How To: Replace Broken Door Lock Actuator Gear

[azuelke]

Well, since I have just completed this and there wasn't a How-To already, I figured I would make one since it was a bit of a PITA. This was done on a 2003 Protege5 and was to fix the broken gear.

Symptoms: Lock button does not move when the auto locks engage and a quick grinding noise when the other locks are engaged.

Problem:

Cheap plastic.

Required tools: 2 Phillips screwdrivers, 1 big (door removal), 1 small (access to/for actuator).

First you need to remove your door panel. This may vary for different doors, but my front driver's side door had 5 screws and one plastic clip. One screw is under a cover on the top right, one screw behind the door handle, one screw holding the pull handle on, then 2 screws under the pull handle. The plastic clip is on the side.

Once the door panel is off, locate the actuator. For the front DS door, it is tucked away at the bottom outside corner. There are two small screws that need to be removed to release the actuator, which are circled in red.

Once that is loose, removed the 4 small screws that hold on the cover, circled in blue.

This is what you will see inside. The red box is a black bushing and the blue box is a white busing. Please note their direction as they will need to be placed on the new gear. Note: The springs are compressed and may fly when removing the gear, so be carfeful! Also make note of how the springs are seated.

Remove the old gear and replace with the new one. This can be tricky since the springs need to be compressed to seat properly and the "switch" needs to be in the right spot. Replace cover and re-install.

Re-install: This is the PITA part. In the second picture, you will see the red box, this is the "lever" that controls the lock movement, which needs to be seated in the lock bar. Since the gear was broke, there was no way of tell which direction it needed to be in. The locked position requires the lever to be to the right. I found this to be the easier direction to re-install. To know your direction, you will need to hit the lock button to see where the lever goes and what your other locks are. I had to re-open and readjust the gear switch to have it be in the correct spot. Once the actuator is in place, check again with your lock button to ensure the lock moves in the correct direction. If it doesn't move, you may need to readjust the gear switch or re-seat the lever knob in the lock bar. Once everything works the way it should, replace the door panel and enjoy

At this time, these gears can be found on eBay for $14 and found with the search "protege door lock actuator gear".

 

[jbrewer4639]

thanks for making this.

 

[goodfornothing]

Looking at your pictures, how do you install the top spring back on the new gear?

 

[rar40941]

Ok I tryed to buy a gear they don't sell them any where I has to buy a brand new motor

 

[weeble]

Thanks for the write-up. I replaced the actuator yesterday, although I decided to get the whole actuator from partsgeek. That butyl tape is a real pain in the ass, but luckily there is one substance known to man that will remove that stuff -- WD40

 

[skycap]

Thanks so much for this info, I found the gear on ebay under "Mazda protege door lock actuator & repair gear & travel slide only" $14.00 + 1.98 shipping, cant wait to get it, great information!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mookhaasa]

I just attempted the first try at doing the rear door lock.

The actuator is by the door handle. you can access the screws buts its not super easy. Getting it back really is a pain. I am guessing the actuator fell out of the arm trying to get the second screw in. I am going to take out the outer one again and line it up with the inner screw attached, and then do the outer screw again. If you have two people hold the piece in place and test it before you tighten it all the way. Hold on because it has some force to it.

The actuator is pretty easy to get out and unclip. so if you had the choice to just get the gear or replace it all, get the gear, install is so easy. and so cheap compared. Yuo still have to do the annoying work regardless of which way you go.

Also if you are missing your moisture barrier, make a new one out of a lawn bag and the left over black goop, make sure the top is sealed more than the bottom, but an all around seal is best. Helps keep the moisture in the door after a rain from soaking into your door cards. Also make sure the inside bottom of your door isn't filled with crud and that it can drain freely.

 

[katapaltes]

I just did this, and I need to add one step to this highly useful tutorial. (Many thanks to the author.). Make sure you remove the "garnish" in the corner of the window (it's actually a speaker in my P5) using your fingers before taking anything else off, and put it back at the very end. Otherwise, you're in for trouble. If you are replacing just the gear inside the actuator, you might want to use some needle-nose vicegrip plyers to compress the top portion of the spring while you figure out how to cram the bottom spring and gear back in.

Now... HELP? With everything back together, the electric lock works, but it is very stiff. After locking it with the electric lock, I can't unlock it by hand unless I pull up really hard. After unlocking it, it's also hard to lock by hand; I have to press down hard.

