Broken Passenger Door Lock Assembly

[SouthLex]

The door lock assembly on the rear passenger door is broken. It won't catch when you close the door. There is no tension like the other side so I know this has to be replaced. How hard would it be as a do-it-yourself project? Dealership wants $300 to fix. Any possible solutions in the meanwhile to keep door closed?(2000 ES 300)

[SAFRO.COM]

there may be a spring that is broken, if not that maybe it is seized put a little WD-40 on all door parts. WD-40 your hood release assembly in the front too. they seize up

[gbhrps]

Replacing the latch unit can be time consuming and frustrating. I've done a lot of them in the restoration shop where I work from time to time. The $300 quote from the dealership is mainly for the time it takes to pull the interior door panel, diagnose the problem, take out the old latch assembly, replace the new one and reinstall the panel again. The panel is not the problem. The latch assembly replacement is fiddly and frustrating because you can't see well inside the door, and the clips and control rods to the latch and lock are hard to get at, because there is so little space to work. Find a wrecked car for the parts if you like, and you may well find that a Camry for the same years might use the same latch. Good Luck!

[SouthLex]

Replacing the latch unit can be time consuming and frustrating. I've done a lot of them in the restoration shop where I work from time to time. The $300 quote from the dealership is mainly for the time it takes to pull the interior door panel, diagnose the problem, take out the old latch assembly, replace the new one and reinstall the panel again. The panel is not the problem. The latch assembly replacement is fiddly and frustrating because you can't see well inside the door, and the clips and control rods to the latch and lock are hard to get at, because there is so little space to work. Find a wrecked car for the parts if you like, and you may well find that a Camry for the same years might use the same latch. Good Luck!

The thing that happened was that I had just left work with an armful of stuff. I opened the drivers side rear door and heard something like glass breaking and stuff falling from somewhere towards the bottom of the door. I looked on the ground to see if anything had fallen, shrugged my shoulders and closed the door. The door would not close and I concluded that something had broken in the lock assembly and had fallen to the bottom of the door. The window works fine. The quote from the dealer was $140 parts, $160 labor and shop costs. If this is a tricky fix, I wonder if I should eat the $160 and let the dealer(Toyota, not Lexus - same part from Camry, I know the asst. service manager that I deal with and he is no BS and fair) worry about it. If something doesn't work, I can take it back and have them fix it right. I personally am not crazy about having to take off the panel.

[gbhrps]

The first time you remove a door panel to fix a lock or window assembly can be pretty daunting, but it is not rocket science, if you are mechanically inclined and know your way around a tool box. You seem to have found the solution that would work best for you, take it to your Toyota Tech friend. It'll be done correctly with no worries as to ruining something getting the latch fixed. Good Luck!