1999 Rx300 Door Lock Actuator Repair Less Than $15

[abo]

I am so close but still too far, have the inside cover open and I can see the inside now, but just don't understand or say don't trust myself to un-screw the original actuator and hook up the new one, specially the rod alligntment, size, etc, Is any of you are in Houston, TX area and help me out, I will pay you or buy you a decent meal or whatever, I hate to put it all back without fixing it. thanks

P.S. please reply to my email: getsw@alltel.net

To bad you're not in the So. Cal. area, I would be happy to do it free for you. If you have any mechanical aptitude, once you've done it once you'll see how easy it is and you could come close to doing it with your eyes closed the second time. I would actually use the "dog knot" on the actuator end and use a modified "Z" (2- 90 degrees) on the other end where it attaches to the original actuator. With the door panel off, it shouldn't take more than 1/2 hour to do the actual hook up once you have done 1 and have a clear understanding of what to do (and how easy it is).

I'm having the same problem with the actuators on my '99 RX300 and have read Indi's suggestion on how to fix. Unfortunately, I'm not mechanically inclined--I'm a bean counter. I am however, in Austin TX, and will offer you the same deal as you did--pay you or a decent meal to fix mine or at least show me how to fix. Houston isn't that far away for me to drive. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me at 2weims1box@myway.com. Thanks!

Well that make two of us, Ijust hope some kind heart help us in person or over the phone, since you are willing to drive to Houston, I can help you with what I know Free, removing inside panel, etc, . So if we can some help we will be able to fix both door actuators.

[saikaiting]

would appreciate a explanation in easy to understand lingo :)

[saikaiting]

2WEIMS1BOX and ABO

do u guys have any messengers? we could meet online and group chat and try to put all 3 of our heads together to figure this out.

PM me your MSN OR AIM or whatever! we can figure this out together.

[saikaiting]

can someone message me their phone number I will be willing to pay for a few minutes of assistance or a few questions

$50.00 for 30 minutes (not even) of help I will pay via paypal

[saikaiting]

someone help me

[artbuc]

someone help me

Please don't take this the wrong way because I am only wishing you the best. If you need more help than has already been given I think you should take your car to a Lexus dealer or recommended indie shop and pay someone to fix your actuator.

[saikaiting]

im asking for a few minutes just to explain everything in everyday people lingo like instead of linkage use words like silver rod, is it that hard.

please man!!

[artbuc]

what does linkage mean? what do u mean head? is the head the part that is springy and u can pull up and down that has that white thing with the hole in it?

thanks in advance i appreciate u taking ur time to help.

Linkage is the "silver rod" which came with the new actuator. It will link the new actuator to the old actuator. I assume it is about 300 mm long with a right angle (90 degree) bend. After the bend it is about 25mm long. At the end of the 25mm length it terminates with an enlarged head. This head is too big to push through the hole in the old actuator lever hole so it must be ground or filed down. You could enlarge the hole in the old actuator lever but it is plastic and enlarging the hole would make it too weak.

This is the explantion of linkage I sent you on Nov 6th. I don't know how to explain it more than this.

[saikaiting]

im asking for a few minutes just to explain everything in everyday people lingo like instead of linkage use words like silver rod, is it that hard.

please man!!

please re read this artbuc u douchebag i am not asking for linkage explanation u *BLEEP*tard

[artbuc]

im asking for a few minutes just to explain everything in everyday people lingo like instead of linkage use words like silver rod, is it that hard.

please man!!

please re read this artbuc u douchebag i am not asking for linkage explanation u *BLEEP*tard

You are welcome. I also appreciate the vulgar PM you sent me.

If you read my posts you will see I have made a fairly significant effort to help you. You say you are a 24 yr old law student with an above average IQ. Maybe someday you will have above average manners and maturity.

[abo]

what does linkage mean? what do u mean head? is the head the part that is springy and u can pull up and down that has that white thing with the hole in it?

thanks in advance i appreciate u taking ur time to help.

Linkage is the "silver rod" which came with the new actuator. It will link the new actuator to the old actuator. I assume it is about 300 mm long with a right angle (90 degree) bend. After the bend it is about 25mm long. At the end of the 25mm length it terminates with an enlarged head. This head is too big to push through the hole in the old actuator lever hole so it must be ground or filed down. You could enlarge the hole in the old actuator lever but it is plastic and enlarging the hole would make it too weak.

This is the explantion of linkage I sent you on Nov 6th. I don't know how to explain it more than this.

Ok, I tried this weekend with the help of my neighbour (he is pretty goo din mechnical work) but no luck, first of all we didn't find any existing hole in the manual lever where I can fit the new linkage, secondly the existing rod is thin and round, there is no way one can drill a whole in it, at least the size we need to pass through the new actuator rod, I guess my setup is different, so I end up putting the door panel back, any ideas....

