 69charger, I will keep the old parts.

rmarti17

Hi everyone,

I have a 2001 Lexus LS430UL that has the easy closer option.

I let my sister borrow my car for about 2 months and she called me saying that she opened the rear passenger door and when she went to close it it would not latch or close.

She brought the car over today and she tied a scarf and rope from the inside of each rear door armrest to prevent the door from opening when driving.

I tried to lubricate the lock, slid a screwdriver inside the door latch to see if it was jammed but it would not lock.

I took disconnected the battery for 30 minutes to see if that would reset it but it did not.

I proceeded to take the door panel out and inspect the latch, cables, actuator and see if anything was binding.

There was a little blue thing under the latch with black plastic that seemed to have broken off. I will attach a picture tomorrow.

When I press the the disarm button i hear motor engaging.

Do you think replacing the actuactor motor will fix this.

I'm also going to try and glue the broken piece back together.

I'm thinking i"m going to need a new latch assembly with the easy closer option.
69330 LOCK ASSY, REAR DOOR, RH Replaced by: 69330-50051 69330-50050


And suggestion or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

BigWalt

I'd like to comfirm for everyone that this little motor worked perfectly for me(06 ML), slipped it right in and zip tied the case back together and all has been perfect.

13 bucks > 350

Hussain

Hi Guys, yesterday i have changed my ls430 driver door actuator motor, it took me 1 hr to do the job, the motor i ordered was not spinning on they correct side, mean (the door was closing while others were openning) and vice versa, so I swaped the wiring and now everything is ok, special thnx to Randy. his toturial helped by 90%, now Am planning to do the same to my LS460 driver door, which it sometimes worj and sometimes not!!!! any idea

Hussain

Hi again, I finished DIY the LS460 driver door, works amaizing now. it was almost the same, except the LS460 window rail didnt bother me much like the LS430, and again I had to swap the actuator to have the correct spinning side. total cost for each door = 4.24 $

Augie

First, many thanks to KismetsDad, Randy B., and the others who posted above. I was viewer number 39,630, so this info is apparently of interest to a great many. Maybe one reason is the HUGE cost the dealerships are estimating for repair. The estimate I was given at my dealership was ~$700-$900 !!

I began by completely reviewing the tutorial KismetsDad posted at http://www.shastaanesthesia.com/Lexu.../actuator.html (and was viewer number 7,370), and then I read every post above on this site. The various pieces of information throughout were very helpful, but I want to give some confidence to those of you who may be as much of a novice as I am. I did not read any of the diagrams, electrical schematics, or even fully understand what "Easy Close" or "SmartKey" is, but I had success in fixing my door lock nonetheless. I want to pay back the forum by adding a few comments that may be of help to future readers.

If anything below does not make sense, it may be because you first need to look at the pictures posted above by others. Also, if you are doing the door I did (the right side front passenger door) you need not worry about all the comments of others referring to how the key slot should be positioned. That doesn't apply.

The tip about disconnecting the hot side of the battery is golden. Be sure to do that after making sure the window is rolled all the way up on the door you are working on.

I found that the tip about removing the key assembly only applies to the driver's door. I removed the plug next to the outside handle thinking that it would help remove an obstruction, but it made no difference (which I proved to myself in the second and third door reassemblies I had to do)

I removed the panel and left the front wires connected. I swung the panel toward the seat and propped it on a solid box I had that was about the height of the rocker panel (the door sill). I removed the two control cables. Note that the white one goes on top and the green one on the bottom. They disconnect as follows: Swing the white one out 90 degrees to the panel and the end ball should drop out the bottom of the fitting. Swing the green one out the same way, and its end ball should pop up out of the fitting.

I unscrewed the black box that is bolted on the door outside the plastic and laid it toward the front of the door without disconnecting its electrical wires. I used a sharp knife to separate the gummy sealer that holds the plastic barrier on and laid it aside, being careful to put the gummy side up. I completely removed the two bolts that hold the window rail. Someone above recommended only removing the bottom bolt and just loosening the top one, but I found it was much easier to let the rail flop around inside the door cavity as I removed and reinstalled the actuator assembly.

Sliding the window rail down the rubber a bit is very helpful. All you have to do is tug a bit on the bottom of the rail and it will slide right down. About 2 inches is all you need.

