DIY: How to replace FRONT power lock actuator
 

First off, follow
these ---> https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/step-step-removal-front-door-panels-286537/
instructions on how to remove the front door panel. Once you get it removed, you have to first peel back the plastic on the panel and look for the actuator connectors.

Attachment 55142

You can see the power connectors circled in red, as well as the bolt for the window guide. You have to make sure you unbolt the 10mm bolt and loosen the guide (put the windows up!!) that runs down the cable from the interior door lock (one screw).


Next step - remove three countersunk screws that hold in the lock mechanism for the door (interior door panel). You need to push as hard as you can on these bad boys, because you will strip them fast if you don't.

Now, here is a step you can't see with pictures. If you stick your head through the big hole in the door panel, you'll see an arm that runs from the exterior door pull down to the locking mechanism.

Just to make sure you are looking at the right thing, pull on the exterior door pull and watch for the metal rod that moves, that is the one you must disconnect from its bottom connection point.
To do this, feel around inside the door until you feel where the rod connects to the locking mechanism.
There is a piece of plastic that is snapped around the end of the rod, it can only move one direction, this is one fastens the rod to the metal guide that allows the door pull to function.
Rotate the around plastic section 90 degrees towards you and it should pop off the rod. Once it does, you can slide the metal rod out.


Attachment 55143
Below is a picture of the guide for the exterior door pull. The pink plastic part is what you have to disconnect from the metal rod (talked about above) so you can remove the rod. If you don't remove the rod, you'll never get the actuator out.

Now you have to push the window guide as far towards the body panel as you can, rotate the locking mechanism, work with it a bit and finally you'll be able to get it out through the gaping hole in the door.
Attachment 55144

Now that you have it out, you have to remove the cover the is hiding the connection points for the actuator. Below you see which part of the mechanism is the actuator.

Attachment 55145

Remove the cover by removing this screw and popping off some tabs.

Attachment 55146

Finally, remove these two connection points and reconnect the new actuator. Reinstall in reverse order, obviously.

Attachment 55147

If anyone needs any help (it was hard to take pictures of what was going on inside the door), feel free to PM me.

These are great instructions. One issue though. After I got everything back together, I was not able to attach the cable that drives the keylock. So now my keylock won't work. Any trick to putting that back in?

Theres a plastic plug on the back of the door that when removed, lets you see the lock cylinder to linkage connection.

Thanks!

awesome post...it was a lot more involved than I anticipated so this saved my bacon...thanks

Get a brand new #3 philips screwdriver for this job!
 

My #3 screwdriver was older and suffered through replacing my brake rotors. The head was worn just enough to strip one of the three door latch screws. I then had a reverse threaded screw pulling bit shear off inside the shaft of the screw. After a set of drill bits and several grinding wheels for my Dremel I was finally able to remove the screw head and drop the latch mechanism inside the door. Had I just spent the $8 on a brand new #3 it would have saved a lot of headache and work. These screws are very difficult to remove and may even require a crescent wrench on the handle of the screwdriver to give you some extra torque, but be careful and push as hard as you can.

Replaced my driver side actuator this afternoon. It took me almost 3 hours, but I'm happy to report it was a successful mission and I had no mishaps. :)

I would have probably finished sooner, but I has having the hardest time reconnecting the smaller of the two arms -- it probably took me over an hour to get it. Thank you for this post!

Driver's Side actuator has two Rods to remove (External door pull and lock cylinder)
 

I'm not sure which end of the lock cylinder rod you disconnected but i think the bottom end is easier as you can easily reconnect it through a hole from the back of the door using a screwdriver..... it took me around the same time too because i didn't realize i had to remove two rods on the drivers side (lock cylinder and external door pull) luckily i didn't try to force it and do some real damage.

Aside from that little hiccup... thanks for posting for the instructions... extremely helpful!

+1 for this thread. It helped me a couple of months ago. My busted at 75k.

actuator replaced
 

Great thread, actuator replaced today. Interesting, though, my key fob will not lock and unlock right away. If I lock the doors, I have to wait several minutes to be able to unlock them.

Maybe the switches have to reset or be grounded before they will work again???

Thanks,
Jerry
2005 TSX CarbonGrey 6M

dammit! i have a TL and just went through this same replacement, it would have been helpful if i saw this before hand :P but good write up. and i second the stripping screws, i did the very same thing (had to use a screw remover in the end)....

very nice post..too bad im not much of a DIYer..i took it into the dealership today it was still covered under extended warranty thank god would have cost $160

Good write up and thanks.

I combined 3 different how-to threads to a single web page. Credit goes to the original posters.

http://dest.tv/acura/faulty_acura_actuator.html

i think my passenger door actuator is starting to go. it's getting the 'sticky' tendencies when i use the key fob to unlock the doors.

My driverside lock actuator just went up yesterday!!! This write up is great, exactly what i was lookin for. Any info on how much the actuator costs? Thx

Tangoman and others, thanks for the posts! Both of the front doors failed on me.

dest, thanks for putting all together.