[saikaiting]

Where does the Rod go???

[artbuc]

what does linkage mean? what do u mean head? is the head the part that is springy and u can pull up and down that has that white thing with the hole in it?

thanks in advance i appreciate u taking ur time to help.

Linkage is the "silver rod" which came with the new actuator. It will link the new actuator to the old actuator. I assume it is about 300 mm long with a right angle (90 degree) bend. After the bend it is about 25mm long. At the end of the 25mm length it terminates with an enlarged head. This head is too big to push through the hole in the old actuator lever hole so it must be ground or filed down. You could enlarge the hole in the old actuator lever but it is plastic and enlarging the hole would make it too weak.

This is the explantion of linkage I sent you on Nov 6th. I don't know how to explain it more than this.

Ok, I tried this weekend with the help of my neighbour (he is pretty goo din mechnical work) but no luck, first of all we didn't find any existing hole in the manual lever where I can fit the new linkage, secondly the existing rod is thin and round, there is no way one can drill a whole in it, at least the size we need to pass through the new actuator rod, I guess my setup is different, so I end up putting the door panel back, any ideas....

Are you working on the front door of a 99 RX300? If yes, look at the pics in the 4th post of this thread. One of the 3 pics shows where the rod (or linkage) goes thru the hole in the manual lever. You can enlarge the pic and see it quite well.

The 1st post of this thread talks about the rear door which doesn't have the hole. In this case you have to do something different which Indiana describes. I have not done a rear door so I can't help you.

[saikaiting]

for all those who are deeply confused i have figured out our problem

well my problem and maybe yours is, we get the door off and then we think, what do we do now?

well the solution is we dont know what to do because a plasic cover is over the old actuator

so what u need to do, is remove a bunch of screws to remove the old actuator far enough to get a look

anyone know what screws to remove?

I know that their are 3 torx screws on the side of the door that hold the lock mechnism in place.

and a plastic thing that u need to pop in and push out, what else?

[abo]

for all those who are deeply confused i have figured out our problem

well my problem and maybe yours is, we get the door off and then we think, what do we do now?

well the solution is we dont know what to do because a plasic cover is over the old actuator

so what u need to do, is remove a bunch of screws to remove the old actuator far enough to get a look

anyone know what screws to remove?

I know that their are 3 torx screws on the side of the door that hold the lock mechnism in place.

and a plastic thing that u need to pop in and push out, what else?

Yep, I have the same problem, I was able to remove three torx screws and one screw inside, still doesn't have enough slack to take a good look and connect the rod, now I must warn everyone, after messing with all this (without any luck) I guess I messed up the setup now sometime my door doesn't close right and inside manual lock is little hard to lock/unlock. Still looking forward to do it, If I get clear instruction..

[artbuc]

for all those who are deeply confused i have figured out our problem

well my problem and maybe yours is, we get the door off and then we think, what do we do now?

well the solution is we dont know what to do because a plasic cover is over the old actuator

so what u need to do, is remove a bunch of screws to remove the old actuator far enough to get a look

anyone know what screws to remove?

I know that their are 3 torx screws on the side of the door that hold the lock mechnism in place.

and a plastic thing that u need to pop in and push out, what else?

Yep, I have the same problem, I was able to remove three torx screws and one screw inside, still doesn't have enough slack to take a good look and connect the rod, now I must warn everyone, after messing with all this (without any luck) I guess I messed up the setup now sometime my door doesn't close right and inside manual lock is little hard to lock/unlock. Still looking forward to do it, If I get clear instruction..

Please look at post #7 on the thread I started on 8/21/08 entitled Drivers Door Actuator Replacement. I had the same problem you are having and that post describes in detail what has to be removed in order to manipulate the existing actuator.

PS. I love the global nature of the Lexus forums. Isn't it amazing that 3 people (doc2b07, abo and saikaiting) located in Houston, IL and Germany are posting the exact same questions using the exact same pics? Hopefully this post will help all 3 of you at the exact same time.

[saikaiting]

i took the pic from the other forum, its exactly the same problem im having, i just need to know how to take that plastic cover off,

or how to remove that actuator. so ican get a better look

[artbuc]

i took the pic from the other forum, its exactly the same problem im having, i just need to know how to take that plastic cover off,

or how to remove that actuator. so ican get a better look

The plastic cover does not come off. It is part of the actuator. You have to remove everything I mentioned in my #7 post (referenced above). Then you can pull the actuator out enough to see and work on it. Now, it you are going to replace the motor instead of connecting a new actuator, then you will have to split the plastic casing apart. Code 58 has already covered this here and on the ClubLexus forum. I was just as perplexed as you when I did this job until I realized you must remove everything which holds the actuator in postion so you can manipulate it.

