lawnrider

OK anyone who has had/is having problems with this automatic electric switch for opening your rear hatch. Accura will tell you you have to replace the actuator assembly (aprx $125 canadian). Despite the obvious poor performance of the part (as seen by the many people previously posting with this problem), accura's engineering department continues to install this system! I don't even own this car but my friend does and having just helped her out after speaking to the bigest a**hole I've ever heard from at the dealership (they wanted to charge her $600 to replace the lock and actuator) I've decided that this is nothing but a disgusting cash grab!!!!!! So here's the $2 fix. If any of you have a tech website feel free to post this fix on it as I will not be posting it anywhere else and it will otherwise disappear after 7 days. If you've never had this problem you may want to print this for when it will enevitably happen.

I have solved the problem with the trunk release actuator (don't give accura a penny before reading this).

Beginers start here:
1) remove plastic liner at rear of trunk (unscrew both bolts & remove the plastic button like things with the help of a needle to pry the center part out)

2) Looking out from the inside of your trunk you will see a black plastic box (6"length) to the lower right of the trunk latch, this is the actuator assembly, your goal is to remove this part.

3) Unclip the bar ataching the actuator to the lock mechanism (lower left of the trunk latch)

4) Undo the three brass bolts attaching the bracket which holds the actuator assembly.

5) Unscrew and gently remove the black actuator assembly (4 brass screws securing it to the bracket , then 4 more holding the part together, you can't tell which is which so just be carefull the thing doesn't open up and spill the parts out)

6) bring the part in to your workbench to work on the part.

7) You will most likely want to reconect the bracket and rod from #3 & 4 above, now your trunk will still work perfectly with the key untill you're ready to replace the fixed actuator.

Advanced start here:
6) remove the cover of the actuator assembly, you will now see two sets of sprockets and a motor in the lower portion.

7) remove sprockets slowly to get at the motor.

8) remove motor by gently tuging straight up ( don't lose the little white stabiliser bit on the end).

The motor is a $5 canadian (that's like 50cents US ) part produced by Mabuchi motors for all kinds of small aplications like high school science experiments. Accura engineers have simply added a special gear on the end of it which is welded on and you shouldn't waste your time trying to remove.

There is no serial number on the motor (VN... is the manufacture date). And you cannot order a replacement motor with the gear on it but you can get the motor without the gear. From the note in the package I received it looks like the serial # should be FC 280 PT - 20150.
http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp...0pasa

The motor is likely fine and just need to be cleaned or the small plastic end cap needs replacement.

9) use a small pair of needle nose pliers and a baby screwdriver to very gently pry off the 2 crimps and then the plastic end cap. This took me 30 minutes to and hour just be patient and carefull not to stab yourself with the screwdriver.

10) Once you get the endcap offdust off the interior of the motor with a cloth and maybe some rubbing alcohol if you want.

11)Replace the plastic cap with a new one from mabuchi. Be carefull to ensure the brushes (2 tiny metal looking blocks slip over the spindle)

12) Replace white plastic endcap on the motor and replace the motor in the black case.

13) replace sprockets, close black case and screw in the four short brass screws.

14) plug assembly back into car and verify the trigger moves when you slide the switch on your trunk (make sure it's unlocked from the drivers side first).

15) If it works reinstall in reverse order of removal proceedures above.

Well I hope this helped some of you, please post if it did, or didn't and like I said someone <U>please repost this permanently somewhere out there</U>. I would hate to have waisted my time typing this out for nothing. Best of luck everyone!

The website for Mabuchi motors in Japan & US is:
http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp....html
Unlike the experience I had with Accura these people are absolutely fantastic and most helpfull. The part you want is: FC 280 PT-20150 and preferably just the plastic end with the brushes (else you'll have to pry it open again).

As an afterthought if you found this helpfull and it saved you some dough, please buy a new toy to donate for christmas, or make a small donation to the next charity you see (and no, a pledge to Bush doesn't count).

Cheers, L

D

It's easier to remove the actuator by pulling 3 of the 6 brass 4mm philips head screws as opposed to unbolting the bracket and dealing with the linkage.

Good post, i've had the actuator apart, didn't get around to sourcing a new electric motor.

BTW - actuator from Acura is ~$56 er, missed it was listed above in kanadian

Big Phat R

Awesome!

Thanks for the post!

Someone sticky it for a while

Dave_B

THANK YOU!!!

Dr Pooface

Good post.

Acura only has one "c", btw.

nholmes

iTrader: (1)

So then what's the weak link in the design? I don't get it, was it just dust/dirt build up?

