replacing a power lock actuator motor in a gen i prius

I just did driver side rear passenger and front passenger.

I went to a Pick a Part, $7 for the rear complete assembly, worked like a charm.

Could not find the front passenger so I ordered just the actuator from eBay $17.00. Bingo.

Confirmed, one must remove the rail and handle to help release the two plastic locks that hold the rods for lock and latch.

 

Which rail and handle do you mean?

I remember undoing the window vertical rail at one end to have room to jockey the latch assembly out of the door, but I think I did that after I had opened the plastic clips and popped the rods out.

If you mean the outside handle, I'm sure I never had to remove that. But if the rod end is stubborn about coming out of the latch lever, you can help by just jiggling the handle while you pull. Or did you mean the rear door? I've never done a rear so maybe it's necessary there.

Did you receive your eBay unit already and put it in? If not, I would definitely check the pin 3 to pin 4 switch behavior first (since I have now received two eBay units where everything checked out except that one test). Pin 3 to pin 4 should conduct when the pointy plastic lever (not the hollow-ended one) is up, and not conduct when the pointy lever is down.

In both of the defective units I've received, pin 3 to 4 just never conduct, period.

If you have already put it in the car, the easiest test will be (don't wake the neighbors though!), go sit in the car without starting it, lock yourself in, wait for the security LED to go dark then blink, then reach over and unlock the passenger door by its mechanical knob. If the alarm goes off, the switch is good. If it doesn't, you got a bum actuator.

The eBay seller has just responded to me about the defective one I got, so we'll see what happens.

-Chap

 

Passenger Side Front Door:

After removal of the panel and peeling back the water shields, it is better described as the rearward VERTICAL window guide or channel. Without it's removal it is impossible to remove the actuator, The spaces is just too tight.

I also had to unbolt the handle and remove it to get the farthest back plastic snap in lock for the rear ROD. The front was easy enough, lift up to unlock then out. But the rear one was too thick to simply push out. Just no leverage. Once handle is out, plenty of room to work.

Yes, I received it and simply plugged it in. I normalli test any eBay items it but I was kinda in a hurry because MIL does not like to drive at night :-o. Worked perfectly, maybe a bit louder than the OEM driver side but it worked. I will do your ALARM check. LOL I just returned the extra acutator because they sent two by mistake. I am such a nice guy, I guess I will go to heaven

Jim

 

Hey Jim, have you had a chance to try that yet?

Sometime this week I should receive another one from the seller so I'll find out if I get to be 2-for-4 or 1-for-4
overall (2-for-3 or 1-for-3 from this seller), so it would be interesting to know whether they sent you a busted one or not.

I'd like to sort of figure out a working strategy ... order 5, test, keep a good one, send 4 back ... or keep a good one, send a couple back, resell the others as tested, known working actuator on eBay for $30 ... some kind of opportunity for value-added here ....

-Chap

 

Sorry not, yet. MIL had to work yesterday.

I have B-Xenon HID's to install for her too. Probably this Monday coming up.

 

Just to add another data point to this thread, I recently replaced my driver side lock actuator successfully. It took me about 2 hours to do the surgery. I followed this guide idoneitmyself daht com/2012/05/25/replacing-the-door-lock-actuator-on-a-1st-generation-prius-2002/ and got the full motor assembly for cheap on eBay here eBay daht com/itm/281678853485

It has been about 2 months since I did this and everything is working great. (sorry for the stupid link format, I've been a member of this forum for almost 5 years and yet I still am not allowed to post links)

 

69120 30010 New Power Door Lock Actuators Front Left 6912030010 | eBay



Hey Hey, that is the one I bought

No worries Brother, I think you need 2 more posts. That is what I had to do in order to post links. Shoot in the beginning I could not see Amazon links for some reason.

Jim

 

Thanks for the added data point! You did the driver's side, right? Have you tested the outside window-up/window-down function? Easy to test: stand outside with the car locked, put the key in the driver's side key slot, turn right and hold: window should go down. Turn left and hold, window should go up.

That's the quickest way to test the LSW circuit, which seems to be sometimes bad on these eBay actuators. (The passenger door doesn't have the window up/down function, so the quickest way to test the passenger side is the alarm test, as I suggested to DRACO.)

