DIY: jammed and dead passenger door lock actuator

sleeper si

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My 1999 honda civic si door lock was acting up, sometimes it would lock and sometimes it would not. Occasionally it will render the door lock lever to stay completely in the middle position, not fully locked and not fully opened. Last week the lever was jammed in the middle, and you would need to push the lever to the fully opened to open the door. The same needed to be done on the outside but using the key.
I knew that the door lock actuator motor was on its last legs and now finally seized from rust. Getting one from the local scrappers would run 15-20 bucks which would seem to be the most economical choice. But since I was ordering some parts for my turbo build from Rockauto why not check it out as well. To my surprise a brand new door lock actuator was 18 dollars and change. Also knowing this common problem on the misses white civic I ordered two actuators to minimize my shipping costs per item.
So make sure the window is up, now to get the door panel off, honda door panel is very easy to remove, first you need to remove the philips screw that holds the door handle lock.unlock lever bucket, and second another philips for the door pull bucket. The Si comes with power windows so there was no need to mess with the circlip that holds those manual door handles.
With the door panels I could get three things done at once, 1st the door lock actuator, second tint the front windows (after viewing so many tinting posts), and 3rd wanted to put in some better speakers that stock (have a new orion components).

okay the door latch is held in by three fairly large fine thread philips bolts, a philips screwdriver would not give enough torque to loosen it so i used a philips bit on a 3/8 socket.
Then there is a 10 mm bolt that holds the inner door window track, it needs to be moved out of the way for you to get the door latch assembly with lock actuator. now you need to disconnect the 5 rods, unscrew three philips for the door lever lock/unlock, there is a junction where you need to unclip the 3 rods, inside the door there is two rods, disconnect the power to the door lock actuator, pry out the two wire harness fasteners. once the rods are off then you can remove the assembly with some coaxing lol!! installation is reverse and that sealant that honda uses for the barrier film I just used duct tape. =)

once the assembly is off you need to remove the 4 philips holding the door lock actuator to the door latch.
picture of the bare door without the door panel


remove these three philips holding the door latch


10mm bolt holding the inner window track

disconnect the power to the door actuator


3 rod levers to remove


this is how you unclip the rod before removing


remove the three philips for the door lever unlock lock




window track in the way




old and new side by side










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