I have two master keys and the remotes stopped working a couple weeks ago in locking the car only. I have to lock the car with the key in the door, and then use the remote and it will beep and turn the headlights off.

Sometimes the remotes will unlock the doors, sometimes it wont.

The door lock on the drivers side will not lock the doors, it does a half click but not the whole double click

The passenger side door lock switch does lock the doors fine

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Do a search on "door lock actuator". A fairly common problem with aging RX. Pretty expensive fix by the dealer.

It is also a problem with GS model. You may like to look in that forum too.

Salim

 

I would definitely unhook the battery 1st. and see if that does anything (reseting the computer). Leave it unhooked for 20 minutes or so. While you have it unhooked, I would take the time to read your manual to see if it addresses any such problem and what to do in a case like this. The lock only going part way on the drivers side does sound like the dreaded Lexus lock failure. There is a cheap fix though if you're mechanically inclined. The whole story is on the Lexus forums including pictures if that is the problem and an inexpensive fix is appealing to you. The second thing that has recently been suggested, with success, is to take the batteries out of the remotes and test them to make sure they are still good (at least 3V), then take a pencil with a good soft erasure and make sure the battery contacts (in the remote) are good and clean. (can't always tell by looking at 'em). These may seem like simple elementary things but you always check the simple things 1st. even if you don't think that's the problem. Who among us hasn't been red- faced at least once because we thought something simple couldn't be the problem and when we chased our tail for awhile, found it was.

 

Thank you! I will try that later. With other posts, its starting to look like a door actuator, which doesn't look like too easy of a fix. I'll let you know what my results are!

 

I just had the same problem on my '01 RX300. The driver's door lock would not lock or unlock with the remote, yet it worked on all the other doors. I found several threads here on how to do a "piggyback install" of a $5 China-made actuator intended for use in converting manual locks to electric locks. The fix leaves the defective and very expensive actuator in place and installs the new one alongside it. I did the job in about 3 hours, and could now do another in an hour. Here are the two threads I used to guide me through the process.

PHOTOS OF THE PROCESS: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...l#post10136280

REMOVING THE DOOR PANEL: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...moval-diy.html

You can find the replacement actuators by Googling "auto door lock actuators." I paid less than $11 for two. Now I have a spare for next time. By the way, these little actuators are impressive. Great quality, they work with a solid push-pull, and the wiring is simple. The only thing I did differently from the above advice in the thread above was the way to remove the door-handle plastic bezels. It just looked to complicated and risky for breakage, so I found a much simpler way here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-write-up.html

Go to Step 6 in this tutorial and it shows the easy way to pop these things off. This is a tutorial on replacing the factory actuator with a direct replacement. The Lexus ones are really pricey and there are many comments here about the aftermarket ones not being of good quality, plus the replacement takes a lot longer than simply adding the piggy-back actuator.

Good luck!

And THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this discussion and came up with this simple and cheap fix . . . that works!