Long title, I know.
I also know that there is a lot of talk about door lock actuators in these cars.
My driver door would not unlock this morning with the smart key, key fob, or door switch. It will unlock/lock when I turn the key in the door. All other doors work just fine. All other doors unlock on the second press of the key fob.
I have found the repair tutorial thread.
My questions are...
Does this sound like the actuator issue?
If not what might it be?
Thanks in advance.

 

Yes.

The smart key, key fob, and door switch are use the electric door actuator. The key in the door uses a physical connection to the lock.

I have 3 or 4 actuators ccasionally giving me issues right now. A 4 pack of motors are in the mail on their way to me now.

 

The last two days, it doesn’t work in the morning around 6am, with a temp of~60F. It all works in the evening about 7pm with a temp off ~75F. Could it be a short, or probably the motor?

 

Probably the motor. My tend not to work very well as the temperatures increase. If the car is left in the sun for an extended amount of time they get even worse. One time only the right rear door would open with the remote. Intermittent and unpredictable seem to be their MO.

 

This is a common issue in most Toyota models over the last 20 years. What I think is happening is that the springs and brushes in the motor wear and that in certain positions they no are within working spacing/contact specs with the rotor. Higher temps almost always make the intermittent breakdown worse.

 

Yes, you sound like you have the typical driver door actuator failure.

When I bought my car used, it was exactly as you describe (wonder if previous owner knew as they traded in, or they "thought" the car was fully locked? Prolly smart key system OOS would tell them of the issue since they would have had the car 10 years). Did not discover until I drove off the lot (new car dealer). At the time, the smart key functions did not work, but manual clicking and using the switches inside locked/unlocked 3 doors, and not the driver's.

The dealer was willing to repair at their cost and once they did, the smart key functionality was there. Good luck.

 

Yes, I bought in February and now we r in May. It is NOT working in the cooler morning, but is working in the hotter evening. Doesn’t matter if it gets direct sunlight or not. So that’s opposite of normal.
We will see what happens over the next month. I’m am okay with leaving unlocked at home, then locking manually at work, and smart key,working when I leave at the end of the day. Either way, I’m sure it is a matter of time before it goes out completely.
Thank you all for the input.

 

I have the front passenger door doing the same. But it completely stopped working a few months ago. I am debating if the replace just the motor or the entire assembly. Would this effect the range on the door sensor? I literally have to put my hand behind the door handle and wait 2-3 seconds before the door unlocks. When I originally bought the car it would unlock as soon as I touched the door handle.

 

Debonair do you have part number for the motor? I assume its all the same for all doors?

 

Not Debonair, but here's the listing I bought from.
$4.99 for one; marginal discount for multiple. IIRC, it took a few weeks to reach me.

EDIT: Apparently you can get it !

 

Thanks *****, I will try the amazon link since it is being shipped from the USA, the other I believe is from overseas and may take even longer than the one from the US. Thanks a lot for the link!

 

I bought a 4-pack for $23.00 ($5.75 ea).

 

That's an interesting observation. I had concluded that my driver door lock actuator did not work, and my smart key system did not work, when I got my car used.

Then, when the dealer fixed the actuator, everything worked.

Now I wonder, should I have waited 3 seconds? Would the smart key system have worked then? I suppose only someone else with one actuator out could answer.

Maybe I missed it, can anyone clarify why it's always the driver's door first? Why not all 4? Why the pass door next? What about the two rear?

And why these fail when other cars with power locks go 20+ years no problem, a buddy theorized. He said he believes that cars with smart keys, the actuators function every time you lock. On cars with simply power locks and a fob? Once locked, you can click over and over and over and nothing is physically happening. So "clickers" who feel they need to beep the horn or lock more than 1X to be sure, are putting excessive wear on smart key cars, but not regular cars. I have no way to prove any of this as 2 of our cars have smart keys, 2 do not, 4 have power locks. the other two are silent when clicking the fob multiple times, that's all I can tell....the 2 with smart keys make a clicking sound at the doors, over and over, if manually clicked after being locked...

 

Drivers door gets used more then the others so it is logical that it would wear out faster. The others seem pretty random.

Same reason Toyota motors can go 300000 miles and other makes start dying at 100000, design differences.

Smart key or not its still using a power actuator same as cars from the 60's. If the car will keep trying to lock or not when the button is pressed repeatedly is again up the desgin and programming of the door lock system.The "smart" relates to other functions

Just about every car has a quirk or design flaw. For these cars it seems to the power locks. I'll take this over VW electrical, Porsche engine bearings, or Mercedes rust any day. Subaru engine failures are considered normal, think about for a second.

 

Ok, just wanted to update my actuator motor replacement. I ended up getting it from Amazon. Delivered in 2 days but took 3 weeks before I could install it. I just finished installing the new actuator motor which wasn't too bad but it did take some time. Plus I forgot to plug in the actuator after installing it so had to take it back out.

Thanks WILLYuMD for the heads up on where to get the motor. Now I can unlock my passenger door with the remote, keyless entry or manually. Now I will see if my keyless entry response time gets a little faster or maybe just the door handle sensors are just worn.