On my model, there is a small, almost unnoticeable hook right next to the bottom bolt of the five that hold the actuator assembly inside the door. The hook is not on any of the three bolts that come through the edge of the door. It is next to the bottom bolt of the two that come through the inside face of the door panel. If you notice that hook, it is very helpful in reinstallation, since it holds the assembly up in the right place for you just before you insert the bolts and wrench them tight. But if you do NOT notice that hook, you may struggle to get the unit out of the door. It will rattle all around but not come down, even though you have taken all the bolts out, and you won't know why. There are two reasons it won't - 1) The hook has to come out of that bolt hole. (Obviously, I may be the only dunce who would overlook such a thing, but maybe not), and 2) the linkage to the door lock has to be unhooked.

Detaching the linkage is easier if you insert a flashlight inside the door cavity, tilted upward toward just above the door latch. You will see a shaft (or connecting rod) coming out of the actuator assembly and going up. There will be a piece of plastic that holds the shaft in place. (I have seen in the photos and on my car that this piece of plastic can be one of several colors, but it will be bright, like bright red, bright yellow, etc). If your hands are small enough, you can reach up and gently snap that retaining clip off the connecting rod (below the bend) and then tug on the connecting rod parallel to the ground, toward the front of the car, to get it to come out of the hole that it is in. Be careful not to break the retaining clip, which will stay on the rod when the unit comes out.
.
Once detached, removal of the actuator assembly from the door cavity is best accomplished by turning it clockwise (on the passenger side) through the large bottom hole one full revolution as you guide the cables though the top hole. You can disconnect the electrical wires after the unit is removed or before, whichever is easier for you.

When you disassemble the unit (by merely unscrewing the screws that hold the pieces in place) be careful not to bend the cable that goes through the green lever. Slowly turn the motor housing once its three retaining screws are removed to work the green lever off the cable.

To get the case apart, use a broad-bladed, flathead screwdriver and twist the two sides apart starting on the far side of where the wire plug socket is. It should just snap open as you go around the edge.

When you get inside the unit, the motor will be obvious. Note where the "ear" of the green lever goes though the metal piece with two holes in it. I did not do that, and then later on reassembly, I wondered which hole to put it in. See the pictures that BMW7_LS430 posted above. In those pictures, the "ear" is in the hole at the end of the lever arm.

I ordered 4 Mabuchi motors off of Ebay and paid $20 plus about $5 for shipping. I was concerned that I might not be getting the right thing, but it worked out. The ONLY difference was the fact that the shaft on the new motors is round instead of "half-round" (D-shaped), as noted in the posts above. To fix that, I put the short end in a vice-grip and filed the shaft down slowly, propping it on a wood block and filing at about 45 degrees to the shaft (at an angle) instead of 90 degrees (straight across it), because filing straight across it kept rotating the shaft out of the vice grip. Angling it seemed not to grab the shaft and turn it quite as strongly. I kept checking the fit of the shaft into the worm gear to make sure I did not overfile the shaft because I wanted a snug fit, and it was easy to accomplish. The whole filing process took maybe 10 minutes. I did NOT glue the shaft into the worm gear.

In reassembling the casing, I cleaned out the perimeter snap channel , degreased it, and then put some epoxy in it, being careful not to put too much. A bead not much bigger than thick thread should be enough. Even after it dries, it will be possible to get the case apart again. (Believe me, I did it three times for mistakes I don't think you will make.)

After replacing the motor and putting glue around the edge, I reassembled the two halves and clamped the case together in three places around its perimeter with small c-clamps until the glue dried. This gave me an idea. I had read in the posts above about using zip ties, and had seen Randy B's photos showing their placement. I had zip ties, but I tried something else instead that the c-clamps made me think of. I happened to have some spring steel binder clips (made by Universal - see here: http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...r-Clips-Small/) of the same size as the thickness of the actuator case (about a half inch or so). I used only one of those instead. I removed the wire handles on the binder clip and cut off and filed down the clip so it would be flat against the side of the actuator housing, and so it would be out of the way of any screw holes. So far, it has worked fine. The case has stayed together and there has been no grinding sound.

On reinstallation, I strongly recommend that you hook up the wires to the armrest module and the actuator assembly BEFORE putting the unit in the door. Briefly reconnect the car battery, and then test the armrest lock button to see it the actuator throws the connecting rod up and down properly (ie. the rod that the colored plastic clip is on.) If it does, then go ahead and put the unit back in the door.

