Excellent! Even if I never do this motor swap, it was so very cool to learn something. These are the micro lessons that carry over to a hundred other fixes. I've already ordered the whole assembly for $29, but I now have a better understanding of the R&R (removal/replacement) for my 2008 Highlander rear passenger door. The community tips their hat to you for adding something meaningful to the knowledge base. Thank you for taking the time.

We don't think we will go through the trouble or the risk of trying to change the motor, but this is a great video on how to uninstall and reinstall the door panel and the actuator. Thank you very much.

Just changed out the passenger front on our 2013 Highlander with a $165 Dorman with a lifetime warranty. Thanks for the video!

You just saved me over $1000 bucks my dealership wanted to fix it. Thank you and God bless you Sir.

THANK YOU!!! My husband and I replaced actuator motors for all 4 doors and your instructions were super helpful!!!

Great video! Thanks! All four of my door actuators have gone bad on my 2010 Highlander. Showing how to get the door panel off and the bad actuator out alone is so valuable.

Love that 'Hammer' is strapped the whole time he is working on the door locks.

Brilliant, thank you. Was looking to change lock for around $200, but found you video, got 4 actuators for $20 and all done in under an hour! Felt longer as it’s 95+ today & had to do it in the sun, but a good Sunday job done. Thanks again.

Great instructions. I was able to successfully fix the door locks on my driver's and passenger doors. Also, really enjoyed the laughter throughout from the camerawoman!

I thank you for a good clear video with instructions on this door lock R&R . Took my car to a independent repair shop and he informs me after two days that the part was $150. and he needed my car for three weeks. Then he forgot to put the unlock rod back so I could open the door from the street at all.

Super helpful; thanks. Note; if you are doing the driver's side door, make sure you also pop in the shaft for the key when reinstalling the actuator.

thank you for this clear and concise walkthrough. I just swapped out my actuator, only took 30 minutes this time.

Thanks! Replaced the door lock actuator motor on our 2013 Toyota Camry hybrid in less than an hour thanks to your video. Well done !

Thank you so much! My 2013 Highlander Front Drivers Side was going out. I first bought an aftermarket actuator from amazon and I wasnt able to get the key work. Decided to go this route and it was not as bad as I thought. Replacing the actuator motor (the little one) only took 20 mins. Whole thing took about 45 mins. Thanks again!

Thank you H2H, you saved me some big buck$. Fixed my wife's Highlander and all the details you noted came in super handy, especially the part where you show the opening of the locking mechanism and motor location. Also at 1:35, and as you may already know, those two smaller, inner screws don't need to come out. Thanks again man!

Best DIY vid ever. Thank you so much. Time to get the motors ordered. Thank you to the camera woman for an excellent job.

IT WORKED!! 2012 HIGHLANDER. BOUGHT ON AMAZON 10mm Flat Shaft Central Door Lock Actuator Motor FC-280PC-22125 FLAT SHAFT, D Spindle, Power Locking Repair Engine

This guy in his butter knife is a genius! You don't get to see his wife in the video, but she has a great laugh! Keep in mind, the driver side is a little more complicated. There's a little drive shaft for the key that has to be disconnected. It just slides out and slides back in but it's a bitch to get it in.

Thanks man. I'd done this on my Prius and with your video I just did all 4 of my highlander door. Saved us untold dollars. Thanks

If you’re doing this on the driver’s side front door there is an extra rod that goes into the top left of the actuator. That rod allows you to lock and unlock the doors with your key. Great video and you saved me hundreds of dollars.

your instructions are way better than any other I've found on youtube. thanks much for making this video.

Thank you, changed a full actuator in 20 mins thanks to your video...bought 2 online for 60 aud. Garage wanted $500 to fix it....

I replaced the passenger side this morning on my 2013 Highlander Limited and this video was VERY helpful!!! Thank you VERY much for making this video!!!

Thanks to you. I saved $700. Just changed everything. Only $35 in amazon

Nothing better than saving money! Thanks so much for this video! Just fixed my Highlander!