I think that maybe the eBay gear is not quite right? I added white lithium grease on the new gear as there was whitish grease on the old, broken gear that I removed. I will probably have to go back in and replace the whole actuator unless someone here knows what's wrong.
-kat

 

[katapaltes]

OK, time for an update. I was never able to get the actuator to work properly simply by replacing the gear. I had to replace the actuator. After about a month of having the problem I've described in my post directly above, the lock loosened up sufficiently in ONE direction. (I could power-unlock the door and then easily lock it by hand. I was never able to power-lock the door and then unlock it by hand; it was just too stiff and I knew I'd break something trying.) I ordered a replacement actuator at O'Reilly Auto Parts for $70 (literally across the street from me and has lifetime warranty vs. three years or less; packaging says "Made in Japan") and kept it in its box. I wanted to try the gear repair one last time, but also have the new part on hand while everything was taken apart because I didn't want to deal with the black goo any more than I had to. I got a lot of good advice from the original author of this post (thanks!) and from eBay buyers by contacting them (via eBay).

Anyway, here's the troubleshooting I did with the old actuator that I attempted to repair using the replacement gear:
1. I unscrewed the actuator, but left it plugged in electrically. I power-unlocked it with the remote and was able to move the "lever" described in the original author's post back and forth easily. I then power-locked it with the remote and was NOT able to move the lever practically at all.

2. I took the actuator completely out of the car and opened it up on my table. I put white lithium grease everywhere it could possibly help and rotated the big gear with my thumb many times to work the grease into all the cracks. I could tell just from this action that it was working better in one direction than it was in the other and that the direction that was working well corresponded to the manual lock action that was working when the part was still installed. Still, things seemed to be working a little bit better in both directions than before I re-greased it.

3. I connected the actuator electrically and repeated my troubleshooting steps from step 1 above. After power-locking with the remote, I still could not budge the lever. That told me that there was either something else wrong with the actuator or this repair was beyond my skills. I do know that the eBay replacement gear and slider did not mate together as smoothly as the original (broken) gear and slider. It's also possible there was something wrong with my actuator motor.

4. I installed the new actuator electrically (without actually screwing the actuator in) and power-locked it. I was able to easily move the lever. That told me that I could install it fully and it would work. I put everything back together and now everything works as it should. It took lots of PitA troubleshooting and failed attempts, but the repair was less than $100 vs the $300 the dealer quoted me (I could have negotiated that down to $250 or so, I'm sure, but never thought to do so).

It seems lots of folks have gotten this gear replacement to work perfectly, so it you're handy, give it a shot. In my case, I just wanted to make sure I also had a new actuator on hand in case my repair didn't work. O'Reilly told me in advance that they would take the part back if it had NOT been installed, which is why I left it in the packaging. Also, the first actuator they sold me was wrong - it only had two wires in its connector instead of five, and had obviously been returned before. The box had the right part number on it (front-left door with keyless entry) but the number of wires told me that the part was a front-left door without keyless entry, or it was for a different door.
-kat

 

[Myrithel]

^^^
same exact problem for me. I'm trying to fix the actuator in my front passenger side door and it's so hard to make the actuator budge with the manual lock. You wouldn't happen to have a 2003 Mazda? I hear the OEM gears are a bit different versus the 2002 versions, might not be true though...

 

[katapaltes]

I have a black 2003.0. I don't know if there's a difference between mine and the 2002.x models. The eBay auction says the part is for 2002 - 2003, of course. I do know that the original (broken) gear and travel slide moved against each other literally like butter, while the gear and travel slide from eBay did not mate quite as smoothly. I don't know if that was the problem with my repair or if it was something else.

 

[vhdlwhiz]

The rear door lock worked manually in my Mazda 2003 protege, but not with the auto lock. It made a noise like something was spinning with the switch or vob. The most difficult part in getting to the part was the door arm rest and have the spring loaded clip come loose. I removed the two screws from the actuator and the electrical clip and disassembled the chassis of the part. It looked just like the pictures here and was broken in exactly the same place for the plastic gear part. I also couldn't locate a replacement part. I ended up going to Amazon and purchasing the DLA-166(part number for the right rear door). I'm not waiting for the two day delivery with Amazon Prime.

 

[statlerjames]

i have a 1996 four door explorer and when you turn the key off the passanger door lock just goes buzz like crazy but it opens is that a switch or what? weird can;t figure out gona unhook it i guess but the window won;t work lol