Trey

I had my alarm installed recently and the shop wanted $100 per door extra to install the DEI door lock actuator that I already had. I said no thanks. They did wire in the relays and left it ready for me to connect to.

My question....does anyone have pics of how and where they mounted the actuators in the door? Preferably a picture with them mounted and the door panel off. Also, how do I get the two wires pulled from the door to the cabin? Is it easy to get through the rubber boot?

Thanks!

uberEFtuner

Its not fun, that's why us professional installers charge a lot. I personally remove the ends of the boot and put the wire through it. Then use a flashlight to figure out how to run it into the car. The actuator is a real pain. You need to find a place to put it so the door panel fits on and it parallel with the stock look bar. Then attach to the rod using a 45 degree angle.

Honestly I would take it to another shop for the actuator part.

Trey

Thanks for the reply! It's appreciated.

I figure that if I can rebuild my engine and tranny, I can install the actuators. I'm pretty patient. Just looking for pics others may have on where they mounted their actuators so at that point all I'll need to do is bend the rod and connect it to the lock rod then run the wires to the relays.

I did pay someone to install them in my previous Honda and it was no where near $200 extra from the alarm install, and that was including the actuators that time. $50/ door is more like it IMO. How many hours are we talking about here?

Also, a seasoned alarm installer has installed these on a 96 civic before so it's not like they are doing it for the first time which would speed up the install time.


Just saying.....

Trey

Something like this pic from a 88 CRX would be very helpful. I need one for a 96-00 Civic.

Trey

This is good info as well:

*reference to complete thread - https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/how-install-2-wire-door-lock-actuators-your-88-91-civic-crx-writeup-2554212/



Looking at that diagram, do I take both actuators and connect their blue wires to the one blue wire on the 451 and then their green wires to the one green wire on the 451? Seems like I would but not sure if connecting them in parallel is what is needed.

Thanks!

.

fcm

Yes both of the same color leads from each actuator got to the blue and green leads of the 451, however it may not be green to green and blue to blue, it may be the two greens to the blue of the 451 and the the blues from the actuators to the green of the 451, it depends on which way the actuator is facing, pursuing to lock or pulling to lock, do not make those connections permanent until you have tested the system, [locking when arming and unlocking when disarming] you may have to reverse the leads.

Sorry I do not have a pix of your door with an actuator in it, and the pix you posted is a crappy actuator install, mounted with a tie strap, connections made with ScotchLocs and way more angle, [to stock lock linkage rod] then I would recommend, [hard on actuator].

You want to keep the actuator as parallel as possible with the lock linkage rod, [parallel to the movement of the rod].
The above actuator is pulling down and pushing up on lock linkage rod.

Keep actuator linkage rod as short as possible with as few bends as possible, but whatever the bends, the end of actuator rod, [where connected to stock rod] should be at an angle that pulls/pushes stock rod straight back and forth and as close to parallel with the actuator "piston" as possible. 94

D16SiHatch

It's not mounted with a zip tie, if you read in the writeup it is securely mounted with 2 screws on the backside. The tie is simply to hold it firmly against the door and reduce any potential vibration issues. The Scotchlocs are not ideal i agree, but it's all i had at the time. I told myself when they failed on me, i would replace them. They haven't failed yet. I understand why the actuator rod should be as parallel to the lock rod as possible, however with the design of the door panel, and how little room behind it there is, my options were limited. I originally had it flipped over so that it was much closer to being parallel, but it rubbed against the door panel. In it's current orientation it has room to move freely, and it operates the lock mechanism without issue. It has never failed on me since installing it. If you can find a better way to implement actuators on an ed chassis, more power to you, but there's nothing functionally wrong with how i've done it.

confidence

most door lock actuators in Ek civics i've seen were mounted on the plastic piece that is there to keep you from slim jimming the door rods. It seems to work pretty well there. no owners have ever complained

fcm

What write up?
All I see is a pix with an actuator that sure looks like it is held in place with a wire tie.

Don't get your panties in a knot, I did not say it would not work, what I said was it was hard on the actuator. 94

nsxxtreme

Do you use a specific brand? Every aftermarket actuator I have ever installed burns out eventually. Usually 1-2 years down the road. To me it seems like the alarms just pulses the actuator longer then required.

D16SiHatch

op posted the link up above

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2554212

fcm

I use Audiovox actuators, I have a set in my 94 Teg, been there since Dec. 93 and still work fine.

I have installed all kinds without too many issues.

Most common problem is as I have mentioned, re link to CRX, if actuators rack, [piston] can not move "straight" in and out, it puts extra load on the motor and will shorten it's life.

