ok..common prob w/5th gen accords..door lock actuators clicking. ive dealth w/it untill about a week ago when it started GRINDING (uber nasty sound) and it actually drained my battery to the point it ALMOST left me stranded. SO, i've just not been locking my doors (bad idea, i know but its all i can do at present)

SO. question #1 (which im gonna try when i get home): should'nt I be able to pull the plug on the door lock button (driver and passenger) and not worry w/the auto locks and just lock/unlock manually.

obvisously i would lose the auto lock/unlock, but it would keep my batt from draining and the stupid grinding noise from happnin. right? i think so. BUT that doesnt solve the prob.

SO, to fix the prob permanantly,i need to replace/fix the door lock actuator. that's a wonderful idea but the problem is i dont know how to remove the 2 rods that go from the actuator to the handle/door lock button thingy(pops up and down w/the lock and unlock..cant think of the word :S)

question #2: anybody know how to do that or is there another way and im goin about it wrong?

i researched and the explanation wasnt clear enough. it sounded like he didnt need to remove the lil rods..and maybe im just lookin at the wrong thing. it looks like the actuator is connected to the lil assembly that holds the door shut (at loss of the word yet again) i unscrewd the 3 screws in the door and everything came loose, but thats as far as i could get w/out breaking something.

any help and input would be appreciated.

 

i did number one. unplugged it and left it a lone. you can actually repair that thing. i get tired of repairing it. its just one rubbber thing.

 

Bleah. I replaced two of mine before I got my car painted. It's not so much a hard job as it is just a pain in the *** one.

I will try to remember what I did, but remember, this is a pain in the *** and you will have to pull out the handle which COULD scratch up your paint if you aren't careful.

Pull of the interior door panel.

Unplug everything you need to.

Remove the plastic crap all around your door. If you want to salvage this peice (good idea to) then you may want to try and use a razor blade along the glue part. Don't worry, it will stick back to each other once you place it back.

Pull out the rod that goes to your interior door handle. It is connected by one of those plactic peices to the motor assembly.

Make sure to get all of the wires LOOSE from the door.

(I almost forgot this part.) You're probably going to have to remove the rear window guide from the door. I tried to do it without removing it but it just wasn't going to happen. I believe it is on with a 10mm bolt. Just one of them. Remove the bolt and pull the guide out. It may be necessary to remove the gasket material from the guide. I know I had too.

Unscrew the three phillips head screws from the back side of the door. Be careful not to strip these out.

Now everything should be loose.

Disconnect one of the two rods still connected. The one that goes to the back side of the door handle (where you insert your key) is the one that needs to come off. This can and probably will be the biggest bitching part.

Once you get that thing off, remove two 10mm bolts holding down the door handle.

Now that those are off, go ahead and try to remove the door handle. I know there is still one rod connecting the door to the motor but that will not come off until the handle is outside of the door frame.

Easiest way to get that handle off is to push it towards the back of the door, press the bottom part of the handle out a little bit, and then try to push the handle towards the front part of the door. I know it may seem weird but this is what worked for me.

After that, pull the connection that goes to the door handle completely out.

Once out, turn the door handle until it disconnects from the rod. BE CAREFUL. Make sure that you remember how many threads was showing before so that you won't have to adjust it later.

Now everything should come out smooth.

Installation is reverse.


This took me (a decent mechanic with no prior knowledge of removing these types of things) about an hour to do JUST the removal without a book. Installation wasn't as hard because I knew how to do it.

One more thing to say. When you put the window track back on, you will probably see the previous marks from where that 10mm bolt used to be. It is a good idea to make sure it goes back exactly where it was, if you don't want window problems either.


Hope this helps.

Brandon.