Power locks on rear doors stopped working

[AuSeeker]

That's good the replacement motors worked but a bummer about the door latches not working now.

The only way I can think of is by taking the door panel off to be able to reach inside to manually open it, I haven't read of anyone removing the rear door panel with the door closed but I have read of a couple of members being able to remove the front door panel with the door closed.

 

[shawn42]

That's good the replacement motors worked but a bummer about the door latches not working now.

The only way I can think of is by taking the door panel off to be able to reach inside to manually open it, I haven't read of anyone removing the rear door panel with the door closed but I have read of a couple of members being able to remove the front door panel with the door closed.

Yeah, unfortunately, I tried that with no success. Getting the rear door panel off with the door closed is nigh impossible. Ended up pulling it off from the top, up close to the window ledge. Ended up breaking the door panel in that process. But did manage to get access into the area where the actuator mechanism is. Manually exercised the mechanism, and it still wouldn't open. It seems I messed up something inside the actuator to where it no longer works at all in terms of opening the door, even when you exercise the mechanism. Not sure what to do next. Will probably have to take it to a body shop and see if they can do anything.

 

[revox92]

So, good news and very bad news. Good news is, the actuator motors arrived. I successfully replaced one of them. Now when the lock/unlock button is pushed, the lock responds accordingly. The very bad news is, apparently I screwed something up in hooking back up the door handle mechanism. The door now will not open at all. Not from the inside, not from the outside. Is there any way for me to able to get it open now?

We'll deal with this 4Runner next with the power locks issue at the rear passenger side. Still waiting for it to return from the installation of the new set of tires from 4Wheelonline plus the alignment. Gonna start with the motors. Hope you'll update us when you fixed the handle mechanism.

 

[shawn42]

We'll deal with this 4Runner next with the power locks issue at the rear passenger side. Still waiting for it to return from the installation of the new set of tires from 4Wheelonline plus the alignment. Gonna start with the motors. Hope you'll update us when you fixed the handle mechanism.

At this point I'm at a loss for how to get the door opened. Once I do get it opened, I will not be attempting the motor replacement again. I'll be replacing the whole actuator. Running the risk of not being able to get the door opened at all is WAY too high a price to pay. I wish I had searched the site better before attempting that, to find the quite high number of people who have had an attempt to replace an actuator motor go horribly wrong in this same fashion. A fix that was going to cost me a few dollars in replacement motors will now cost me hundreds to get to the door open, it seems. Will likely be taking it to a body shop tomorrow and shelling out big bucks for them to attempt to get the door open.

 

[AuSeeker]

At this point I'm at a loss for how to get the door opened. Once I do get it opened, I will not be attempting the motor replacement again. I'll be replacing the whole actuator. Running the risk of not being able to get the door opened at all is WAY too high a price to pay. I wish I had searched the site better before attempting that, to find the quite high number of people who have had an attempt to replace an actuator motor go horribly wrong in this same fashion. A fix that was going to cost me a few dollars in replacement motors will now cost me hundreds to get to the door open, it seems. Will likely be taking it to a body shop tomorrow and shelling out big bucks for them to attempt to get the door open.

I'm sorry I helped encourage you to attempt the actuator rebuild... but you are the first I read of this happening too.

 

[shawn42]

I'm sorry I helped encourage you to attempt the actuator rebuild... but you are the first I read of this happening too.

Not your fault at all, AuSeeker. I had already decided I was going to try that, and ordered the motors, before you made your encouraging comment. Just venting my frustration, because I really have no idea what I did wrong. I didn't even open the actuator completely; only enough to slide the old motor out and the new one in. As far as I know, all the internals of the actuator are still there, in place. But the result would seem to say otherwise. And searching the site for "actuator repair gone wrong", or things similar to that, shows that this happens more frequently than you'd think. The only "fix" I've been able to find essentially requires destroying the actuator (while still mounted in the door) to get to an internal lever that will release the door. It requires drilling through the door panel, the interior sheet metal of the door, and into the actuator, to expose the lever. But that's beyond my toolset and skillset. So I'm pretty well stuck now, unfortunately.