That goes for anything that puts extra load on the motor, [binding lock linkage and so on]. 94

fcm

LOL, 4 relays to do a simple polarity reversing setup, FYI only 2 are needed for pos.(+) or neg.(-) alarm outputs.

Also not all DEI alarms door lock outputs are neg.(-). some are both pos.(+) and neg.(-) and some are 5 wire so no off board relays are needed and can also be used as pos.(+) and neg(-) outputs.

I do have to give you props for a good write up on removing the door panels on a CRX

However, a small flameing for putting aftermarket speaker grills on the stock grills, only a small flame because it would have no effect on SQ. 94

D16SiHatch

Yea 4 relays is kind of crazy, but it does work assuming it's all you had lol. They are 4 wire spst which is why you need the second set. you can see i updated it further down though using 2 spdt 5 wire relays.

My buddy i bought the car from did the work on the front speakers. It's actually not just the speaker grill that's different though. He cut out a hole in the factory speaker cover so that he could run a 6.5" speaker instead of the factory 5.25".

fcm

Hmmmm, a relay with an 87A is a SPDT relay.

And as long as the flame thrower is on, the relays on the 451, [to supply a ground when needed] are not needed, both the green and blue, off the 451, are "ground at rest"94

D16SiHatch

it sure is lol, i just used the same generic relay image for most if not all of the diagrams. i should have removed that center pin on the image of the spst relays.

hmmm. i could have sworn i tried to run it that way originally with both the brown and white wire disconnected and it wouldn't work. i may be mistaken though, it was awhile ago. If you're referring to the first image where i wired in 2 extra relays to provide a ground for the 451, that was before i realized all i had to do was ground the brown and white. I couldn't find a diagram for the unit so it was trial and error.

rjr162

I'm with FCM.. the mounting of the actuator in the above pics isn't that great. You *do* want it on the same plane as the actual locking bar. If you don't, it's more stress on the actuator, and it will be harder for it to lock/unlock as things age.

As for mounting, it's basically just pick a spot that looks good. I tend to cheat and either mark the holes with a small pick, drill the holes into the door skin, and use a skew driver or stubby phillips to drive the screws into the actuator from the inside of the door, or use bolts to hold them in place. I tend not to use the provided back strapping as that's just one more thing to mess with, but sometimes it's required (or some sort of metal strap) to get the actuator in a good position where it's aligned correctly and won't hit anything.

I can't remember if the 96 Civic has plugs between the door and the boot. A lot of Hondas come that year do. What I tend to do is take the door off, find an area of the plug that has no factory wires running in it, drill out two of the holes to make it big enough to fit the pair of wires you need (one per new hole), and then remount the door. This way the new wires run out of the kick into the boot, and from the boot into the door so it's in the same location and protected like the factory wires. It adds a little time to the install, but comes out very clean because everything looks like factory.

Also, FCM is correct on the part about polarity. It depends on which way you have the actuators facing. Just don't put the door panels back on until you wire the actuators up to the 451M (or relay pack) to make sure they are all working the same way, and if not it's easy to flip on the backwards one.

Overall, they aren't hard but they take a bit of time to get a good spot. It's also easy to over-tighten the little screws that attach the actuator bar to the OEM lock bar, because you want to get them tight so they don't loosen and allow the after market rod to slide (otherwise the doors won't lock/unlock via the actuator).

fcm

Edit and replace image with one from here... http://www.google.ca/search?q=dei+45...w=1003&bih=532 it will make the post more usable when people search. 94

(. )( .)

op, get OEM actuators...they last along time. those fake ones burn out quick. i retrofitted 96-00 civic actuators on my 96 integra. works perfect with aftermarket wiring harness

zerovandez

iTrader: (1)

Still want the pics for the actuators?

Trey

Yes please.

zerovandez

iTrader: (1)

Driver


Passenger

Trey

Thanks! Is that a OEM actuator?

Also, did you cut on the door to get the actuator to fit correctly? Kind of looks like it.

zerovandez

iTrader: (1)

No they're def not OEM but I haven't had any problems with this setup for a few years now. Just make sure you have your wiring for the relays done right. I have pics of that too if you would like.

Yes, I did cut the doors to make them fit. Not the cleanest cut but can you really tell with the door panels on? Plus, it counts as weight reduction! lol

Trey

I have the DEI 451m relays already wired to the alarm and the installer just left the wires there ready for me to connect to the actuators. If you have pics of that setup, that would be awesome!

Thanks!