Once you have the unit back into position, remember to put the little hook into the proper bolt hole to keep it there as you reattach the connecting rod (above the unit). Don't bolt it into place until you work the window rail back into place. You do that by just twisiting it gently while pushing it back up. Once it rides all the way back up the rubber, and gets to the top, you should be able to see the threaded holes line up properly for you to reinsert the bolts and tighten them.

Remember to take your flashlight out of the door! Reinstall everything else in reverse order.

I went through the disassemble/assemble process three separate times because of mistakes. Even with all that, it took me a total of six hours. Now that I know what I know, when the next lock actuator motor goes out, I already have those three other new motors, and I think I will be able to turn the job around in less about an hour . . . two at most.

Incidentally, I agree with whoever said the torque seems stronger with the replacement motor. The locks seem to slam open and closed now more strongly (though not in any way that is displeasing).

If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will post a couple below to try to make some of the things I have described more clear. Hope this helps a bit. Thanks again to all those "who have gone before" to blaze the trail.

Merry Christmas.
Philippians 2:4-11, Romans 8:31-39

- Augie

Augie

Here are the photos I mentioned above. Just right click on the link below, choose "Open link", and that will get you into the Club Lexus gallery.



One photo shows where the "ear" of the green plastic pivot goes into the throw arm. It is shown in the yellow circle.

The other photo below shows how I positioned the binder clip. I only used one, and used no zip ties. Obviously, I removed the C-clamps after the epoxy dried (in about 15 minutes). The photo does NOT show that I removed the clip's two little handles, or how I trimmed and filed the clip. I forgot to take that photo before putting everything back together.

flee51

This exact problem happened to my 2001 LS430. I was sending my daughter to the airport. After she pulled the right rear passenger door open she can not close it anymore - the door does not latch. Luckily we have another car to drive her to the airport.

The problem part was a plastic part holding a relay was broken. I fixed the problem by ordering the above described part (69330-50051) - which has a steel replacement part for the old plastic holder) and replacing it. The new Lock Assembly costs about $150. You must carefully remove the relay wiring harness from the old part and reinstall the harness to the new Lock Assembly. There are two little screws holding the relay. They can be easily damaged if not careful. I soaked the relay in paint thinner to losen the glue before I unscrew it.

pinckney12

I have a LS430 (2004) with 70,000 miles on it. We have two standard electronic keys. The keys will open all doors and trunk with no problem, except the drivers side. We have to manually insert the key to open that door. My Lexus dealer says that the Actuator may be bad on that side. Possible cost 300 - 700 dollars depending on the model. Any suggestions that will save me money.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

All the information you need is in this thread. Buy actuator motor and replace.

SFHeartDoc

Great write up. Seems like it has to take at least double the time for a beginner. Maybe I will give it a try.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Long story short, my drivers door was acting up when I purchased the car. It cured itself for a year and then totally went out two days ago. I had to motors waiting for this day. She snaps open and closed very healthy now. Saved about $1000 over the dealer replacing the whole unit and their labor.

UL and CL owners with Easy Close.


It is a little different with Easy close. Here are a few notes.

• As mentioned, disconnect your negative so you don't engage the auto lower mode. Windows should be up.
  
  
• Disconnect the wiring harness to the unit at the door ecu. It does not disconnect at the regulator.
  
  
• The metal rod that runs up to the door. From the regulator / power close unit up to the key lock. It has a clip that holds it in. When you are looking in the door it looks difficult to do but it's not. Just you one finger to push it towards the inside of the door. It will pop off the rod and allow you to pull the top of rod out towards the door hinges. Don't worry the clip does not come off. You don't need to touch the key and door handle mechanism at all after that. Lock the door if you can't see it well.
  
  
• Once you work the unit down and out of the door. Take it to your work table. You need to take off additional covers that prevent access to the hex bolts. This is not shown in the pictures from the tutorial. Flip it over and there will be one small screw and another larger one. Take the covers off to get access to the other screws and bolts so you can pry the cover off. Use a razor blade and you will be able to pry it open fairy easy. The area you need to get to is opposite of where the wiring harness is glued in. Don't mess with this area. You can bend the cover back and swap the motor. It's an easy in and out. Push the motor down until it clicks into place and feels snug.
  
  
• The window track runs down a runner built into the case. It's not actually connected to the regulator / easy close but it needs to be placed back into it's track when reinstalling. So, when putting it back you need to bend the window track up to align it into the track. It's a pain a little but you will see it. Guide the metal rod too it likes to get hung up.