Excellent! Even if I never do this motor swap, it was so very cool to learn something. These are the micro lessons that carry over to a hundred other fixes. I've already ordered the whole assembly for $29, but I now have a better understanding of the R&R (removal/replacement) for my 2008 Highlander rear passenger door. The community tips their hat to you for adding something meaningful to the knowledge base. Thank you for taking the time.
We don't think we will go through the trouble or the risk of trying to change the motor, but this is a great video on how to uninstall and reinstall the door panel and the actuator. Thank you very much.
Brilliant, thank you. Was looking to change lock for around $200, but found you video, got 4 actuators for $20 and all done in under an hour! Felt longer as it’s 95+ today & had to do it in the sun, but a good Sunday job done. Thanks again.
Great video! Thanks! All four of my door actuators have gone bad on my 2010 Highlander. Showing how to get the door panel off and the bad actuator out alone is so valuable.
I thank you for a good clear video with instructions on this door lock R&R . Took my car to a independent repair shop and he informs me after two days that the part was $150. and he needed my car for three weeks. Then he forgot to put the unlock rod back so I could open the door from the street at all.
Your very welcome! I’m glad it helped you, I’ve gotten a lot of comments on this video and I’m glad I have been able to save so many people so much money with this. Thanks for watching.
Thank you so much! My 2013 Highlander Front Drivers Side was going out. I first bought an aftermarket actuator from amazon and I wasnt able to get the key work. Decided to go this route and it was not as bad as I thought. Replacing the actuator motor (the little one) only took 20 mins. Whole thing took about 45 mins. Thanks again!
Thank you H2H, you saved me some big buck$. Fixed my wife's Highlander and all the details you noted came in super handy, especially the part where you show the opening of the locking mechanism and motor location. Also at 1:35, and as you may already know, those two smaller, inner screws don't need to come out. Thanks again man!
Great instructions. I was able to successfully fix the door locks on my driver's and passenger doors. Also, really enjoyed the laughter throughout from the camerawoman!
I replaced the passenger side this morning on my 2013 Highlander Limited and this video was VERY helpful!!! Thank you VERY much for making this video!!!
If you’re doing this on the driver’s side front door there is an extra rod that goes into the top left of the actuator. That rod allows you to lock and unlock the doors with your key. Great video and you saved me hundreds of dollars.
Yes, we got our Highlander and the valet/manual key didn't work and what you noted was the exact reason. It was tricky to get in but the circular cut-out on the door jam (which was covered by a plastic cap) made it easier to get the manual key rotating rod in place.
I sadly did not read your comment until after I put the door back together. But at least I can unlock it electronically. And if I need to use the valet key the passenger side still works
IT WORKED!! 2012 HIGHLANDER. BOUGHT ON AMAZON 10mm Flat Shaft Central Door Lock Actuator Motor FC-280PC-22125 FLAT SHAFT, D Spindle, Power Locking Repair Engine
Yeah its CRAZY how much they charge for this type of stuff. but now everything is meant to be disposable in most consumer areas. Most car dealers make more on repairs and service than they do on the actual vehicle sales. You are 100% correct, they don't want people to know how to do this stuff, it takes away a big part of their business profits. It would be interesting to go through the comments on this video and add up just how much money has been saved with this cheap motor replacement. Well over $10,000 I would bet just a guess. Anywho, thanks for watching! :-)
Hahaha good glad it worked!!! Glad to help save some money, it’s crazy what they charge 2-3-400 when it’s a 2.99 part that needs replaced. Thanks for watching :-)
Thank you, thank you... did I say THANK YOU!!! Since buying my 2008 Highlander I have had 5 different door locks actuators fail on me. The first two failures were repaired under warranty, so no cost just a PITA. The last two repairs cost me about $800 out of pocket. Four years ago my front passenger power lock failed again (it had been replaced under warranty) and I said enough is enough - I am tired of paying hundreds of dollars to have a broken part replaced by a poorly designed part that is bound to fail. I have used a hiking pole to manually lock and unlock the door ever since. This non functioning door lock has lead to two dead batteries (thought I locked the doors which would have turned off headlights but the power lock did not engage so headlights were left on) and my mother breaking her hip because I was not outside to assist her to the door - I was inside manually unlocking it. I read about how this is all due to a very inexpensive part failing, but not until I discovered your video was I brave enough to try this repair. It took me about 90 minutes, mostly because I was going slow and never done anything like this, but my passenger door lock now works flawlessly! Out of pocket cost was $5 for the motor and $10 for the tools - which I will be putting to good use. Your video empowered me to repair this door. Now I have new motors ready to install in the other three doors and will also be upgrading my door speakers in all four doors and installing Noico sound deadening mat to help with road noise and acoustics.