Excellent video. Very helpful. Made the job super easy and saved me big money. Working great now. Thank you for sharing this!

I have a 2002 4 Runner. Did the same on all 4 doors. Similar ...but different. STEALERSHIP hates these videos. Thanks for sharing ......

Excellent video. You've probably saved people 10s of thousands of dollars. Thanks

Great video, helped me replace my friends Highlander Actuator in about 20 minutes. Did it with a $50 part from Rock Auto. Dealer wanted $600

Thanks so much!! Saved me so much money and it took about 20 minutes.

You are the man!!! Same year highlander worked like a charm!

Thank you, thank you... did I say THANK YOU!!! Since buying my 2008 Highlander I have had 5 different door locks actuators fail on me. The first two failures were repaired under warranty, so no cost just a PITA. The last two repairs cost me about $800 out of pocket. Four years ago my front passenger power lock failed again (it had been replaced under warranty) and I said enough is enough - I am tired of paying hundreds of dollars to have a broken part replaced by a poorly designed part that is bound to fail. I have used a hiking pole to manually lock and unlock the door ever since. This non functioning door lock has lead to two dead batteries (thought I locked the doors which would have turned off headlights but the power lock did not engage so headlights were left on) and my mother breaking her hip because I was not outside to assist her to the door - I was inside manually unlocking it. I read about how this is all due to a very inexpensive part failing, but not until I discovered your video was I brave enough to try this repair. It took me about 90 minutes, mostly because I was going slow and never done anything like this, but my passenger door lock now works flawlessly! Out of pocket cost was $5 for the motor and $10 for the tools - which I will be putting to good use. Your video empowered me to repair this door. Now I have new motors ready to install in the other three doors and will also be upgrading my door speakers in all four doors and installing Noico sound deadening mat to help with road noise and acoustics.

Great video! Thank you for your guidance. Easy fix replacing the actuator motor.

Dude, worked like a charm! Great video and thanks for saving me some money!

Very helpful, thanks! A tip for others to not make my mistake... Order the actuator motor with the flat side (D) and don't bend the pins when instalment the motor. But thanks to this video, my Australian Kluger is fixed.

Great video I just did the driver side on my 2013 Highlander Limited. The video saved me lots of money for sure. WOrks well now. Thanks

Just finished my wife’s driver side. Took about 30 mins. Best $9 I’ve spent in a long time! I bought a 2 pack so I’d have a spare. Cheers 🍻

Thanks so much for sharing this and for all the comments helping me find what I need. BTW, I *think* your door panel removal tool is a "weeder tool" for pulling weeds.... 🙂

THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO! I was able to replace the motor and it works! The price has gone up to $12 for 2 motors on Amazon.

Great video. I'll be trying this next month.

Thanks for a great video. I've tried searching Amazon for motor only, only to get complete actuators, what key words should I use?

Ordered the parts, and replaced 1 of them tonight. Worked like a charm 3 more to go.... lol

Thank you! Helped me replace my motor

Great video, thanks! You saved us $700!

thank you for this video...i was skeptical seeing two butter knives. i figured if you can do it with butter knives, i can give it a shot.

Where do you buy the motors? I have a 2013 highlander that I have had the dealer replace all 4 actuators at least once and the are failing again. I need to find a way to do this myself. Thanks SO much!

Awesome video and thank you! Where did you buy this part?

Thanks great instructions. I initially purchased an actuator off amazon after install I found it did not work. I will now remove the actuator a second time to do the motor swap. A quick question, any advise on how to test the motor prior to the round two install? I am assuming it runs off the 12v car battery so with a couple jumper wires I can test.

Fascinating video! Well done. If the actuator motor is bad, would the door locks work by manually pushing the lock/unlock buttons on the door; or using the key 🔑 to lock/unlock the door? That long “tool” looks like a “trim” tool. Harbor Freight has a set of plastic trim/molding tools that are designed for removing panels and molding without breaking clips or scratching up the panels and/or tearing headliners, etc. Basic set costs only about $6.

Great video.Any chance you can share part brand and other details. Tried the link posted does not seem to be working. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Thank you for your video I save around $400

Very helpful! Thanks!

