So your door handle doesnt work - DIY w/ pics
#211
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I don't know what it's called, but if you take it to Lexus they can probably tell you and get you another one. Also, for future reference, you didn't have to cut your door panel... too late, but I guess better late than never!
#212
RSTSPEED thanks for the response! Yeah, I took some pictures of it. When I head down to Lexus I'll just show it to them. Cutting the door panel hella sucks.. but I found a use one to replace. Thanks dude
#219
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#220
This just happened to me....for the second time. The first time was over 200K miles ago. I bought 2 clips instead of one and stored the second one in the bottom of the door frame so it would be there if I ever needed it. So it occured again, but my wife had the car and she did not call me to let me know. Instead, she opened it from the inside and then......
ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOW so that she could reach inside and open the door from the outside for the rest of the day!!!!
We argued of course. She said "How was I to know". My response of course was even if you didn't, I DID and you would have too if you'd simply called me when the problem occured.
So the rod snapped.
I'm contemplating the ziptie thing as well as drilling a hole and attaching a sheet metal fork as was outlined in another thread and appears to work well.
If I could get a cheap actuator, I'd prefer that but at this point, even spending $80 on a used one for a car that has 310K miles on it is pushing it for me.
ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOW so that she could reach inside and open the door from the outside for the rest of the day!!!!
We argued of course. She said "How was I to know". My response of course was even if you didn't, I DID and you would have too if you'd simply called me when the problem occured.
So the rod snapped.
I'm contemplating the ziptie thing as well as drilling a hole and attaching a sheet metal fork as was outlined in another thread and appears to work well.
If I could get a cheap actuator, I'd prefer that but at this point, even spending $80 on a used one for a car that has 310K miles on it is pushing it for me.
#221
BTW, it's been asked numerous times in this thread and nobody has responded. How do you remove the actuator? It looks to me like the window and tracks have to come out in order to get the actuator out.
#222
Yes that's how my mechanic did it. He rolled down the window just a little and once the track was unbolted. He pulled it out. Just enough for the actuator to come out. You have 310 miles on your car? Impressive!
#223
He pulled out the window? Or he rolled the window up and unbolted the rear track and pulled the bottom of the track from rear to front just enough to get the actuator out?
#224
Once the track was unbolted he rolled down the window. Not too much. Then he pulls the track outside from the top. He didn't remove the window. Hope that makes sense. Sorry. But I found this thread. This seems helpful.
1. Pulling the interior trim is standard and described on this forum.
2. I used a T30 torx bit (star shaped) to removed the 3 screws at the door edge
3. You don't want to break the plastic snap clips that attach the actuator arms to the door handle and lock cylinder. Each has a hole that receives an L-shaped end of metal arm and has a locking clip which rotates down over the straight part of the arm. To remove arm, first pivot the locking clip to release arm and pull (pretty hard) to get the L-shaped end out of the hole in the plastic clip. Install is reverse.
4. You must remove the two bolts which anchor the bottom half of the rear glass guide. One is near bottom of door and the other is just beneath the trim at bottom of window sill trim. Then you can forcefully move this guide enough to work the actuator out around the back and inner edge of the window guide. You might not think it will fit but it does and putting in the new one is exactly the reverse. Make sure the arms go in first.
1. Pulling the interior trim is standard and described on this forum.
2. I used a T30 torx bit (star shaped) to removed the 3 screws at the door edge
3. You don't want to break the plastic snap clips that attach the actuator arms to the door handle and lock cylinder. Each has a hole that receives an L-shaped end of metal arm and has a locking clip which rotates down over the straight part of the arm. To remove arm, first pivot the locking clip to release arm and pull (pretty hard) to get the L-shaped end out of the hole in the plastic clip. Install is reverse.
4. You must remove the two bolts which anchor the bottom half of the rear glass guide. One is near bottom of door and the other is just beneath the trim at bottom of window sill trim. Then you can forcefully move this guide enough to work the actuator out around the back and inner edge of the window guide. You might not think it will fit but it does and putting in the new one is exactly the reverse. Make sure the arms go in first.
#225
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Zip Ties work too!! (in a pinch)
I also had the same issue with the driver's side door. The pics & instructions on this forum were invaluable, and I wouldn't have even thought to give this a try myself. I found another thread with fantastic pics on how to remove the door panel at https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...sc3-400-a.html , which allowed me to take a peak inside. There is an inner metal door frame peice as well that blocks a good view of the door mechanism, but if you unscrew the 2 screws holding the back part of the metal bar attached to the inner frame, you can rotate it downward an inch or so to free up enough space to get a better look, and to get both hands in there.
Now, I didn't have the patience to drive all over town or order the plastic clip online, so I tried connecting the metal/plastic piece to the handle hole and wrapping the whole thing in a small zip tie. The tie goes towards the inside of the hole (towards the handle), and wraps around the bottom of the plastic piece. It seems to be pretty stable and sturdy, and worked a few times as we tested it. Not sure if it will last or not, but at least this project wasn't too difficult and I might just order a plastic clip to have on hand for if/when the zip tie fails.
My passenger door wasn't responding to the driver's side controls or the key remote, so we pulled that panel off as well. Found out that someone forgot to plug in a couple plugs. We plugged them in, slapped the panel back on, and Voila! We're back in business, baby!!
Now, I didn't have the patience to drive all over town or order the plastic clip online, so I tried connecting the metal/plastic piece to the handle hole and wrapping the whole thing in a small zip tie. The tie goes towards the inside of the hole (towards the handle), and wraps around the bottom of the plastic piece. It seems to be pretty stable and sturdy, and worked a few times as we tested it. Not sure if it will last or not, but at least this project wasn't too difficult and I might just order a plastic clip to have on hand for if/when the zip tie fails.
My passenger door wasn't responding to the driver's side controls or the key remote, so we pulled that panel off as well. Found out that someone forgot to plug in a couple plugs. We plugged them in, slapped the panel back on, and Voila! We're back in business, baby!!
Last edited by cynbird; 01-13-12 at 03:24 PM. Reason: just wanted to add a post title for search purposes