[abo]

for all those who are deeply confused i have figured out our problem

well my problem and maybe yours is, we get the door off and then we think, what do we do now?

well the solution is we dont know what to do because a plasic cover is over the old actuator

so what u need to do, is remove a bunch of screws to remove the old actuator far enough to get a look

anyone know what screws to remove?

I know that their are 3 torx screws on the side of the door that hold the lock mechnism in place.

and a plastic thing that u need to pop in and push out, what else?

Yep, I have the same problem, I was able to remove three torx screws and one screw inside, still doesn't have enough slack to take a good look and connect the rod, now I must warn everyone, after messing with all this (without any luck) I guess I messed up the setup now sometime my door doesn't close right and inside manual lock is little hard to lock/unlock. Still looking forward to do it, If I get clear instruction..

Please look at post #7 on the thread I started on 8/21/08 entitled Drivers Door Actuator Replacement. I had the same problem you are having and that post describes in detail what has to be removed in order to manipulate the existing actuator.

Well unless I am not looking at the right thread, post #7 , doesn't have the information you mention, can you be kind and post it again, so we can see.

PS. I love the global nature of the Lexus forums. Isn't it amazing that 3 people (doc2b07, abo and saikaiting) located in Houston, IL and Germany are posting the exact same questions using the exact same pics? Hopefully this post will help all 3 of you at the exact same time.

[artbuc]

for all those who are deeply confused i have figured out our problem

well my problem and maybe yours is, we get the door off and then we think, what do we do now?

well the solution is we dont know what to do because a plasic cover is over the old actuator

so what u need to do, is remove a bunch of screws to remove the old actuator far enough to get a look

anyone know what screws to remove?

I know that their are 3 torx screws on the side of the door that hold the lock mechnism in place.

and a plastic thing that u need to pop in and push out, what else?

Yep, I have the same problem, I was able to remove three torx screws and one screw inside, still doesn't have enough slack to take a good look and connect the rod, now I must warn everyone, after messing with all this (without any luck) I guess I messed up the setup now sometime my door doesn't close right and inside manual lock is little hard to lock/unlock. Still looking forward to do it, If I get clear instruction..

Please look at post #7 on the thread I started on 8/21/08 entitled Drivers Door Actuator Replacement. I had the same problem you are having and that post describes in detail what has to be removed in order to manipulate the existing actuator.

Well unless I am not looking at the right thread, post #7 , doesn't have the information you mention, can you be kind and post it again, so we can see.

PS. I love the global nature of the Lexus forums. Isn't it amazing that 3 people (doc2b07, abo and saikaiting) located in Houston, IL and Germany are posting the exact same questions using the exact same pics? Hopefully this post will help all 3 of you at the exact same time.

Thanks 58. Yes, you have to remove 3 torx screws holding the latch in the jamb, another torx screw on the inside panel, a bolt holding the actuator, a bolt holding the window track and a plastic barb. I also removed the exterior door handle so I could disconnect the two connecting rods (one for door key cylinder and the other for the door). Also I removed the bolt holding the inside door latch to create slack on the two wire cables. Finally I disconnected the two wiring harness connectors. This was the only way I could move the actuator around enough to see what I was doing.

[code58]

for all those who are deeply confused i have figured out our problem

well my problem and maybe yours is, we get the door off and then we think, what do we do now?

well the solution is we dont know what to do because a plasic cover is over the old actuator

so what u need to do, is remove a bunch of screws to remove the old actuator far enough to get a look

anyone know what screws to remove?

I know that their are 3 torx screws on the side of the door that hold the lock mechnism in place.

and a plastic thing that u need to pop in and push out, what else?

Yep, I have the same problem, I was able to remove three torx screws and one screw inside, still doesn't have enough slack to take a good look and connect the rod, now I must warn everyone, after messing with all this (without any luck) I guess I messed up the setup now sometime my door doesn't close right and inside manual lock is little hard to lock/unlock. Still looking forward to do it, If I get clear instruction..

Please look at post #7 on the thread I started on 8/21/08 entitled Drivers Door Actuator Replacement. I had the same problem you are having and that post describes in detail what has to be removed in order to manipulate the existing actuator.

Well unless I am not looking at the right thread, post #7 , doesn't have the information you mention, can you be kind and post it again, so we can see.

PS. I love the global nature of the Lexus forums. Isn't it amazing that 3 people (doc2b07, abo and saikaiting) located in Houston, IL and Germany are posting the exact same questions using the exact same pics? Hopefully this post will help all 3 of you at the exact same time.

