A couple of weeks ago, someone (home/work) tried to pry the little keyhole cover piece off on the outside driver door handle. So either shortly before or after that - it is unknown which and could have just been a coincidence that just started happening - the key FOB wasn't unlocking the doors properly. It started with the driver door, but then the passenger door in addition to the driver door got to where it wouldn't unlock. The key FOB was working fine. I put a new battery in it.
Because of the attempted break-in, an alarm was installed. They knew ahead of time when installing the alarm (which didn't require them to do anything with the lock/driver door anyway) that the driver door wasn't locking automatically via key FOB. They said the actuator was bad on the driver side and that they would fix it for $125, but they also noted that the actuator on the right side sounded weak, as well. It is possible that both sides may simply be going out around the time when someone happened to try a quick entry into the car.
Toyota wanted $225 for a single driver door actuator. Found an exact fit aftermarket model on Amazon for $35. I put it on the car yesterday. I tested to make sure the door closed properly since it is basically the entire piece that fits into the side of the door. I attached both cables going to the door latch inside of the car. I made sure that the vertical metal shaft went into the hole for the actuator. Everything seemed to fit fine. I tested the door lock switch inside of the car for unlocking the doors. All doors unlocked and locked fine via that switch. Last night when I was finished, it locked fine with the key FOB, as well. The alarm also set properly.
The next morning, none of the doors (including the back ones that had no issues) would unlock with the key FOB, but the alarm did disable when the FOB unlock button was pressed. A loud, continuous "beep" would sound from the driver side dash when attempting to lock the car via the key FOB. Only the driver door has a key hole to open manually. When the key was put in the keyhole and turned, the actuator made a noise as if turning/trying, but didn't unlock the door. I had to crawl through the back seat from the trunk and open the door from inside.
One detail that occurred to me after the fact was that I didn't check to see if this part was seated into the circular plastic area with teeth on it. No idea why I didn't check that.
Could this part not being seated properly be the cause of all of this? I'm puzzled why it worked the day before and didn't the next morning. But also, like an idiot, I didn't try the manual key hole outside and a couple of other things to make sure it was all working. Obviously, it wasn't. I suspect the key hole isn't working and possibly even the key FOB isn't working because this part may not be lined up.
Because of the attempted break-in, an alarm was installed. They knew ahead of time when installing the alarm (which didn't require them to do anything with the lock/driver door anyway) that the driver door wasn't locking automatically via key FOB. They said the actuator was bad on the driver side and that they would fix it for $125, but they also noted that the actuator on the right side sounded weak, as well. It is possible that both sides may simply be going out around the time when someone happened to try a quick entry into the car.
Toyota wanted $225 for a single driver door actuator. Found an exact fit aftermarket model on Amazon for $35. I put it on the car yesterday. I tested to make sure the door closed properly since it is basically the entire piece that fits into the side of the door. I attached both cables going to the door latch inside of the car. I made sure that the vertical metal shaft went into the hole for the actuator. Everything seemed to fit fine. I tested the door lock switch inside of the car for unlocking the doors. All doors unlocked and locked fine via that switch. Last night when I was finished, it locked fine with the key FOB, as well. The alarm also set properly.
The next morning, none of the doors (including the back ones that had no issues) would unlock with the key FOB, but the alarm did disable when the FOB unlock button was pressed. A loud, continuous "beep" would sound from the driver side dash when attempting to lock the car via the key FOB. Only the driver door has a key hole to open manually. When the key was put in the keyhole and turned, the actuator made a noise as if turning/trying, but didn't unlock the door. I had to crawl through the back seat from the trunk and open the door from inside.
One detail that occurred to me after the fact was that I didn't check to see if this part was seated into the circular plastic area with teeth on it. No idea why I didn't check that.
Could this part not being seated properly be the cause of all of this? I'm puzzled why it worked the day before and didn't the next morning. But also, like an idiot, I didn't try the manual key hole outside and a couple of other things to make sure it was all working. Obviously, it wasn't. I suspect the key hole isn't working and possibly even the key FOB isn't working because this part may not be lined up.
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