Hahahaha good glad I could help. That’s why I wanted to do this video because it’s ridiculous how much they charge for this repair/replace whole unit when you can do it yourself in 20 min or less after you do it once for a $1.00-3.00 part.
@@HammerIIHammer So sorry to trouble you, but I ran into a snag. I am now trying to do the same repair proactively on my front driver door. I am installing new speakers and some Noico sound mat to the door and wanted to put in a good motor in the lock even though current lock is working. I cannot get the actuator out of the door! My front doors have a plastic shield inside the shell that covers a lot of the hardware. Maybe because it is an AWD model and they thought I would go off-road a lot? The actuator came out real easy on the passenger side. The plastic shield seems to be preventing it from coming out the drivers side. I also do not see a long pin that needs to be attached to the unit. There is a short chord high up inside the door. Why do the two front seats have to be so different??? Any ideas?
This guy in his butter knife is a genius! You don't get to see his wife in the video, but she has a great laugh! Keep in mind, the driver side is a little more complicated. There's a little drive shaft for the key that has to be disconnected. It just slides out and slides back in but it's a bitch to get it in.
Hahaha my wife makes fun of me all the time for my use of butter knives to pry and repair things......but it works :-). Take care and thanks for watching.
Very helpful, thanks! A tip for others to not make my mistake... Order the actuator motor with the flat side (D) and don't bend the pins when instalment the motor. But thanks to this video, my Australian Kluger is fixed.
Thanks so much for sharing this and for all the comments helping me find what I need. BTW, I *think* your door panel removal tool is a "weeder tool" for pulling weeds.... 🙂
Thanks great instructions. I initially purchased an actuator off amazon after install I found it did not work. I will now remove the actuator a second time to do the motor swap. A quick question, any advise on how to test the motor prior to the round two install? I am assuming it runs off the 12v car battery so with a couple jumper wires I can test.
Thank you for watching. I am not sure if that would work to test the motor or not, it might. I knew it was the motor however in my case, so just replaced them as it went out since they are so cheap and it fixed the issue.
You can test with aa battery witch is what I did it moved abit and stopped but because I didn't have a new motor I opened it up and found that there was alot of black build up around the shaft stopping the copper getting electricity quick light scraping with a blade fixed it now my door fixed hope this helps you👍
Fascinating video! Well done. If the actuator motor is bad, would the door locks work by manually pushing the lock/unlock buttons on the door; or using the key 🔑 to lock/unlock the door? That long “tool” looks like a “trim” tool. Harbor Freight has a set of plastic trim/molding tools that are designed for removing panels and molding without breaking clips or scratching up the panels and/or tearing headliners, etc. Basic set costs only about $6.
@@HammerIIHammer my 2017 Camry key fob was working intermittently, now not at all; the car alarm would go off ONLY when I was parked at the golf course 🤨 Doors and trunk only unlock manually with key and buttons once I open the driver door; I think it is all tied in with an aftermarket alarm installed at a Toyota dealer…still trying to find someone who can figure it out (2-week waiting list for that dealer…going to locate a car alarm business and see what they say). Keep up the good work!
Where do you buy the motors? I have a 2013 highlander that I have had the dealer replace all 4 actuators at least once and the are failing again. I need to find a way to do this myself. Thanks SO much!
Great video.Any chance you can share part brand and other details. Tried the link posted does not seem to be working. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Thank you. It has been some time since replacing these so I don’t remember the brand. I tried the link I posted under the comments for others as well on eBay and yes it looks like that link is gone now or the seller/item. The best way is to search on google or eBay with your year and make/model if it differs and in the descriptions it should say if it will fit your vehicle as the makers/sellers will change over time. Thanks and good luck.
I used these for my 2013 Highlander. 2 Pack - 10mm Flat Shaft Central Door Lock Actuator Motor FC-280PC-22125 FLAT SHAFT, D Spindle, Power Locking Repair Engine
I am about to attempt this on my Highlander. I installed an aftermarket actuator it works but it just doesn't feel right when you open and close the door, nothing beats OEM I guess so replacing just the motor to the original actuator should make it feel exactly the same. My question is that it looks like you took the spindle off that old motor rather easily? I heard other people saying you need a gear puller to take it off. Is it that hard to take off without a gear puller or will I end up damaging the plastic spindle? Thanks for the video it's exactly what alot of people are looking for.
No these come apart very easy with the tools shown. If you have to force it, chances are you are going to break it as most of this assembly is plastic, as with most things now days. No gear pullers etc needed. Thanks, yes I’m glad it’s helping save so many people money!! Lots of people have commented it’s saved hundreds of dollars 💵 Thanks and good luck. 🍀
@@HammerIIHammer I would also like to add that your way of replacing the motor is so much better than taking the whole actuator apart or cutting a piece of it with a Dremel. The gears are a pain to put back and your way does not disturb too much of the gearing with just a little force.👍 Thanks again!
