anyone had a second motor die after replacement?

i'm trying to decide between motor replacement vs. actuator replacement (drivers door is dead and passenger door is dying)

Not on the 4R yet, but I had all four on my Tundra replaced under warranty. Two of them have crapped out since and I've replaced the motors for six bucks/ea. (and I have two more motors sitting on the shelf just waiting). First one took me about 45 minutes. Second one about half that.

I think the piece with the "L" should be in the halfway point of the slot it "attaches" to instead of all the way maxed out. Not sure if that would fix it, but when I did it I recall that being a specific part of it - to have that slot piece in the 'halfway' position.

This should make the "L" piece and the "slot" piece effectively straight across instead of an angle like it appears in your picture. Hope this helps!

By the way - about to do this on my passenger's side door..the girl is getting mad that I have to reach through every time to let her in!

Like y'all I have had lots of issues with my power door locks. The dealership replaced the driver side front actuator under warranty. The passenger front failed soon after that out of warranty, and I replaced it. Now both those are acting up again.

There's also been intermittent issues with both rear doors but neither has been replaced yet.

My question is, is it possible there's some electrical problem other than simply replacing all the actuators (again for the front doors)? Like a relay or something that could be causing the problems? It just seems odd for all four to be having issues, especially when 2 have already been replaced.

Appreciate any help!

Thank you,
Brandon

Note: Mine is a 2014 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4WD

I haven't had any problems with my 2015 4Runner (or even my 2003), but I did have the same or similar problems with:

1992 Acura Legend
1994 Chevrolet Suburban
1999 Volkswagen Jetta
2001 Volkswagen Jetta

All required new actuator motors. Only the Suburban got the entire mechanism replaced (me = lazy). So, it is safe to say I know what can go wrong. I am subscribing to this thread because this is a fantastic write-up. Cheers!

My 2017 on the driver side was broke from the factory. When I've bought it I didn't check it, but when I've check it a week later was a loud noise. Went back to the dealer and they confirm that was the motor.
They fixed on warranty, but was brand new with less than 100 miles when I've tried

May sound like a dumb question, but how is the actual motor powered? I don't see any wires coming from the motor itself? Does it lay on a powered surface or something?

I have a dead driver motor. Or maybe dying? It won't lock, infant, that's how I first noticed the problem because when I would press the lock button on my key the single chirp would not be heard. I could, however, hear all of the other locks engaging though, but when I would check my door it remains unlocked. But does this affect the vehicle from not chirping upon attempting to lock it??

It still unlocks though...if I physically lock the door by pressing the little lock switch inside the door, it'll unlock with my key fob - & I'll hear the double chirp sound.

Thanks all!

Bump -- curious if this door lock issue could be anything other than bad door lock actuator motors, such as a bad relay. Thank you!!

Has anyone replaced the motors on the rear doors? I'm wondering if there's anything significantly different to watch for when disassembling /reassembling because of the child lock mechanism.

I've already replaced the motors on both front doors without issue.

If I can give any advice, I would have bought a 4 pack of the replacement motors to start with so I didn't have to wait to order/ship for fixing the other doors when they stopped working.

Also, I've noticed that when one of the locks isn't locking that I will not hear a confirmation beep when locking with the key fob. That's my clue to check all the doors and find which one didn't lock.

Awesome video and instructions! Took me less than 2 hours start to finish. Thanks for saving me headache and $$$!

I just replaced both front and the passenger rear on my wife’s 2012. Everything works perfectly fine except for one problem. When I hit the lock button on the keyfob all the doors lock as they should, then I get the three honks as if a door is open. I’m stumped! All interior and exterior handles work, the hood and the rear hatch are closed. Before I replaced the lock actuators, and I manually locked all the doors, I would get the single beep... now I get 3 honks. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Adam

2012 SR5

The motor is powered by two little contact points on the base of the motor from the actuator housing. If you manually lock the doors then that will complete the circuit so that you hear the "chirp" when you lock with your key fob. If any door isn't locked when you try to lock (or the motor fails to lock) your vehicle won't chirp, and the failure door lock will remain unlocked for anyone to open.

Hope that helps!

Yea, you nailed it! I ended up ordering the motor & completing the install shortly after I asked the question of how the motor is powered. I feel good about fixing this problem for under $10...but bad that I had to dissasemble my door & potentially all my other doors in the future on such a new vehicle!

has anyone done the rear doors?

mine are starting to sound slow in the back too, might do all 4 this weekend

Yes, the 2nd row doors seemed faster and easier to replace than the front doors. (Or maybe because I had already done the front doors.)

The actuators were easier to remove, once disconnected and unbolted from the door I pretty much just rotated it 180° (clockwise for passenger side if I recall, so counter clockwise for driver's side) to remove it from the door. Did the reverse to get them back in to place. The exterior handle engages with the unit a little differently than the front doors, but it's pretty self explanatory when you look at it.

There were also less of those snap clips (?) holding the two sides of the actuator together.

The child safety lock mechanism was a part of one of the halves, so I didn't have to worry about it coming apart and needing to be reassembled.

The motor in the rear doors on mine was a different part # (different manufacturer) but the dimensions were the same and I used the same replacement as the front.