Cheers mate just saved me $600👍

Very good video. Question - are you using a D-shape, 10mm shaft motor?

Awesome "how to" ... Thanks for posting.

Thank you for the great video. My mechanic told me there is a main plug difference (3 vs 4 pins) between Japanese and North American-made actuator lock assemblies. I noticed in the video your model has a 5 to start the vin. This indicates North American made vs a J first letter for Japan. Are you familiar with this issue? thanks in advance for your help.

Are those Mack or Snap on butter knives? Seriously, Great video. Thanks.

Thank you for making the videos. I replaced the entire assembly but the video gave good tips.

I changed my 3 doors actuator but my driver side is having hard time in opening. How am i going to adjust? Its not soft in opening. Thanks

do you know which size motor actuator will fit in my 2013 highlander?? will help determine which size to order, THANKS ERROL LEE

thanks for saving me 1000 bucks for two actuators on my Lexus

I am about to attempt this on my Highlander. I installed an aftermarket actuator it works but it just doesn't feel right when you open and close the door, nothing beats OEM I guess so replacing just the motor to the original actuator should make it feel exactly the same. My question is that it looks like you took the spindle off that old motor rather easily? I heard other people saying you need a gear puller to take it off. Is it that hard to take off without a gear puller or will I end up damaging the plastic spindle? Thanks for the video it's exactly what alot of people are looking for.

many thanks!

I have a 2010 that I’ll be switching the motors on. I couldn’t find any information on the motor size but I bought some off Amazon that were 10mm, does that sound about right? The pry tool you purchased do you recall where you bought reptile tongue tool from 😂

You have a very good helpful video, but don't mention the most important part??? Where did you get the actuator motors???

Where did you buy the electric motors . I found some on Amazon with a 10mm shaft. Is that correct? Please advise.

Is this the same for when you use the keyless entry remote to unlock and it doesn't unlock the doors? 3 of the 4 doors do not unlock. Only the rear driver door unlocks. The driver door unlocked/lock switch only unlocks the rear door. So that tells me the command switch is good, since it sends a signal to the rear door. The other 3 however gets nothing at all. So currently, the only way to unlock the vehicle, is to the turn key and unlock the other doors after we get in. So do you think this would be the same issue?

Hi, I thought you mentioned encountering a situation where the door was jammed shut and you had to remove the door panel from inside the car on the shut door. If so please explain how you did it. Just yesterday our 2010 Highlander driver door jammed shut and none of the open mechanisms work, so I am in a situation where I believe I have to remove the door panel of the shut door.

Is there a current link or part number?

Awesome!!!

15:34 Nice IWB carry.

I need to find this small electric motor on my RAV4 . I live in Mexico and I have had a few horror stories with wrench jockeys here involving them having my car for weeks. The tool is a panel pry bar . Did you order from a website?

My 2012 Highlander has this same problem, and I want to try this. What I was hoping you can share is the ordering information; what is the part number for the motor? Thanks

Look for lock actuator motor 10mm D shaft/ flat shaft. 4 Pack - 10mm Flat Shaft Central Door Lock Actuator Motor FC-280PC-22125 FLAT SHAFT, D Spindle

Cool vid,but always test before fully reassembling

What motors did you buy and what kind are they?

Does the motor has a flat shaft or round?

I can't even get my door to unlock to get the door panel off lol. The other 3 doors work normally lol. Do you know how I can get my door unlocked to fix it?

Where do you buy just the motor?

Where did you get the actuators from

Where can we order the motor. Thanks

Is there a link to the motors you are using?

You should test the part prior to installation.

Can someone tell me where i could find the motors apart from eBay,?

Can you give a link to those motors?

Can you tell me the name?

I have a problem in my Toyota highlander 2012 the 4 doors do not open or close I have to lock it with the key I don't know what is happening

Where did you buy the motor?

Is this a common problem that you had to change all 4?

Hello, does this look like the one? See: wish.link/3cF6stq. How did you find the motor originally? Possibly the OEM motor has a part number on it and you searched by that?