D

it's an electric motor... like all electric motors, the brushes/contacts eventually wear out. you can't buy the $0.50 motor from acura, only a ~$56-70 assembly.

Get it now?

nholmes

iTrader: (1)

Strange, I don't open my hatch all that much. Doesn't seem like a high traffic part to me, but maybe the motor is just crap?

Alexander

Thank you again!

330R

Just to confirm, does this pertain to the '97-'98 (& Canadian '99) or the '00 -'01?

With wording such as "trunk release" and "opening your hatch" instead of "lock" and "unlock" I'm guessing this only pertains to the '97-'99.

Thanks.

lawnrider

I'm not sure as I'm not even the owner of the integra we fixed. Her car is a 2000 though so I'm not sure what other years prior '00 or models have the same system. There seem to be lots though. Let me just decribe it therefore.

You basically have 2 ways of opening this trunk/hatch. One, the standard way is obviously with just the key. The second way is to first unlock the trunk from the electric switch on the drivers side door this will not pop open the trunk or hatch, it just unlocks it. Secondly, when you walk arround to the trunk there is a black lever or switch that you slide to the left, this is actually an electric opener (actuator) which pops the trunk/hatch open. The actuator seems to be the cause of 95% of the problems with the otherwise usefull system.

***NB - The black switch on the trunk will only work if the trunk is first unlocked from the drivers side.***

Hope that clears some of it up.

330R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lawnrider &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hope that clears some of it up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, gotcha. Thanks.

d16z6+s20

so, where exactly do u order this motor?

penpen

schweet, good write up, thanks!

to add to my to-do list...

d16z6+s20

so if someone knows where to buy this motor please let me know cause all ive found in google are whole sale. and no hobbie store carries them.

BudMan

FYI -

dyi - http://www.itrca.com/FAQ/diy/trunk_release.php

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want any adjustments to your instructions.

**If anybody wants to buy a full actuator, let me know = $45 shipped (I don't need it on the race kaa & I bought this one new last year).

BudMan - enjoy!

Bbasso

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BudMan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.itrca.com/FAQ/diy/trunk_release.php
</TD></TR></TABLE>

We need to get more of these up on ITRCA, does anyone else agree?

Muad'Dib

good write up. gonna be doing this soon as mine is completely dead. no way to get back there unless i get the key.

Devon M

iTrader: (4)

While were on the lock subject...I am having trouble with my keyless entry. When I hit the lock button it never locks my driver door. Also sometimes it goes crazy, and won't let me out/in everytime I pull the handle it locks. I would search but search is down.

KraZyCHOWMEIN

Tried searching for this part number on ebay and the only thing that came up was a $50 dollar part.... where do I get the 50 cent part?

TIA!

Tyrant_007

iTrader: (1)

Definitely! And with pictures!

OP, nice writeup!

duffman724

i found a pretty simple quick solution for me at least flip the latch to the left, let that motor spin then keep turning the key to the right while wiggling the trunk lid. opens right up as long as your gear isnt too far gone.

y-56

Thank you OP! I have the exact problem that you had and it is working for me now. I now no longer need 2 hands to open my trunk.

Based on my research, there are a few components inside the actuator which caused it to fail. Luckily for me, it was the plastic cap that had tons of carbon build up or something which prevented current flowing to the motor like the OP. I've attached the a picture so you know what I'm talking about. In theory, I can just sand the contacts down and it should work again but I noticed the contacts were kinda erroded.

For those who has the actual motor that is burnt, the part number is
FC-280PC-22125. Ebay that and there are tons because Toyota's actuator uses the same motor as ours, and they fail like no tomorrow from what I have read. The OP part number is not the right one but if you know for sure that your plastic cap needs replacement, either part will do.

Taking apart the actuator to get to the motor is quite simple. I found this post which I think is most useful for me: http://www.team-integra.net/forum/bl...-actuator.html

Mirachee

Hi, Thanks to bro lawnrider
I managed to get it done, heres how i did it:

This is the original actuator from DC5

This is an actuator I got from the local chopshop for $5
Its a Daihatsu Move/Perodua Kenari rear door actuator,
http://flic.kr/p/bVbUTN
I cracked open both parts and to my amaze! its the same motor!

Removed the motor and replace the motor.

I had no glue, so i used silicon to seal it up.

Save myself $145

Better know how to do this. don't get ripped off by Acura.

Damn... i dunno how to get the image to show

Tyrant_007

iTrader: (1)

Make sure you have the [IM G] tag before the link and the [/IM G] tag after the link of your photo (without the space).