Fix door lock actuators?

I knew it is an easy fix but never bothered to try, there are actually several posts from other car forums detailing how, it is a connectivity problem so it is a cheap fix, a small electrical motor in the enclosure of the actuator body needs to be pulled out, dismantled and then cleaned up from old grease and deposits, the copper contacts must also be cleaned carefully with a fine sand paper.... Nothing to it.

I have 4 of these that I have replaced with new ones, I will try this when I have time and post the outcome.




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A DIY on this will be a great asset to the forum.

You got me motivated to do it even though I do not have enough time , so I pulled one of the old ones but I was unable to open the enclosure, unexpectedly I found out it's a "destructive disassembly" design so it is welded and sealed (like the TPMS sensor), as opposed to having screws and bolts, so it will break if I try to force it open, but I will have a closer look next weekend and I will see what I can do.


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Time to bring out the a grinder or cut off wheel to grind away the weld joins. I suggest to strap or clamp the housing before cutting as I suspect there might be springs inside and my just pop open as soon as the weld joins is weaken.

usually a plastic assy like this is going to be glued shut from the factory. before cutting I would try to wedge a blade in the seem and start to separate it, then working it further just pry it apart and crack it open. cutting would be a last resort and I doubt necessary cutting would be necessary if it was built from a very rigid plastic that would crack easily, like a taillight for example, but here it should be more of just prying it apart than cutting it apart. there shouldn't be any springs to pop apart but of course be careful not to damage any internals as you pry it open.

I've dealt with some of these failing actuators myself on a few cars, I did one fx that all 4 doors were pretty much failed... I winded up adding aftermarket external actuators
to all 4 doors. I think for the amount of effort it would take to try and repair these I'd rather add some stronger external actuators and not have to ever deal with this again, also if one does fail in the future since it'l already be set up for an external actuator replacing one at that point would be easy.

I should have taken pics of how I did external actuators though because it is difficult to do in way that's really solid and easily serviceable. what I do is add a steel tab to the lock/unlock knob on the door panel handle and then add the actuator mounted solidly to the door panel itself too... then just a 2 prong quick disconnect plug. now to remove a door panel just requires unplugging one additional plug for this and the actuator stays permanently mounted to the door panel when it's removed... did one almost 2 years ago without a hitch since... the door locks now open and shut with authority and the larger actuator is much stronger than even the factory actuators when new. if you have this problem cropping up on multiple doors I'd recommend going this route and just converting all 4 doors at once in one shot.
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Here's a replacement including mounting hardware, from a US seller, for $5. LINK

la_fx I meant plastic welding not metal welding, the two parts of the actuator housing can be separated by a razor as turbo mentioned but it requires care and patience that is why I put it off till weekend.

turbo, I agree with better quality aftermarket locks, but let us put the repair option on the table as well.

These actuators are a rip-off and day light stealing, the name "actuator" made me think previously that it is a sophisticated assembly that has a solenoid and a PCB but it didn't, a cheap motor in a cheap plastic housing costs 220$, designed to be not serviceable so we buy new one every time, I really want to make an easy DIY to fix it with the cheapest means available.


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the problem is that when you just need an actuator you are forced to buy the whole latch assy because it's all one piece, the actuator is built into the latch assy(which by the way the rest of the latch rarely ever goes bad), and because it is all one piece it uses a much smaller and weaker actuator motor to begin with. I'm not ruling out fixing them, not at all. I have never opened one.

Ok guys, I have been (and still) very busy moving to my new house, my workshop at my new place is not set up yet and I do not yet have the proper facility to make this DIY, however I did this today in my new kitchen - the wife was outside and did not know:

This is how the rear lock looks from the inside.



It was real pain to open it apart with a razor blade but not impossible, I then took the motor out and hooked it up to a 9 volt battery, it worked fine, put it back in the enclosure but was unable to actuate the assembly, probably because the current and voltage were not enough. I will try with the car battery



I will see what I can further do under the current circumstances.

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Oh cool, keep us informed.