Serious Door Lock Problem

[lexuseng]

I finally was able to open the door. I studied the opposite good door and determined there was no way to slim jim the door but I was able to determine what I needed to do. I ended up drilling a 3/8” hole through the door handle to access the lock. I could post a picture of where you would need to do this but it would be posting a way to break in the car although most thieves would just break the window (I could post if there’s enough interest). I plugged the hole with black epoxy so it could be driven without looking hideous but it actually looks decent (good thing my car is black) so I may not replace the handle.

I did take a picture of what caused the jam and have it posted here. This is the inside of the actuator. It is pretty apparent what the problem is. I couldn’t get it to un-jam until I took it apart. How did this happen?

Well I hate to admit it but this was a unit that I took apart last summer to replace the motor. Worked fine for about 6 months then it locked up. The replaced motor wasn’t the issue but gluing the case back together probably was. I had carefully cut the case apart and the case is pretty intact and even with the case open, I couldn’t see how the case could deform enough to allow the worm gear to climb on top of the tooth. Everything fits tight. But with high temperature variations, vibration, Murphy’s law, it is obviously possible. I’m not the only one who has replaced the motor so is this just a fluke? I was very happy to save $200 but I have to share the bad with the good.

So a word of caution to those willing to replace the motor instead of replacing the entire actuator, be very careful gluing the case back together. This time I added some self tapping screws along with the glue as shown. If it jumps again, then it wasn’t a fluke and I’ll buy a new one, at least I already have the have the hole in the handle. ;)

One last note, I had mentioned in previous post that lifting the door handle helped manuever the actuator out (rear door). Now that I have done both rear doors and the right twice, lifting the door handle didn't seem to help this time. It just takes some patience to pull, twist, turning, to manuever the actuator out. You definitely don't need to take the door handle out first (which is very difficult to access with the actuator in place).

Tomeniss, tried to PM you but unable to, probably need to update your profile.

[Mike Mike]

Hi guys;

So you can find FC-280PC-22125 on ebay from a few sellers.

I got 10 of them from zinky86 for $6.11 each (just sort the results by "Price + shipping: lowest first"). he gave me free shipping for the purchase (i asked him for it, he said yes).

He doesn't know, however, where to find the brass collar for them.. the PC is the same as the PT, except that the collar isn't there. Does anyone know where to find them, or a substitute?

zinky was helpful, but didn't know the answer. i pulled one fitting off my old motor and used it on one of the new motors.. it has been working flawlessly for a month now. I have 2 cars that need all doors done though, so i wanted to find the right fitting, new, first.

Thanks for any help,

Mike