Hi all,

I recently swapped the actuator from a 1999 to my 1998 Accord. These cars seem mostly identical, and the swap worked fine. However, there are two plugs in the actuator and the top one is incompatible between the vehicles! I tried the actuator without plugging in the top (just the bottom plug), and everything seems to work fine. Does anyone know what this top plug does? Here's a picture of the one removed from the 1998.

I also popped open this only partially-functioning actuator (seemed to work about half the time) to see if I could tell if any parts were worn or anything. It all looks fine as far as I can tell, but now I'm not sure how the black lever part needs to fit into the white gear wheel. I assume I need to crank that gear back for tension as it is spring-loaded, but I'm not sure how to close it then.

If anyone has experience with these, I would appreciate the advice. I couldn't find anything on the site for these specific years of actuators, and I'd love to know if the non-working one can be fixed, and if I should worry about that plug not being used on my '98.

Thanks!
Dan

 

The top one is to plug in the connector for the door lock **** switch.

 

For the partially functioning actuator, apply direct 12 volt and ground briefly to the motor and see what happens. It may just be a worn out motor that works intermittently.

Move the white tab and then try closing back the cover on the actuator to see if that may work.

 

Thanks for the response, but I don't understand what you mean. With only the bottom cable plugged in, everything about the lock seems to be functioning normally. Manual, power lock functionality, remote unlocking; I can't tell of anything that isn't working.

 

Your car probably doesn't have that door lock **** switch for that door actuator. That connector is to plug in the connector for the switch. I am only going to post the image for a short time.

If your original actuator doesn't use that, then it won't affect anything.

 

Both the 98 and 99 had that door lock **** switch cable plugged in. It seems to function just fine without though, so I'm really curious as to what the door lock **** switch is compared to the door lock actuator. Do they perform different functions? It seems to me like the lever moves left or right to lock/unlock the door and I can't see much functionality beyond that.

Thanks again!

 

Can anyone explain to me what the door lock **** switch does that is different from the actuator?