-Chap

 

Unhappiness ... I just received a second passenger-side actuator from the same seller, the one they shipped out because the first one they sent was faulty, and this one is faulty in the exact same way. Everything else works ... motor, check. Lock and unlock signals, check. Only the unlocked indicator (LSW, pins 3 to 4) ... nuthin'.

Not going to take it apart, but I'll bet if I did it'd be just like the one I did take apart upthread, and the switch isn't working because that whole metal contact piece was left out. I begin to wonder whether the whole reason there are eBay sellers who have these for cheap is that these are known QA rejects from Toyota suppliers.

And yet they did manage to send me one driver's side unit with nothing wrong with it. Curious.

I'll be interested to see the result of DRACO's test.

-Chap

 

@DRACO, I do hope you'll have a chance to do that alarm test, maybe Monday as you thought ... the eBay seller and I are now both waiting to see what you find.

To be really specific about the test (not because I think you need it, but just to be sure the description makes it repeatable for anyone who reads this thread) ... it's:

1. sit in car, lock self in
2. wait for security LED to go dark, then start blinking
3. do not touch electric lock buttons, reach to passenger door manual lock button (the turn knob above the chromed handle) and turn it to unlocked (orange sticker showing). Do not pull the handle, do not open the door.

If the LSWP switch in the actuator is OK, just turning the lock button will trigger the alarm. If you turn the button and no alarm, the switch is bad.

@alexkrishnan, if you see this, it would be great if you could test your driver door also. The alarm test should also be usable, but for the driver door (only) there is a simpler test, just stand outside the closed car, turn and hold the key in the driver door to see if it rolls the window up (key turned top toward front of car) and down (key turned top toward rear). (If LSWD is bad, you will probably be able to roll the window up that way, but not down.)

That test is faster than the alarm test (because you don't have to wait for the security light to blink) but only possible on the driver's door. The alarm test should be usable on all doors.

-Chap

 

CF,

No worries, MIL will drop off car tomorrow so I can install the HID Bi-Xenon Kit.

Will update soon as car is in my hands

 

So what happened? I'm all on pins and needles ...

-Chap

 

Ah poop

Mine is bad

Switched alarm on

Waited for led to blink

Reached over flip lock manually, no alarm

Opened door, Alarm went off

Well, if a crook unlocks it and thought alarm was broken they will get a nice surprise when they open the door. If they don't open it, it would be just annoying as I open the passenger door

I am good with this, heck for $17, can't complain too much. I am not really looking to tear open the door again. If it was the rear one, I would be right on it. Should have gotten the junked Prius one but MIL did not tell me there was an issue until I fixed the rear door with a junker donor :-(

I wonder, could we just swap the motor, I see some sights selling the motor only?

J

 

Hmm, well, it is sort of what I expected. I've now received two from this seller that are bad the same way, so with yours he is 0 for 3 on passenger actuators. The driver-side actuator he sold me last year actually is fine, so he was 1-for-1 on that (it would be nice if @alexkrishnan could chime in too, that was another driver side).

Still, 1 for 4 overall isn't a really good average.

I know, it's a pain if you don't take the time to test before putting it in (which, I hope, others reading this thread will get the idea to do, right?).

Still, the seller ought to be told about it. After all, he is advertising "High Quality Low Price Life Time Warranty" and a 1-for-4 average doesn't make a very strong case for that.

I haven't taken these last two apart to see exactly why the switch doesn't work, but in the one (from a different seller) that I did open up, the problem turned out to be that the necessary part wasn't even there, just plain left out.

What's hard to tell is whether these are just coming from a cheap supplier where occasionally bad ones get through, or, these are all available cheap on eBay because some supplier had an entire production run and then said "crap, we left the switch out, Toyota won't buy these, let's dump them on eBay, maybe lots of people won't test or notice, or if they do notice their alarm acting strangely, they'll just think the car is getting old and junky, and not connect it to this part they put in. Or if they do figure it out, they'll just shrug because they don't want to take apart the door again."

It will be interesting to see whether the seller is even able to find a working one in his inventory to replace the two bad ones I've been sent, or will elect to just stop listing them.

People have posted here about doing that. Personally, having opened one up just to see how it was built wrong, and what a pain it was to get into the glued plastic case, I wouldn't think it worth my time, you'd have to pay me more than the part costs at the dealer. Especially if I were taking it apart even more carefully because I wanted it to go back together well.

