Drivers side passenger door lock malfunction?. Awful noise lock/unlock/auto-lock

L

LostinCanada

Member
:
2003 Mazda Protege5
Maybe coincidence but recently I reached in an open window and manually unlocked my remote-locked car. Seems like right after my issue occurred.... Now on every lock/unlock/auto-lock there is an awful rattly-buzzy noise coming from left rear door and the door won't lock/unlock electrically.

Not sure if it's related but my left headlight failed at the same time.

Relay?. Loose wire?. Other?

Thanks for any help!
 
There's a plastic gear inside the door lock motors that like to break.

There was a guy who offered replacement gears for a few bucks but I don't think they are available anymore.

You'll probably have to replace the whole motor. They are available. (about $30-$40 I think)
 
Actually it's the gear & IIRC you could get just the gear even tho it's another plastic one. Yeah, the metal ones from here are probably gone and done. Ebay to the rescue.......

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

Here is whole thing but make sure right side of car.......

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

I searched on "protege power door lock gear" and found the stuff linked above. Also dealership can probably bend you over pricewise for same things...............
 
Yep, it's the door lock actuator. I had my driver's door one go out a few years back. I bought the $14 gear off eBay and spent a lot of time trying to fix the actuator. The plastic gear was nowhere near as smooth as the original, broken one, even when greased. Unless you find someone who's successfully installed the same part from the same seller, don't buy the gear. Just go buy the actuator, maybe from RockAuto. Or you can just unplug the broken actuator if there's no harm to the electrics from doing that. It will simply be a manual lock at that point with no noise.

Also, the left headlights on these cars go out every two days, the right ones every three days, so it was just a coincidence. :) ;) Make sure you put dielectric grease on those bulbs when you replace them to extend their (short) life.
 
Last edited:
Thanks all for the replies! I've been in the middle of a move so haven't been able to check back. I don't know how anyone could live with this noise - after a week it's driving me crazy!

I'll pull the panel off when I get time and see what I can find out - I'll want to fix it somehow.

I do have some other weird electrical glitch that persists... Whatever triggers the headlight on alarm when you exit the drivers side doesn't work, however it does work if you exit the passenger side... !!! When I replaced my headlight assemblies with new OEM last year, I noticed the driver's side alarm worked briefly, but by the time I bolted the bumper back on it didn't. This leads me to suspect a loose connection somewhere? As well, I previously had my left headlight go out for a day or so, and then miraculously recover. The bulbs were both new last year.
 
LostinCanada said:
Thanks all for the replies! I've been in the middle of a move so haven't been able to check back. I don't know how anyone could live with this noise - after a week it's driving me crazy!

I'll pull the panel off when I get time and see what I can find out - I'll want to fix it somehow.

I do have some other weird electrical glitch that persists... Whatever triggers the headlight on alarm when you exit the drivers side doesn't work, however it does work if you exit the passenger side... !!! When I replaced my headlight assemblies with new OEM last year, I noticed the driver's side alarm worked briefly, but by the time I bolted the bumper back on it didn't. This leads me to suspect a loose connection somewhere? As well, I previously had my left headlight go out for a day or so, and then miraculously recover. The bulbs were both new last year.
Click to expand...

That's just the door sensors not switching properly.

One some cars you can pull the boot off and clean them, but I'm not sure about a P5. Mine does the same thing.
 
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