$5 Door Lock Motor (Actuator) Fix
 

Wha'sup peoples.

So I, as many, have dead door lock motors on my 03 coupe which is out of warranty. I was pretty dusgusted with the dealer cost of ~150 for a door lock motor especially since i know from installing alarms and power door locks (in college) that aftermarket door lock motors cost less than 10 bucks.

I bought this door lock motor:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=330-010

And installed it as shown in the pics below.
- I made the bracket holding the motor (.06" thick 5052 aluminum)
- drilled a hole in the door handle housing for the rod to pass through
- clipped off part of the plastic door lock lever
- trimmed some of the plastic ribs on the inside of the door panel to make clearance for the motor.
- Cut the wires going to the factory motor and hooked directly to the new motor. You can find the wires inside the door below the speaker (take out the speaker). I brought them out the rubber boot above the speaker.

This was the passenger door. I'm gonna try the drivers door tomorrow.

Again... cost was $5... Sweet.....

http://www.jeffpound.com/g35/photogallery/doorlock1.JPG

http://www.jeffpound.com/g35/photogallery/doorlock2.JPG

http://www.jeffpound.com/g35/photogallery/doorlock3.JPG

good fix for those that need it

Oh yea, I forgot to mention... It works like a champ :)

Nice job dude!

You are my new hero... I am having the same problem and is nice to see that you were able to fix this.
:biggthumpup:

Nice work, thanks!

can you take some pics of what it looked like orignally? cause it looks a little ghetto fab...

hahaahaaa... ghetto? Well I wasnt trying to make the inside of the door look like show quality. If you don't like it then don't do it :) Works for me and I bet it works at least as long as the factory crap did.

What a foktard. I'm glad he's banned.

Anyway, this is the kind of stuff that needs to be stickied in the DIY section. You should PM a mod and see if they'll move it over there. You should, for the purpose of a DIY thread, take a pic of the wiring where you spliced it into the factory wiring.

Thanks for the info!

Great DIY! good job

Right on. When i do the drivers side I'll take a pic of the wiring.

wow, nice job!

Nice job, shouldn't this be a sticky?

This should be copied to the DIY section, this is great for people who are out of warrenty and dont want to be charged a ton by the dealer.

I'm assuming that this actuator will work on other cars too right?

Yea the actuator is universal. The custom piece is the bracket.

Wow, I was about to go to the stealership and ask them about my driver's side lock. Using my fob, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Often times I have to press it a few times to get it to lock or unlock. I'm assuming this is the fix for me.
Thanks!!

This needs a sticky.
Hopefully I'll never need to implement this solution, but if I do...
Nice writeup. Thanks

Just an FYI the repair is still working fine for me after 6 weeks. You do need to add a little foam weatherstripping to the actuator between it and the door. I had a tiny rattle and this fixed it.

soo you that you have worked in the alarm system field, what do you suggest for us that have faulty motors, where can we get a replacement, and can third party alarm system be used then?

this definitely goes in DIY; good write up man :BEAVISnBUTTHEAD:

The issue with a third party alarm is interfacing it to the factory one or disabling the factory one. The motors are just motors, they'll work with factory or aftermarket as far as i know. I suggest staying with the factory unit if it works.

Replacing the actuator is not the hard part I think, it's rather the steps it takes to remove anything in the way including the whole window.

How difficult is it to replace this part? My driver's side door needs this replaced. How hard is it to take the window off etc?
Thanks!!

Can't say for sure I have never done it. I think it's worth a look though.
The cheapest dealership service for this replacement is $450 (up to 600)maybe worth a look and save at least 75% in the process. The part can be purchased for under $100 (eBay or online parts store) Dealership price is a whoping $250.

DIY pictures you are my hero!!!

Hi. I'm actually in the process of getting this fix done. I have some questions though.

Which wire am i supposed to cut near the speaker? I took out my speaker (after taking out the inner panels) and all i see is my window and on the bottom some sort of plastic tubing. I do however see some Blue + Green wires that resembles the ones on the actuator. I have no idea which one leads to the stock actuator, could some1 give me guidance or share some knowledge??? :dunno:

-andy

I just performed this mod, finished it up about 30 mins ago. It should be mentioned that unless you have experience with installing this type of stuff (alarms, power doors, etc) then you may want to consider paying a shop to do this. Cant be more than $100 bucks.

This was a BITCH to do. Not a straight foward mod. Everything was purchased at Home Depot (bracket, cable clamp, hardware) for about $5 bucks and the motor was another $5 bucks from a car alarm shop. Took me about 8 hours in labor. The OP obviously knew what he was doing, but again, for the normal person I do not recommend doing this yourself.

