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Hello everyone. I am troubleshooting my brother's 2000 RX300 Woodland Green Pearl (best color IMO cuz it never looks dirty). Thank you all for the great directions for replacing the motor inside the door actuator to get power locking and remote locking working again for the passenger side door. However, I have a problem...I took off the door card no problem, but I could not detach the two actuator rods to completely free the door actuator from inside the door.
Any tips on how to do this...There is one yellow clip and one reddish brown one that caps these two rods. I do not want to break them so some help would be much appreciated.
Do I need to take the door handle off? The clearance inside is pretty tight and these connectors are pretty far up inside the upper rear corner of the door. If I need to take the door handle off, how do I do it? Thank you much guys.
You have to be able to reach up in there to feel how the metal rods are attached to the clips then just use a little force to pop them free. Taking the door handle off is always a PITA for all cars and usually involves marring a painted surface.
No colored plastic on actuator rod ends when door actuator removed from car?
So when the white actuator mechanism and the two rods that attach to the inside of the door handle are out of the car there is no colored plastic on the end of the rods???? If I have a better idea of what comes out of the car, I will be less afraid of applying force where It appears necessary.
On the pic link below at step #14, it looks like the actuator rod ends (at least one of them) is bare and the two colored clips remain inside the car. Is this true???
My bro is going to be off for thanksgiving week so I have another crack at this.
You have to be able to reach up in there to feel how the metal rods are attached to the clips then just use a little force to pop them free. Taking the door handle off is always a PITA for all cars and usually involves marring a painted surface.
Can you see the 'U' shaped yellow plastic with the rod in its mouth? in the picture you posted?
Hold the rod and push off the 'U'. Once the yoke of the 'U' is pushed off the rod's angled tip can be removed from the hole.
So when the white actuator mechanism and the two rods that attach to the inside of the door handle are out of the car there is no colored plastic on the end of the rods???? If I have a better idea of what comes out of the car, I will be less afraid of applying force where It appears necessary.
On the pic link below at step #14, it looks like the actuator rod ends (at least one of them) is bare and the two colored clips remain inside the car. Is this true???
My bro is going to be off for thanksgiving week so I have another crack at this.
Thank you for the reply!
Yes, the plastic rod clip attachments stay on the door handle, not rods. The rods disengage from the plastic clips on the door handle. In the last pic #14 for the instructions you can see the end of the rods with no clips attached.
AARGG!!! Front Passenger Door Lock Manual Mechanism/Actuator Part 17
Hello Everyone:
I can't believe I actually managed to change the motor inside the door lock actuator on my 2000 RX300.
Everything is back in place and as advised I have left the door panel off. WHAT HAVE I MISSED???? Put the two rods attached to the door handles back on, everything seems to line up, what gives??????
However, now the manual lock (plastic nub with the red mark that shows when doors are unlocked) cannot be moved at all. At least before I started, we could always use the key from the outside or the plastic nubbin inside to lock and unlock the front passenger door.
Another symptom is that the only way to use the key to unlock the door from the outside is to pull the exterior handle while turning the key counter clockwise to unlock. Otherwise, the door is effectively stuck shut from the inside and out. That was definitely an oh **** moment as you can imagine before we figured out out of desperation to pull the handle while turning the key in the cylinder.
So what did I do wrong guys???? I am taking a break for today, but that was five hours of my life I will never get back again. Makes me wish I could be a doctor or finance guy like my friends so I could just have the car crushed and buy a Ferrari.
Also, there looks to be this metal brace inside the door that seems to have a piece of black rubber weatherstripping. The bottom end of it is bolted to the inside door panel. When this bolt is removed, this metal bar just seems to float around and swing freely inside the door. What exactly is this piece??? All I know is it gets in the way of realigning the strike plate on the actuator and screwing back in the three T30 bolts on the door jam.
Anyway, thanks for all your help so far but is seems I have again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Sounds like a spring back issue. Every time you lock/unlock the actuator will move the latch to that position then quickly return back to the "neutral" position. This can be heard by the double click, first click will lock or unlock - second click a split second later is the spring returning it to the neutral position.
If the spring does not return it to the neutral position it will jam and not allow you to unlock or open the latch.
Ohh and the metal brace is your window track. Don't forget to bolt that guy back down or your window can get off track.
I would remove the actuator and test the mechanical on the door.
Then mimic the action (push/pull/squeeze) on the actuator assembly.
Once the above two are confirmed to work independently then I would reassemble. When it comes to attaching the rods, they should not be forced or stressed to go into the desired position.
Remember to keep the battery disconnected and make sure everything is secured before connecting the battery.
I seem to have broken the motor for the door lock actuator
Hello Everyone
Thank you all, especially Salim for all the input about my ordeal with my front passenger door.
I carefully carved open the little beige plastic case the electrics of the actuator hide in. I used the gear puller to get the little black piece off the output shaft of the motor and swapped it over. I even swapped over the little black pad that went on top of the old motor.
However, I must have moved the big spring loaded white plastic gear so now when I placed the cover the white plastic lever that the tiny wire from the actual physical door lock tab (thing next to interior door handle with red mark on it) is pretty much frozen in place. Anyway I ordered the beige motor and gear housing off of ebay for $49 shipped. Hopefully I solved this problem.
Where exactly does the black tab on the "lid" of the beige motor housing fit inside the large white gear. The large white gear has a pattern stamped into it that makes it look like a snail of some sort. Anyway, I tried powering up the whole thing but the mechanism was so jammed that when I tried the power lock switch on the front passenger door handle the whole lid flew off of it. So at least I know the motor works....
Also, how do I know what position the new motor is in when I reinstall it...that is what if it is in the unlocked position when the rest of the doors are locked? I mean all doors are supposed to lock and unlock at the same time. I do not want the new motor to not be synchronized with the other three working door locks when I install it..
On a side note that is not mentioned in the main door lock actuator repair thread:
I find the best way to remove the two actuator rods from the door handle is to remove the two bolts holding the door handle...one behind this black plug on the door jam and the other one visible when you peel back the plastic sheet inside the door. Then you push the whole actuator mechanism up through the hole where the door handle goes and unclip the rods from the plastic.
The motor does not need synchronization. The start/stop/direction is controlled by a switch build into the lock actuator. The helix-worm gear (spiral) moves the switch. Once the motor is placed and energized it will spin till the connections are brought in sync.
It's a bit hard to understand the issue without pictures.
FWIW to others.
The second time I did this, I had an issue with the gear puller and broke the gear that is to come off the motor. I had ordered the actuator piece (the white plastic case) itself from China (it was about $50), but they sent the one for the passenger door and did not have one for the driver door.
I ordered the actuator piece for the GS300 off ebay (it's $16 or $17). It's close, but it doesn't work. However, I pulled the motor and gear out of that piece and put it into mine and it works fine. Frankly, this would be my approach on the next door; I'd pay $16 or $17 for the motor and gear if I could find it.
The best cutting tool I found (and it worked really well) is the plastic cutting tool that is used to cut the plastic sheeting that is installed in tray ceiling lights. I found it to be much quicker and safer than other tools I've used.
10-30-15, 10:30 PM
Door Actuator Rod Removal Help!
