It is not that long, I just pulled it out some so people could see which part I was referring to. The main thing to take away from this is the manufacturing specs for this motor may not be as exacting as the OEM motors. I could have trimmed the motor shaft, but found the worm spindle easier to get in my vise and trim without any damage (be sure to bevel and remove any rough edges). I only had to trim it maybe a 1/16" so it would not bind up against the motor shaft, but still fit within the shaft guide. This is the piece that we had to remove with the puller.
There are two warning signs that I should also pass along. You may have issues if: 1) when reassembling the motor and worm, if it doesn't go back in easily or 2) if reassembled and the spring cannot return the worm gear back to its original position after manually turning the gear. These are both indicators that got me looking into the length of the motor shaft and discovering the bind condition.

 

Sorry, forgot to reply back to your question. See post 271 for my reply.

Also I agree with the "Weird" because one of my doors (the first one I did) work perfectly. No modifications required on it. I may have received a mixed batch of these motors.

 

Oh that makes sense. I never pulled the worm shafts out to see that. I ordered my motors in a set of 4 as recommended on this thread. I guess the QC varies. Lol.

 

Like I said in the first step, "Make sure it's a GENUINE MABUCHI motor". I've changed out all four locks now, all are working just like new.

 

Like I stated, the first install went smoothly. It was the next two doors that I had the issues with and I ordered all the motors at the same time.

Btw, first rate job on the writeup. Couldn't have fixed it without your insight. Thanks!!

 

Easy guys!

Glad it worked out for all or for mostly all who have done this fix.

If only we can find the motor for the air servo ..

Salim

 

I got the door panel off, but I'm having trouble getting the actuator off. I unclipped one of the metal rods (not really sure how or if I'll ever get it back in) and disconnected the power supply, but I can't get the other metal rod unclipped.

Any tips?

 

Welcome to club Lexus.

You did not mention front door or back. The front has key lock link.

Make sure the battery terminal has been removed. The key and the rod can activate connections that would make the glass move and accident can occur.

Free up the cables (inner door lock and release).

Remove the screws that hold the actuator and it would dangle by the links.

Move the link joint to area where you can see the locking clip. You have to twist the clip to free it from the rod and then lift the rod out of the hole.

I recall only two such clips for the front door.

Salim

 

I assume you undid the bolt that holds the glass glide in place and got that out of the way and have remove the bolts and clip holding the actuator in place.

For the driver's door - my recollection is that both rods have clips, one is white and one is red. I think they both flip up. Both rods pull out from their locations, but whereas the one with the white clip pulls out toward the door panel, the one with the red clip pushes back toward the side of the door (in terms of putting it back on - I found playing with the door handle helped fit it back into its slot).

For a number of reasons, I had to do this repeatedly to the front door. I'll probably forget it all in a few years. But I can pop that thing off and on in a matter of minutes now.

 

Here is a close up of the clip that retains the door handle trim cover.



the black strip has a teeny, ramped detent that is disengaged by introducing a small screwdriver or other shim into the gap. that tang fits into the loop shown just below as the parts come away.

 

I did one of the rear doors first. a bit easier than the front, due to the rod linkage re-assembly.

Seemed to work best by getting fingers on the retainer clips and swinging them around before putting the assembly back in. get to know which way they swing. Then, install the lock assy and trust fingers to find the rod-hole and then the well practiced clip motion. I found it a bit iterative.

 

For removal of the lock panel, here is what the panel looks like from the side. I found a paint scraper to distribute the load better than a screw driver. From the look of the clips on the panel, (at least on this 2003), you can understand how it dis-engages.



note the spring clip at the top, and the engagement guide at the bottom. Don't want to break this guy!!

 

This morning, I tried to help my brother in-law rebuild the actuator on his 1999 Lexus RX300 using a Mabuchi Motor (FC-280PC-22125) and the door that was rebuild locks when it should be unlocking and locks when it should lock.

As far as I can everything is correct.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

 

I tried this on my front passenger door and now it stuck locked!!! any help? It seems to want to work but its like there's not enough slack to move the lock all the way open?

 

You can try disconnecting the out of sync lock and energize the rest ONLY ONCE and the reconnect the lock. I suggested this to another member, but have not heard that it worked or not.
Salim