Thanks 58. Yes, you have to remove 3 torx screws holding the latch in the jamb, another torx screw on the inside panel, a bolt holding the actuator, a bolt holding the window track and a plastic barb. I also removed the exterior door handle so I could disconnect the two connecting rods (one for door key cylinder and the other for the door). Also I removed the bolt holding the inside door latch to create slack on the two wire cables. Finally I disconnected the two wiring harness connectors. This was the only way I could move the actuator around enough to see what I was doing.

Thanks Artbuc for helping those that need help. I'm going through a little bit of a tough time right now and it was 2 1/2 years ago that I did the locks in my DIL's RX and it was a tough time then and I was just focusing on getting it done (and a lot of other work on the car also). The car was heading to Seattle for an extended time and we lost our 14 year old grandson to leukemia in that episode. Anyway, thanks for being one of the ones always willing to step up and offer your help so freely!

[indiana]

It has been a while since I posted last. To clear things up a little. The front door repair is different than the rear. Although I found the rear door more accessible and easier to do. I had to drill a hole in the rear old actuator cam arm and z bend the new rod to attach it to it. I had to file flat the end of the rod because after pushing it through the hole I made, it is very snug behind that cam.

If you look the project simply it goes like this: (Using the old actuator in it's original place, you are installing a new helper actuator that pulls on the lever/arm of the old actuator, while using the same voltage as the old actuator to power the new actuator) There is no exact way you have to do it, just follow your gut, keep it simple and you will arrive at the same conclusion I did.

[techFiend]

Please excuse my first post.

My 2000 RX300 had the driver's side door lock actuator fail. I could lock the door manually using the key as well as the lock on the inside handle, but not with the key fob or the door lock button on the power window switch panel. Basically, the motor driving the lock was busted. I was trying to get to that motor to see if I could replace it BEFORE I saw this thread. To cut a long story short, I found a way to get to the door lock before realizing that I could not replace it for less than $250. I've since put everything back together and reverted back to using the key.

The upside to all this was I had some photos which may be of use to others attempting work on their door lock.

These photos are from the front driver's side. I understand the rear doors to be slightly different. I am not a certified mechanic, so I don't guarantee that your experience will be the same.

Here are the important screws:

circled RED = door lock screws, 4xT30 and 1 plastic push pin

circled BLUE = outside door handle screws, 2x10mm bolt (I think), the other blue circle is on the door exterior

circled GREEN = window glass bolts, 2x10mm

circled YELLOW = rear lower frame bolt, 1x10m, rear lower frame is the vertical track on which the wondow glass runs

Here is a view of the door lock that I was trying to get to. It sits behind the rear lower frame (the track with the black rubber strip that the window glass glides on). Space is tight. The rear lower frame has to come off before the door lock can be removed.

The window glass had to come out for me to get space in there, as well as remove the rear lower frame. With the glass fully down, I started removing the door belt molding. That was the most painful part. There were 6 "hooks" (marked with red x) that made it challenging. In retrospect, I could have removed the glass without removing this moulding. I wasn't sure when I started and was just being careful.

Then I raised the window glass up until the 2 bolts at the bottom (see green circles in first picture) were accessible. Before anything else, I disconnected the power window panel and the big connector to the door lock to make sure that nothing moved when my hands were in there. There was one other smaller connector on the door lock which I could not remove - it was difficult to get a grip on it. Once the bolts holding the glass came off (you will have to push the rail on the regulator slightly to get it out of the way), all I had to do was lift the glass up and rotate it out. I thought the rubber seal had to come off to get the glass out, but that was not necessary.

With the glass out, I removed the outside door handle to disconnect the door lock from the handle.

To get the plastic clips off the metal rods, push on them hard enough to disengage the clip.

Remove the bolt holding the rear lower frame and slide it out. Then remove the 4 T30 screws holding the door lock and rotate the lock out. Here is the door lock.

If you ever take the door lock apart, be careful putting it back. There are a couple of parts which have to match up (marked x and y below). x is the mechanical door lock. It hooks up with the internal lock and the metal rod connecting to the door handle. y is the one that is controlled to the motor.

Be careful with the rear lower frame during re-installation. There is a tab on the end without the screw, and that tab has to sit correctly in the matching frame on the door.

[code58]

Techfiend- Thanks for that terrific write-up (especially with the pictures). I did My DIL's (all 4) about 2 1/2 yrs. ago and it was a stressful time for me (no time to take pictures) so I don't remember all of what I did but I know I didn't remove any glass or outside window trim. (I did spend over 30 years in auto body and mechanical though) I am going to have to pull a front door and a rear to see exactly what I did because I know I didn't have to drill any holes in the actuator arms though, they were already there.

At least you know now from this or the other Lexus site that you can repair the locks (one of 2 ways) for $5.-$15.

[saikaiting]

thanks for the pics man

they are awesome,

so can anyone tell me where the new rod conencts to? x y or z?