GREAT job, my driver side lock just stopped working, im guessing this is the problem. i have a 2004 cpe.

I've heard these motors can be reset, does anyone know how this can be done? Id like to rule everything out before I jump and replace this...

ohh man i still need to get this fixed... I scrapped this project awhile ago but still desperately need it fixed =(. I would hate to goto the dealership and drop hundreds for something that can be fixed under 10 bucks...

CAN any1 help me with connecting the wires? I got everything done except that...

can anyone tell me what does this thing do? Please
thanks

can anybody share a step by step DIY! I just ordered the actuators. Please help. thanks!

it will be greatly appreciated

thanks for the info.

Anyone have a DIY step by step? I just ordered the part for my drivers side.

Thanks for your help!!!! :)

Here is a link to where you can order OEM parts includeing the OEM actuator for about half the price at the dealership.

BTW- #12 is the door lock actuator
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0

Not hard to replace........Just need to remove the window & metal panel that holds the window motor from the door so that you may get to the actuator

I got to thank jfpound for this idea. Somebody should sticky this thread. If I replaced the stock actuator, I know it will break eventually. A new passenger actuator for the coupe is $144, $200 at the dealership. So I gave this a shot. I went to Car Toys and bought a generic actuator for $20. Then went to Autozone and bought $10 worth of connectors and 18 gauge wire.

It took about four hours of trial and error, but think thing works real well.

trouble posting

testing....

Thanks to JFPOUND for the initial concept and FIREFOX for answering a couple of wiring questions.

Definitely would be a good idea to have a Dremel tool.

Went to Lowe’s and picked up a aluminum bar that was long enough to produce two brackets.

1. Measure, cut & bend the bar to fit in between the two ribs.
2. Drill the holes necessary to mount the actuator.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/7...239b217eu5.jpg

3. Mount actuator to the bracket. ( I opted to screw it in through the back).
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3...89ba34fap0.jpg
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/6...ee48b33bm1.jpg
4. Cut this part off inorder to give your clamp room to slide.
( I used my Dremel tool to cut it then a grinding attachment bit to grind it down a bit).
BEFORE
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/6...158b363gk7.jpg

AFTER
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/1...da59597im4.jpg

5. Drill the holes necessary to enable the rod to pass through.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9...e58b88aum0.jpg

6. Mount your actuator to the door panel.
( Don't forget to slide your clamp in place before you mount the bracket or you will need to dismount later to fit it in.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9...e309472df0.jpg

7. Remove the door speaker and right below you will find the wire harness for the OEM actuator, pull the purple & blue wires out slightly.
I opted tap into the wires rather then cut them and put connectors.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9...87ba5e6en6.jpg
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/5...c35b8bcdb4.jpg

8. I opted to pull the wires through this rubber wire housing.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/2...78d961fgk8.jpg

9. Clamp down the rod and oem actuator wire together ( Do not over tighten cause you'll crack the clamp.)
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/1...2editedat3.jpg

10. Fit the wire with the desired connectors ( i purchased connectors that matched those that came with the actuator ) and connect to the actuator and test.

Works really well.
Will do the drivers side once i get a new clamp, one of them came stripped.

Took me about 3hrs.....I don't see the drivers side taking more than an hour now that I know what to exactly expect.

nice ..will have to try

Definitly easy to do and cost is minimal.
Driver's side took me a hair over an hour to do and still works like a champ
considering the way my children close the doors:icon11:

omg thanks for posting! i've been having trouble on the wiring part for the longest time and held off the project for months!
now i need to find time to get it fixed! :D

If I buy the oem actuator is it just a straight forward plug and play?

Yes and no...... basicly once mounted all is good and will work however it's location can be a pain in the a$$. tucked way back where the door lock is that latches on to the body of the car. you must remove the window....etc

Also......considering how many of us have this issue, what are the chances of it going bad on you again........ high I think

i havent taken my door pannel off, where does removing the window come into play?

If you are chooseing to replace the actuator with an OEM replacment then the window must be removed.
If done like I posted then no, it does not need to be taking out

reply
 

I have an 03 g35 coupe and the drivers side actuator went out. I followed the steps on this page and it didn't work. The factory actuator was totally out and the new actuator wasn't powerful enough to open and close.

This is probably a great fix for those of you that have a weak factory actuator but if yours was totally out like mine I recommend getting another dealer one.

Nice work though.