I replaced it on my 2003 gs300 and it was star shaped as well so it's the original. I couldn't find my glue gun so just used loctite glue to fill in the gaps caused by my dremmel. My hand was small enough to just use a regular 10 mm wrench to get at that last nut attached to the door handle. I am so happy that it is still working. I learned the hard way that you should disconnect the battery once you are ready to remove all the nuts. Beep beep...

 

I forgot to mention that my car is a 1998 gs400, so I'm thinking my acutator was replaced and the star shaped is the newer design.

 

Did your car alarm go off while performing this DIY? I thought certain settings (like key remotes) can be lost/reset if the battery is disconnected for too long?

 

Next time, leave the key in the ignition. Alarm goes off because you've pulled the rod for the door lock and so the car thinks there is an intruder. Keep the key in there until you've pulled out the connection for the actuators. When reinstalling, do the same thing.

I never once had to disconnect my battery.

 

Are acutuator problems known to affect the earlier 2nd Gen GS or all? Secondly the issue I'm now having is that I cannot open my driver side door from the inside by simply pulling the handle. The door locks fine and I'm able to open the door by pulling on the handle on the outside. I noticed that there is more play with the driver door handle than the passenger one. I removed the door panel and see that the cable from the inside handle seems loose which may explain the play.Lexus is asking $140 just to look at it.

 

In my experience, it happens to all GS. I've done many 01+ GS300 and GS430 actuators and they all experience the same thing. Most 03-05 guys probably won't have problems until a few years later.

 

I need to change three door lock actuators anyone in NYC know how to do this DIY and want to do it for me pm will pay you $

 

Great job on the write-up. I finally did this on both front doors and now all my locks are working perfect.

Just an FYI...
I bought the motors on EBay and the fix was done on a 2001 Lexus GS300.
-Merwin

 

ok i replaced all four of my motors in my actuators yesterday and now im having a really strange issue... when i hit my lock button two doors lock and two doors unlock! same when i push unlock???? i was at this for 10 hours yesterday.. i do not suggest doing all four in one day. Any help here? i know this is probably something simple and brain is FRIED!

 

First time will always take the longest. After doing it for some times now, takes me about 2.5 hours for all 4 doors.

In any case, did you replace the whole motor or just the motor's cap?

 

i actually on changed the brushes. on 3 i took the old motors cleaned them out then took the bottom with the brushes out of the new motor and put it on the old motor. on one i had to use the new motor and remove the metal thing with a blow torch and switch them. all the motors work fine, the only problem is two of them are locking in the opposite direction.

 

im not an electrician by any means but im wondering if i take the motors back out and flip the cap with the brushes, will that reverse the door locking action. i would think you could put the motor in either way and the switch would just make it move the way its supposed to.

the only other thining i can think of is the mechanics of putting those arms back on the actuator afer you put the case back together... or maybe when i put the little arms (with the pins) back on the actuator case they were in the wrong position when i put it back in the housing i go back into the door.

as you can see ive got a real dilema here and i really think its something simple???
any suggestions anyone has will help....

 

I can't see how this could happened.
It has nothing to do with the cap and brushes.
But have you try to disconnect the electric wires and manually lock/unlock the doors so that all doors are in the same locked/unlocked position?
Then reconnect the wires.
Good luck!

 

Bump.. I see this thread has become active again but I would like to know if anyone has had this issue before. I must roll down my window and open the door by lifting the handle outside. Thanks in advanced.

 

Crap, my drivers door lock stopped working yesterday, only works if I turn the key manually, wont work when I press the button.

My question is, wouldnt it be easier to just buy a new actuator from Lexus rather than just the motor? I know its $10 vs $200, but sounds like it will save tons of trouble.