Door lock actuators

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Mazda P5
Did my door lock actuators, drivers door and both back doors.
Someone should of said how much of a pain it would be for the rears. Not only was the door handles hard to pull off but my fat hands had a hard time putting on the actuators.
Also holding the springs in place, my fingers hurt. Took about 2 hours to do 3 doors.
 
Just an FYI.

There is a rebuild kit still available for our door lock actuators.

It always seems to be the plastic gears that snap and you can replace them but it's a bit challenging to take apart the actuators.
It's like microsurgery.

 
The actuator repair kit I got off eBay years ago did not work correctly (3D-printed?). I replaced the large gear, then tried the gear plus the supplied collar, used grease every time, etc., but there was too much binding present. Door lock knob would only travel halfway. On top of that, replacing the gear/springs was literally a three-handed job and I spent many hours trying and retrying. I wanted to get it to work for my own satisfaction mainly.

I ended up buying a good replacement part and plopped it in. The kit linked above may be much better quality than what I got.
 
I remember years ago, you could get just the big gear for about $10.

IIRC, it's the only part that breaks. The "worm shaft" breaks off the gear.

I don't know if the rebuild kit I posted is any good but being as it comes with all the internals and motor, it might work better.

I noticed at Rockauto, there is a separate actuator for each door including two for the drivers side front. With or without keyless entry.

I'm pretty sure the rebuild kit will work for every door and could save some money if they function properly.
 
I just bought the plastic worm shaft, $12 for all four. All the mechanics of the actuator still worked. It's nice having the door locks working again, none of that grinding noise.
I bought my car with 3 out of the 4 working and 2 more broke so it was time to replace them haha.
This week is the first week that all door actuators work at once haha.
 
They came from China and they look and feel just like the ones I took out of the actuator.
3 days and they still work so I'm hoping they last a couple years but we'll see.
 
I remember when there were metal gears available to replace them with...........failed to score back when they were around...................
 
They came from China and they look and feel just like the ones I took out of the actuator.
3 days and they still work so I'm hoping they last a couple years but we'll see.

So no issues with binding and no issue with the thumb lock stopping halfway up or down? Once greased, do they spin as smoothly as the broken ones in that little "collar" gear? Before reassembly, my eBay one never spun as buttery-smoothly as the broken one. I hoped it would break in, but it never did.

My driver's door one is the only one that has ever broken (makes sense as I never have passengers and I only "single-click" on the remote unlock). I'm tempted to buy these just in case, but I doubt they'll ever be needed at this point.
 
When I first got my car, the drivers rear didn't work. I slammed the door and it started working, and has worked ever since. That was 4 years ago... I have a box full of aftermarket door lock actuators, if it ever quit again I'd use one of those because they're cheap and easy to install. But it hasn't even shown any signs of not working again so I don't worry about it. And they all cycle frequently, because I have the keypad on my door set to unlock all the doors at the same time when I enter the code.
 
I had the wife use her Amazon acct and grab up a set.....just in case. No plans of ever getting rid of this car so might as well. I have only replaced the driver one due to same reason as above...not many if any passengers any kind of often.
 
I know I'm going to buy another set just in case. Don't know how often these things go out but I always hit unlock all because I'm too lazy to use the key for the trunk haha.
 
Haven't heard of or seen thread about anyone ever having issue with hatch actuator now that you mention it..................it would be important if you have hatch trim with keyhole covered up. I do have that trim piece like that but it is in a box and not on the car. Kinda why I haven't swapped it yet. No way to open if battery dead or actuator issue which could also trap the spare tire if that one wasn't working.
 
I was bored so I took the actuator/lock off my parts car.




I put 12V to it and it's working, but not for long because I intend to break it open.

It's a non serviceable part but that's not stopped me before.









I put 12V to it again to watch it work but the nylon gear popped off showing a spring on the backside.

I guess it's like a shock absorber but I can't figure out to put it back on.
I think I have to "preload" the spring somehow ?



Either way it looks like it's no longer a fully functional actuator but it seems to be a better design so the one on my DD should keep working.
 
On a related note,..
My drivers side front door lock isn't operating correctly.

I don't use my remote ( because it will end up broken or wet) so I just use my key.

I can put the key in the lock, turn it to open the lock and hold it for a second or two and all the doors will open.
I used to be able to hold it to lock and all the doors would lock but that part isn't working anymore.

I have to open the door and hit the lock switch to lock all the doors now.

I think it's the micro switch inside the lock that's no longer working.

I may at some point swap out the mechanism from my parts car or try to take apart my mechanism and cleanup/fix the micro switch but it's not that important, so I may not want to mess with it.

Looking at the schematics, it's not making sense to me.
I would think there would be three positions to test.

Key in lock.
Key turned to open.
Key turned to lock.

I'm wondering of it's a software issue with the ECU ?? It is tied to the security system but you'd think it would stop you from opening it, not locking it.

 
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With my '03, I don't have to turn-and-hold to lock. It locks immediately. There's no chance you previously replaced the driver's door actuator with a non-keyless entry part, is there? (That's a total guess as I don't know about how the actuator works in combination with the door lock-link switch; I just know there are different parts for that one door's actuator.)
 
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