Thank you for the great video. My mechanic told me there is a main plug difference (3 vs 4 pins) between Japanese and North American-made actuator lock assemblies. I noticed in the video your model has a 5 to start the vin. This indicates North American made vs a J first letter for Japan. Are you familiar with this issue? thanks in advance for your help.
Is this the same for when you use the keyless entry remote to unlock and it doesn't unlock the doors? 3 of the 4 doors do not unlock. Only the rear driver door unlocks. The driver door unlocked/lock switch only unlocks the rear door. So that tells me the command switch is good, since it sends a signal to the rear door. The other 3 however gets nothing at all. So currently, the only way to unlock the vehicle, is to the turn key and unlock the other doors after we get in. So do you think this would be the same issue?
If it is the motor then typically the key fob nor the handle button will open the lock. If it is a switch or a fob then one will work and the other won’t. Hope this helps for your question.
I have a 2010 that I’ll be switching the motors on. I couldn’t find any information on the motor size but I bought some off Amazon that were 10mm, does that sound about right? The pry tool you purchased do you recall where you bought reptile tongue tool from 😂
It’s been so long since I replaced them I don’t remember the size for certain. (Over the last several years people in the comments have posted updated Amazon links/as old ones have expired however). Hahahaha I never knew what the tool was but I have a couple of them I have gotten from garage sales because they come in useful. In this case it works really well for automobile door panel retainer clips. I actually think they are meant to be a garden tool for weeds 🤣😂🤣
I’m going to check my local Home Depot then 😂 either way they might have the tool. Thanks for getting back! Very informative video. Will update once I complete
Hi, I thought you mentioned encountering a situation where the door was jammed shut and you had to remove the door panel from inside the car on the shut door. If so please explain how you did it. Just yesterday our 2010 Highlander driver door jammed shut and none of the open mechanisms work, so I am in a situation where I believe I have to remove the door panel of the shut door.
I don’t remember it’s been so long but I believe I ended up taking the handle off (and handle cover portion) on the inside and pulling on the tension bar to manually release the lock then once the door was open removed the whole door panel. If I remember right. Hope that helps.
Figured out a way. I removed all the bolts as in your video then worked the top lip of the panel back giving me about 3/8 inch. I was then able to use a rod to push down the actuator arm and it opened.
Hammer II Hammer well. Your video helped me a lot. After doing this on a 2012 CT200h, the actuator shaft is a 10mm flat, I had 20mm. Lol. It took me 3is hours to get everything undone, and then I realized this. Ordered correct size. Rear door panel was also crazy hard to get back on until I worked with it a little bit. This was a very helpful video though,yes. Hopefully I didn’t break my actuator housing in the process lol.
Amazon or eBay. This video is several years old now. Best way is to remove the motor in the housing, look at the part number on it and plug it into eBay or Amazon and see who currently carries it. Thanks for watching.
I need to find this small electric motor on my RAV4 . I live in Mexico and I have had a few horror stories with wrench jockeys here involving them having my car for weeks. The tool is a panel pry bar . Did you order from a website?
Yeah for sure, they are easy to replace once you do it once. Should be very similar I would assume on a rav 4. Got motor off Amazon, pulled the old motor first and used the part number to make sure I got the same one for replacement.
Hey sorry no it’s been about 2 years since I made the video. Easiest way, and the way I did it, was pulled one motor out and used the part number on it to look it up. Thanks.
My 2012 Highlander has this same problem, and I want to try this. What I was hoping you can share is the ordering information; what is the part number for the motor? Thanks
Thank you so much for your informative video and prompt response. Now, how would you approach a rear liftgate that doesn't want to open or close? My Highlander has a bunch of issues!
Off Amazon. When you get the motor out there will be a part number on it, look that up on Amazon or eBay and get the same one that came in your vehicle.
I tried adding a link a few times but the link kept going bad (as this video is several years old now). The best way is to take the old motor out, look on it as it should have a part number of some sort and then order from eBay or amazon with that number so that you are assured you have the correct one. Thanks.
I can't even get my door to unlock to get the door panel off lol. The other 3 doors work normally lol. Do you know how I can get my door unlocked to fix it?
@@darwinbanegas I will try that. I just think its so odd that the doors unlock and lock throught the door panel but they dont work through the key fob.
Hello, does this look like the one? See: wish.link/3cF6stq. How did you find the motor originally? Possibly the OEM motor has a part number on it and you searched by that?
