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Thank you for everyone's help! I tackled the driver's door today and took longer than expected due to going back in several times. My piece of advice: make sure the actuator works before putting it back together. Make sure the white wire locks/unlocks. Pull the green wire to validate the lock unlatches. Push on the rod (that attaches to the outside door handle) to make sure it moves the gears as expected. This would have taken me less than 2 hours, but the issues I ran into took me to 5 hours. Lesson learned.
Last edited by lsdude; 11-05-17 at 07:19 PM.
Reason: corrected verbiage
Well, now I'm getting a clicking/grinding after I unlock the door. Sounds like a machine gun that continues for about a second after the unlocking is done.
Most likely the anchor point that supports the free-end of the motor shaft is missing or damaged. This will allow the mating "teeth" to skip and make the machine-gun sound. Otherwise, you may have a worn spot on the large wheel gear, such that when the worn spot on the wheel gear meets the worm gear on the motor, you get the skipping machine-gun sound.
Thanks. Bet you are correct. Can't wait to put that thing out again. They could use this repair in one of those DirecTV commercials. "But some people still like cable, just like some people still like pulling the lock actuator out of a LS430."
Well, I pulled it out and fixed it again. Despite the warning, I tried the zip tie method because, of course, I can zip tie better than everyone else. Turns out, I couldn't. Super glued it this time along with the zip ties, reinstalled, and for now it seems fixed.
Well, I pulled it out and fixed it again. Despite the warning, I tried the zip tie method because, of course, I can zip tie better than everyone else. Turns out, I couldn't. Super glued it this time along with the zip ties, reinstalled, and for now it seems fixed.
How did you take apart the actuator case the first time you opened it up? Did you pry it? cut it? Just need to know how to best pop it apart before I jump into doing this to mine. My driver door actuator motor died.
About 4 years ago, I posted numbers #144 and #145 (now on page 10). They describe an alternative method of rejoining the sides of the case without using zip ties. I just went back to look at those posts, and though they accurately describe what I did, they no longer showed or linked to the photos I took. I found and have inserted one of them above. You can review my whole earlier posts for a detailed description of the process, but here is what I said about gluing the case back and keeping it together:
"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."
IT IS NOW FOUR YEARS LATER. I HAVE NEVER HAD A GRINDING SOUND AND THE FIX HAS ALWAYS PERFORMED FLAWLESSLY.
It is very easy to use the binder clip method. The zip tie method will work too, but you if you use the wrong kind of zip tie, you run the risk of it "giving up". Only use a zip tie that has a metal "tooth". Otherwise, use the binder clip. Just remove the handles after installing it, use a Dremel or a file or a grinder wheel in a drill to file the curls off each side (the ones that the handles inserted into), and you are off and running. The photo above was taken BEFORE I removed its handles and filed off the curls, which it took me only 5 minutes to do. The clip is hard to see because it is black and so is the case, but look closely and you will see it.
I hope this helps.
Last edited by Augie; 01-08-18 at 09:13 AM.
Reason: Insertion of photo
So since the original tutorial links are not working anymore after such a long time, here is my take on this project as someone with slightly below intermediate mechanical ability:
This was an all day (~7 hours or so) job, 1.5 was spent getting the space in a usable condition plus everything else together.
First thing I did was leave the window up and disconnect the battery (read somewhere that it locks the window motor or something, but it's also what I prefer to do whenever I'm dealing with electrical plugs) and then got to it; searched youtube for videos showing how to take off the panel, and around 10 minutes later it was off...then half back on again.
I had no idea how to disconnect the door cables, so I spent the next ~2 hours with the panel balancing on a 5' in wide plastic container while I was looking all over the internet for pictures of how they disconnect and once I finally figured it out, I disconnected a few more electrical plugs and pulled it off the door and placed it in the door opening.
Is getting the actuator assembly out of the door the giant PITA so many before me have claimed it is?...Yes, between taking note of exactly how the key lock assembly fits in, freeing the metal rod from the yellow plastic fastener, then rotating about 90 degrees counter clockwise so the general shape matches the opening most closely, then there being wires that were hard soldered into the assembly, or in other words it was not 100% removable due to some wires not being connected by a plug I could disconnect.
Replacing the motor in the assembly: after doing the reading I could do on the subject and understanding the 2 designs and their differences, I was relieved to see that I have the kind that are screwed together. As a result of being unable to disconnect the aforementioned wires I ended up changing the motors on a 5 gallon bucket.
Getting it all back together: IF you paid very close attention during the removal process, remembering the window track, key position, where in the sub assembly this motor is located, and to err on the side of caution and touch as little as possible, it's actually pretty easy.
From the time I had swapped out the actual motor to having things together enough to test the functionality out was around 55 minutes because I didn't pay a lot of attention to the position of the window track, key position, and which cable went to what connector.
Tomorrow I'm planning to do both rear doors; the right side is for sure intermittent and it's possible the left is intermittent as well and I'm not noticing it but I'm sure it won't take as long because they don't have side mirrors or a key lock and that did complicate things. The front right door has an issue with the window getting stuck, I guess I'm going to buy the window motor just to have on hand and that way when the lock goes out I can make that window motor replacement at the same time if it needs to be done.
Edit: I only got the one door done and same as the front, the actuator was connected to some wires that were hardwired to the assembly and didn't appear able to be unplugged, maybe it's the Lexus link?...I accidentally stabbed my forearm really close to the main vein and I was legitimately worried it might require a trip to the ER but that's another story. Couple things to remember are: the window B pillar (containing the sunshade) needs to be removed in order to remove the door panel but not a big deal as it's held in by just 2 clips so I just pulled it straight off, the window track setup is different compared to the front doors, the rear door handles are connected differently (not with the same rod setup like the driver door, instead the actuator has a spring loaded fork like lever that must insert into a slot on the handle but after unbolting it'll drop pretty freely...just mind the door cables.
When I do the rear left and front right doors I also plan to take pictures and do my best to recreate a comprehensive tutorial on how to do it...or at least how I did mine.
My electic door lock quit working. Since there wasn't a good tutorial on do-it-yourself replacement of the motor I wrote one up. The cost to fix this problem is about $5. The dealer probably charges >$700 for the service. The lock actuator uses a $5 dollar Mabuchi motor (you can find the part number elsewhere.) On my 2001 LS430 the motor requires a "D" shaped shaft to fit the gear. A round shaft will not work unless you want to drill your gear and epoxy it onto the new motor. No special tools are required.
The tutorial on first post is gone, I got 404.
I have a question though, how do I know whether it's the motor gone bad or some other issue?
Our LS430 has problem locking/unlocking the front right hand door today, If I try to lock/unlock the door with remote or the buttons, sometimes the lock tab on the handle will twitch a bit, sometimes not moving at all, mean while all other 3 locks works fine.
If I open the door and keep ear close to the lock assembly, I can hear the motor whineing but the lock tab is not moving, manually switching the lock tab works fine, did not notice any abnormal resistance.
Is this the typical symptom of motor gone bad? or would it be some other machanical issue like broken teeth in gears etc?
I need to decide whether I should buy a motor or buy a whole assembly before I took apart the door.
10-19-17, 08:55 AM