Folks, I tried to fix my door actuator yeterday...I thought I did the job, until later on I realized that I can't open my passenger door from the inside (works from the outside). I pull the handle and nothing happens. I took the panel off today again, and looked at the cable connection to the inside door handle and it was fine. When I pull that cable after disconnecting it, the door opens...but it looks like when put back in its clip, the door handle doesn't have enough movement in it to pull the necessary lengh for the door to open...i just want to get some ideas before i go ahead and tale the lock/actuator thing itself (it was a hassle!!).

This happened to me. The cable from the inside of the door isn't routed correctly, make sure you have it seated in the pieces of plastic that is came out of. Essentially, you have it taking a different "route" than from the factory, and that route is every so slightly longer in distance than it can be in order to open it up correctly. I think you'll find that if you take off your door, you will notice that somewhere near the door handle, the cable isn't where it should be. Shouldn't take long to fix.

I had my friend replace the actuator on my drivers side 05 TSX and now the door wont' close properly and wont open from the inside. Any suggestions on what he did wrong?

See my previous post on the thread, just one up from yours - you will have to take the door apart and make sure the cable for the door pull is seated where it should be, otherwise the energy used to pull the door handle won't transfer into the cable, it will just shift the cable around, making it so the door won't open.

Tangoman, yep. Got it, thx. The cable housing must be attached to the door too. I forgot about that.
The DIY is very helpful...the number of clips on these newer cars is crazy though...I miss the time where you only needed to unscrew things.

One thing that I used to loosen the lock and latch assembly screws was a couple shots of WD-40. Waitinged a couple minutes and the screws came out not problem. I wish i did this before I stripped the frist two screws....

Hey Tangoman,
Thanks for adding this, saved me a ton of money.....

Tangoman, thanks for the info. Actuator failed on my '05 TSX with 67k.

My passenger side actuator gave up on me a couple days ago. It doesn't respond neither open or lock function only manually. My question is did this problem affect on my trunk? Because if I pushed the unlock button twice before it used to unlock the trunk to but now it's not working. Any suggestion? Sorry if I wrote something incorrect but english is my second language!

Well, if you click the door unlock button twice, it should NOT unlock your trunk. Electrical issues? You should have your own button for the trunk - did you install an aftermarket alarm system?

Normally when you press the door unlock button twice it should unlock all the doors and the trunk but since one of the actuators doesn't work, when you press it twice one of the locks stays down thus leaving an open circuit to the trunk release button. I know exactly what you are talking about I have the exact same issue on my 05tsx. I will be replacing my actuator soon

I'm confused though, when you say "unlock" the trunk, do you mean, "pop" the trunk?

I mean unlock the trunk, allowing the the trunk release button above the license plate to pop the trunk.

Ah, yes. I never use that, I always end up using the remote. Yes, my brother had the same issue on his CR-V as well. It seems like crappy door actuators is something Honda has become accustomed to.

Subborn screws
 

I can't get the screws that hold the door latch/lock mechanism on the passenger side door to loosen. I weigh 200lbs and workout and put all my weight into it and can't get them to loosen. :ugh:I'm worried I'm gonna strip them and will then be up a creek. Any tips?

Try some penetrating oil or something like that, you are right to be worried about stripping the screws, it is easy to do. Make sure you are using a large phillips head, don't skimp on the size, it matters - try getting an impact screw driver or something like that, you will probably need the impact to get it out.

Both the front driver and passenger actuators on my wife's 04 TSX went out within about 1K miles. I've thought of taking care of the problem myself with the help of this forum, it looks like I could.

Being that this is a known problem and seems to be a common occurrence, has anyone had luck with contacting Acura to see if they'll cover the repair and replacement? Either fully or partially?

I called Acura's customer service number the other day. The representative on the phone took down my complaint about the actuators in my 05 TSX. I'm sure after I got off the phone, it probably went right into the trash.

I called Acura Customer Care and did not have any luck. I had to go to the dealer this week to bring the car in for the power steering hose recall and did not feel the love from them either.

It seems that Acura is just ignoring that there is a problem and hopes that it'll just go away.

Thank you for the instructions. They were great in disassembling/assembling everything again. Actuator works great again.

One slight problem: When using the key manually it appears to be a bit tricky to hit/miss to open the door. I am afraid that I did not assemble the rod from the lock 100% correctly. When I took the whole actuator piece and put it back I popped the rod from the lock back in but it appears quite loose - was there a plastic piece or something that I am missing between the lock rod and the little manual lock arm at the end fo the actuator??

Quick question and I know this will sound stupid, but, what does this repair fix? Is this when the key FOB doesn't open the car anymore? Cause I have a similar issue, when I use the key fob to unlock or lock the doors it doesn't work, there is a sound in the locks, like it's trying to open or close. My trunk button works so there isn't an issue with it just being the FOB. I hope someone can help.

Good write up, my friend needs to replace his passenger side actuator. I'll make sure to refer him to this site so he knows what to expect

This replaces the door actuator. You know it is out when the keyfob does not unlock/lock the doors as well as the power door lock option. Must manually put the key in to unlock/lock the door and manually pull the door lock up and press it down. I just changed my driver side actuator and now I can lock/unlock the doors with the keyfob.