Door Lock Actuators

Hey My Tacoma Brothers,

Has anyone figured out a source for the little RC motors in the door actuators? I just shot a video for replacing the motors in a 3rd Gen 4runner actuator module and thought the Tacoma actuators would use a similar motor but there is a difference in how it plugs into the actuator and the Tacoma motor has a plastic gear which seems fairly permanently attached to the shaft too. I'm just wondering if these can be fixed fairly inexpensively like the 4runner door actuators can.

 

@mechanicjon

 

someone sourced one before on TW, I saw it installed on his thread post approx 3 weeks ago

 

Just wanted to say I love your videos Tim, really nice to have well produced videos for this generation of Tacoma/4Runner.

 

aye yes Timmah thanks for poking in from T4R 3rd gen forum. You have the best camera man and edits and your diy videos are always mentioned and linked in threads

 

Tim - is this what you are looking for?
https://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_...Motor+Lexus+Honda+Toyota&_itemId=120827793480

Found the link on this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/electrical-bcm-help.485279/#post-14868949

Thanks for your videos. I refer to them frequently.

 

Those motors are similar but the one I saw in a 2004 driver front actuator had two prongs on the back of the motor that electrical connectors slid over. Then, there was a plastic gear on the shaft that was really on there. I thought I would break the little plastic gear or the motor itself if I pulled hard enough to get it off the shaft.

 

I run into things like this all the time.

Most are special application electrical items

Special built parts under contract to the manufacture with all kinds of legal clauses only to be sold via the builder of the end product .

The electrical connection can be worked around .

Find a motor with the correct dimensions and shaft diameter have a bunch of gears cut epoxy to shaft.

Then someone might start making direct fit motors if there is enough demand

 

The thread @Winkle99 linked, a guy said he soldered the connectors to the replacement motor. The original motors have those short nubs on the bottom of the motor that the electrical connectors slide over. The replacement motors linked, just like the ones I used for the 4runner fix just have slots to slide prongs into. So, I'm guess the guy soldered some prongs to the electrical connectors and powered the motor in that fashion. I was really hoping to find the same thing I saw with the 4runner actuators which was super simple. We cracked open the case with a utility blade. The motor plugs into the actuator via two prongs, so you just pull it off, slide off a metal worm gear from the shaft, plug in another replacement motor with the worm gear on it and then glue the two halves back together. It was really straightforward.

Another thing I realized is a replacement lock assembly is astronomical for a Tacoma. I get wholesale pricing via my local dealer. A lock assembly for a 2001 or 2002 4runner would run $150. My price for a lock assembly for a Tacoma is $330. I've found the same thing for other applications like CV axles. The Toyota ones are basically half the price as the Tacoma ones. I guess Toyota likes to stick it to Tacoma owners. I'm going to visit a PicknPull on Monday and try to find a replacement lock assembly. I did too much messing with my friend's door lock assembly and I broke off one of the copper connectors in the actuator. Instead of trying to solder it back on, I'm just going to try to find a replacement for him and get his driver door lock working again.

 

My 99 Tacoma driver side lock actuator does not work. So today's covid project is to pull the lock mechanism apart. Now I see what you describe:




The only identifying mark I could see was Mabuchi Motor.
My Google Fu has failed to find an exact replacement so far.

 

Yep, that's the same motor I saw in my buddy's 2004 Tacoma. Thanks for sharing these pics. It's too bad Toyota didn't make the actuators the same as they did in the 4runner. They are a much simpler one to work on other than the fact you need to crack open the case because it's glued together. I think I'll share the 4runner door actuator repair video on this thread when it's live because it will give you guys an idea of how much easier it is to replace the motor.

 

Is it possible to swap all the 4Runner Door parts over to the Tacoma??

Made in Japan Made in America I can understand different vendors and prices

 

Maybe. The wiring is different though. There's two plugs that run to the door lock assembly. So, if you could figure out the wiring, I suppose it could work.

 

Here's the video we made for fixing a door lock actuator on a 3rd Gen 4runner. For anyone that has messed with the Tacoma actuator, you will find the 4runner one is way simpler and easier to deal with. It has less parts and accepts an RC motor that's easy to source. If only Toyota could have done that for you guys.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2aFHMtlnKxA

 

Make me want to get a 4Runner just because I know I'd have a legit video to follow for any repair I could end up needing to do on it

 

Nice video Tim, thanks. I was hoping your actuator motors were going to be the same after you started talking about have a source. Assuming the motors are the same dimension I believe ours could be replaced with your style with just a new connector on the wires.

 

I need to mess with this Tacoma motor some more. I still need to find out if that plastic gear will come off without breaking. I pulled on it pretty hard with my hand and I got no movement. Is it pressed on? Is it glued to the shaft? If I can get the gear off clean and find a connector that will work for the type of motors that are available, then repairing these Tacoma actuators will be straightforward. I'm not a fan of prying apart the old motor to clean it. I pulled apart the one I was working on and it got a bit mangled in the process. Maybe my technique sucked. But, I think I'd rather just replace the damn thing instead of trying to salvage the old motor.

 

I successfully pried the plastic gear off the shaft with a screw driver leveraged against the case. I believe the gear is press fit. The screw driver head was about touching the shaft where there is extra plastic material in the shape of a small diameter protruding disk - not near the teeth. The screw driver did deform the protruding disk slightly, not in a way that affects functionality. I press fit the gear back on by lightly tapping the opposite end of the shaft from the gear with a small hammer.

 

This is good to know. Thanks for sharing this. Did you solder the actuator electrical connectors to the new motor somehow or were you able to solder a two prong blade connector to the existing connectors that would slide into the motor? I was think it would be ideal to find a two-prong blade connector you could solder to the wires so you could perform an easy motor replacement in the future if the motor crapped out.

 

This is all I need to complete converting manual to power door lock/windows... They sure don't come cheap.