Lock Actuator Fail

Well, in your case, since they already fixed it once I think they definitely should fix yours again for free. Of course, my opinion doesn't really carry weight with Toyota. In a way, I kinda feel like they should fix mine as well since it is the same problem just on a different lock. But again, I can see their side of the story. Personally, if it was $200 or so I would just get it done. But nearly $600? That's just ridiculous! This is a door lock, not a major engine part! These locks shouldn't be breaking in the first place. It's not we're abusing the system. We are just using our cars.

Good luck to you in trying to get them to fix it.

 

I think I got lucky. I found a used lock assembly (69040-47060) on E-Bay for $99. I ordered it, thinking I could swap out the part myself, and save a few hundred dollars. I did a little research on this part, and it would seem that the same lock assembly was also used on the FJ Cruiser. I found a couple forums, similar to this one, discussing the same problem / failure of the lock assembly on the FJ.

I really like the Prius, but am disappointed that something like this would fail so early AND be so expensive to fix. I expected more from a Toyota. That being said, I'll probably still buy another new Prius down the road.

 

For $600 I would think a part that locks the doors would last the lifetime of the owner or at least the life of the car. I pretty sure it is a 10 part.

 

Is this really a driver serviceable part? Or are you really handy with cars and feel up to it? I would totally order the part myself but unless its pretty simple I don't know about installing it on my own.

I considered asking the dealership if I got the part would they install it but then I thought they probably wouldn't go for that.

 

I hope that I will be able to swap out the part myself. I have not done a lot of work on cars, but I figure I can always go crawling back to the dealer, if I get in over my head. From the little research that I've done, this job doesn't look too bad. I'll let you know how this turns out...

 

Here's an update to this thread. I have a 2010 Prius and the front driver side door lock assembly went out around 55k miles. I had taken the door apart 2 times in attempt to service the door lock/latch assembly. Let me tell you this, the door lock and latching is all one unit and it not serviceable. Many failed attempt to pry it open will only frustrate you. It appears Toyota is following the footsteps of other auto makers in making cheap crappy parts.

The only thing you can do is either find a crash vehicle Prius/FJ Cruiser and swap out the faulty part or go buy a new one. Removing the door panel on car is pretty easy. There's no trick or anything funky. Basically two screws and it pops straight out.

 

Success! I replaced the defective lock assembly with the $99 used part from E-Bay. It took about 30 minutes, and I now have functional power locks again. The most challenging step was trying to maneuver the replacement part into place. There is not a lot of room to work inside the door, it's a pretty tight fit. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that this used lock assembly lasts longer than the first (28 months).

 

Wow, you don't mess around! I thought we wouldn't hear from you for weeks. Anyway, how did you get this done in 30 minutes? I've seen the photos of people essentially doing this on the Gen II and it looked way too involved. Didn't you have to remove a mess of screws and fight with a panoply of clips to remove and re-secure panels?

 

There really isn't much to it. I found a youtube video showing how to remove the inner door panel. Very helpful. Basically, there are 2 small trim panels that pop off, covering the only 2 screws. The door handle trim piece also comes off (pull up, not out). Once the 2 screws are removed, I started as the bottom and carefully pulled off the inner door trim. Inside the door, there are 2 electrical connectors that will need to be unplugged; 1 to the door light on the bottom of the door, the other to the power window / lock switches. Once these are disconnected, the entire inner door panel can be set aside.

This will give pretty good access to the lock assembly unit inside the door. It is held in place by 3 Torx bolts, located on the trailing inner edge of the door. You can see these 3 bolts even before you take apart the door.

After the 3 bolts are removed, it just takes some careful maneuvering to get the old part out and the new part in place.

Honestly, this was a lot easier than I had anticipated. The most difficult part was getting the new part into position. I hope that helps!

 

Thanks for the additional info and hopefully this lock works out for you.

I'll try to find that YouTube video and see for myself. Right now I have the door locks set to not unlock I explicitly make them unlock which is a workaround I can tolerate for now. However, it is making things a little inconvenient. If I feel up to doing this I'll order the part and hope for the best.

 

The saga continues. My right rear door lock has failed. Totally dead. Looks like I will be tearing the lock assembly out of that one too. I'm now considering shipping the bad parts to Toyota with a complaint letter. Where was the Toyota quality control on these parts? Maybe I'll trade this thing in for a German car. Not impressed with my first Toyota...

 

I replaced the right rear lock assembly with a used part, not a big deal. Now a couple weeks later, my front passenger power locks have failed. This time I called Toyota. They said that they might be able to do something for me, but I would have to go through the dealer - the same dealer who told me that there was nothing they could do on the first lock assembly failure. The dealer may or may not charge me for diagnosis (they will charge me), and then if the problem is related to the initial power locking problem that I had last year (while the car was under warranty), Toyota may be willing to pick up the repair. I don't think it's even worth it at this point.

I can get the used part on E-Bay for $90, and install it myself in less than an hour.

 

I have done a lot of work on little electric motors. These may have burnt windings or they might have poor fusing. These are common problems from cheap China motors. Toyota used to build all their own motors to control quality. In anycase, I would suspect that they got a bad batch of motors. A batch is probably as much as 10,000 motors.

If anyone would like to mail me a bad motor I can evaluate it and post what went wrong.

Thanks,
Dan

 

I have the same exact problem. The drivers door lock actuator is broken.

It looks like removing the door panel is simple enough. I can't post links so I have to post the following: blog dot machanon dot net/2013/05/11/diy-how-to-remove-the-door-panels-off-a-2010-3rd-gen-prius/#.Uuas-9LTlpg

I'm also looking for pics to install/replace the actuator or door lock assembly.

 

By the way the driver side door lock assembly part number is (69040-47060)

 

Does anyone have pictures on how to replace the door lock assembly or actuator for a Gen III?

 

I'm having the same issue. 2010 with 88k miles. First symptom wouldn't unlock the drivers door, it would work sometimes. After a few weeks it wouldn't lock the drivers door. Now its completely gone no locking or unlocking.

Anyone have any luck with this item on ebay? Lifetime warranty sounds great. 149.99$ get 30$ back when you ship your old actuator back.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201062877033?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

Add me to the list. Driver side door on my 2010 Prius (28K miles) was the first to fail like 2-3 weeks ago - now the pax door works only 30% of the time. I called Toyota when the first actuator failed and opened up a case. The guy told me to get it diagnosed by the dealer and that they may pick up some of the cost. Let's see what happens...

 

Update on actuator from ebay. Fast shipping, part was slightly different instead of a white cover its now a black cover. But everything else lined up properly. I put it in the same day. 3 bolts on the door jam 1 wire connector outer door shell and 2 cables 1 rod removed. I highly recommend to unbolt the window track you'll see the bolt on 10mm on the door shell, helps with access. Been working for 2 weeks no problems. I sent my old actuator back was able to refund me 30$ within 3 days.

 

I replaced both rear doors and the front passenger door yesterday. All done in 2 hours. I couldn't be happier w/my recently purchased 2010 Prius with 64K miles. Now all the doors lock and unlock! I bought all three actuators on Ebay from seller: Actuatorplus who others here have used. He's a reputable rebuilder and offers a lifetime warranty on them. All three for $275 delivered. Followed the online instructions and knocked it out. Yes, unbolting the window track is the only way to go. So much cheaper than the mechanic charging $500 per door.