You want it to go back together very securely, because (as I've discovered in testing the one I opened), in one direction the worm gear drive can put a pretty good upward axial force on the round gear, push the lid up, lose the spring off the bottom, and need to be all put back together again. To stop that happening, the lid needs to be very solidly on, as it was from the factory.

-Chap

 

Well, I will contact the seller since it is the same one you, Alex and I bought from.

I will also take apart the factory to see how hard it would be to swap the motor.

Sent Sinauto this ebaymail:

Hello again,

So it appears the actuator is not functioning properly. When I sit in the car to test the system, I lock the doors with the alarm, the alarm is ready and manually reach over unlock the passenger side. Before the repair, this would trigger the alarm. It does not now.

Also, I was able to open and close the driver side window with the key. Now it does not.

Can you please send me a Properly Functioning Actuator?

Jim

I just re-read your posts CF about the low battery remote anti lock feature. That really concerns me, I will definitely follow up with the seller to provide a fully functioning actuator or request a refund. I think I found a junker actuator again $7 just have to make sure it works.

 

Lucky day

Found a 02 Prius, car looked in good condition besides being in a major accident, a total loss.

Removed both driver and passenger side. Will test at home.

As a bonus 4 HV battery modules at 8.00+ volts for $15 each :-D someone tried to remove the whole HV battery but did not realize how heavy it was :-P

 

Well, so I got my reply from the seller, after I suggested checking some with an ohmmeter instead of just paying more postage to have me find out if they work, and the reply is "I check some of this item on my hand, unfortunately all of them have this problem." So I've been sent a return shipping label for a refund.

Disappointing.

There seem to be a lot of eBay sellers who have these things listed. The ones I've dealt with all give me the sense of being small-time players ... what I have the feeling is going on (can't know for sure of course) is they're probably all being used unwittingly by some manufacturer that built a big production run of these things with the switches missing. Don't know how hard to come down on the individual seller, but I will be curious to see whether this one does the right thing and pulls the listing, or just considers me bought off by the refund, and keeps selling them to others who won't know better.

IIRC, the other seller last year did in fact stop. Could have popped up the next day under another name, for all I know....

And yet, and yet ... I did manage to get a working one last year, so they must not be 100% bad. Maybe it's still worth it, if need an actuator and you're of a sporting disposition, to look up an eBay seller and order one. Just be sure to ohm it out on the bench before wasting any time taking the car apart, and post the result here.

If it's good, you've fixed the car for $18, and if it's bad, you get your refund, and were able to help PriusChat learn the ones to avoid, for no cost but a couple minutes' time.

-Chap

 

Oh Geez, this is the rely from SinoAuto2011:

It seems like all my this product have the same problem. I'd like to refund your payment. Thanks.

Hey CF, so I check the ohms on both of the donor car actuators pins 3 & 4 and they are both reading fine.

Do you need the Driver side? I can send it you if you wish, gratis in appreciation for all your contribution to the community, just pay shipping please

But before I do. I will test on my Mil's car :-D

Jim

P.S. Seller sent me a refund :-P

 

I guess it's an honest and constructive response, as far as it goes. I'm sure if you were a small-time, reasonably honest seller trying to make a buck on eBay, and some broker talked you into a pallet of lock actuators for cheap, and you've been selling them successfully to people who haven't reported any problems because they didn't know what to test ... it could be really frustrating and even embarrassing to finally hit a customer who bothers to look at diagrams on techinfo and can tell a good part from a bad one, and then you have to come to grips with how you feel about having sold a bunch of people flakey stuff. If that's this seller's situation I could certainly sympathize.

So they conduct when the lever is up, and not when it's down, right. Good.

Well, I changed the driver's side last summer, and I bought it from sinoauto, and it's been absolutely trouble free. I've never noticed any other problem with these besides the LSW signal, and in the one I took apart it was clear that part was flat-out missing. I think if you do manage to buy one of these where the part isn't missing, it ought to last for years and be just fine.

-Chap

 

I bought a front driver's side actuator on ebay from TomAutoParts ($15.20 with free shipping). I didn't see your posts about the defect until after I installed the part and kept setting off the alarm when I only unlocked the front driver's door. I guess I will live with it (by double pressing the unlock button and unlocking all the doors) until the weather gets better and I can go to a salvage yard and get a true part. Thank you for your detailed explanation on how to bench check this.