5spdvroom

I picked up an Civic 05 LX stick sedan a month or two ago. First car, woo!

A few issues though - for one, when I hit the lock/unlock all toggle in the car, the drivers' side door and the rear right don't move (the other 2 work fine). Sounds like bad lock actuators, from what I gather. Should be easy enough to fix.

But the other issue baffles me a bit more. I didn't get a key fob with the car (who forgets those when selling a car?), so I bought a Honda one (not a generic) off amazon. Paired it up, panic button works (as I discovered by accident one morning), and the lock/unlock buttons make the lights/dashboard flash, and the door locks click (and I believe they flinch). But - NONE of the locks actually lock/unlock. Is this related to the drivers' side door actuator (I think) being bad, or is this something else?

I thought I read somewhere that the stereo could be related. I dunno. I'm running a stock stereo from an 04/05 Civic, but not from this particular car. It came with an aftermarket piece of junk that didn't actually work, which I promptly swapped for a stock one (and aux adapter that spoofs the CD changer addon) off ebay. I got the key fob after doing this, so I'm not sure.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Edit: I should mention that I've searched around, and the closest that I found were people asking this exact question (the second bit), but no answers.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

The pulse when using keyless is short, if you have a weak actuator it will highlight it.

Try working the actuators several times in a row locked/unlocked..... then quickly try the keyless and see if they work then.

Listen at door, and watch lock ***** closely to determine if they are getting voltage.

No link to radio, that was 6th gen.

The actuators contain small DC motors.

RIPSAW

Probably the actuators. Those small dc motors' brushes wear and they get full of carbon around the commutator. Like that, they are two weak to push even if they try and make a little sound. I pulled the motors apart (grind the little crimps and after cleaning carbon out and maybe cutting a little groove between the brass pickups, hold the brushes back with a piece of sewing thread and push back together and slide string out. Then tap crimp back. My two I rebuilt have lasted longer then the two aftermarket I got off ebay lasted.
Get it working with the car control buttons. Bet the key fob will work. People loose everything, owners manual, fob, all keys but one. I think the dealers also throw them all away and figure no one will notice they only have one key. Then they make 3 to 4 hundred more dollars later.

ezone

I'd agree with weak power lock actuators.

The fact your lights flash says it's trying to work.

Actuators go bad often, so do chase that first.

5spdvroom

I tried with CraigW suggested, and on the upside, the door actuators that do work locked/unlocked with the key fob! Yes! The downside is that this means one door - 3 of them are bad (it was 2 the last I checked), even if I use the controls in the car, and it looks like the 4th is going as well - wouldn't go up and down reliably, particularly with the remote. Got stuck halfway through a bunch of times as well. Are these little actuator motors really that failure prone? I guess I now need to decide genuine Honda vs aftermarket, although due to some personal stuff that just came up I may not get to this for a while. (But I'll come back and post results when I eventually do.)

And as for losing things - yep. Owners manual? Check. Fob? Check. All keys but one? Check. Funny thing though is the small dealer I bought the car from had another key printed from the VIN - free of charge - when I asked for it. It's nice having a spare just in case.

RIPSAW

Your're lucky, the dealer charged me $100 for a valet key. On a 2 door Civic, all you need. Does not work alarm but the car still has an imobilizer anyway. So no one can steal it unless they haul it away. He tried to charge me for the front tag holder but I told him I was going to report him to DMV for VA state inspecting it without it and he gave me one free. This is the motor I rebuilt. You have to cut the glue line of the actuator with a box cutter to get motor out and glue it back together with rtv if it is the type without screws.

ezone

All 4 have roughly the same lifespan? Check.


As the motor heats up from repeated use, it quits. Even a new unit can quit if you keep using it repeatedly.

Worn out might be a better description.
They lasted what, 10+ years and a zillion miles, and thousands upon thousands of lock cycles....(even more if the owner is/was the sort that keeps pushing the remote button the entire time they are approaching the car in the parking lot).


Does it start the car, or is it just a wallet key to get in the car?
If it will run the car you got a good deal LOL

5spdvroom

Well, OK - manufactured together, same design, used at the same time w/ same conditions. Fair enough. I've heard of the same thing happening in server RAID installs - identical drives from an identical batch treated in an identical manner. If one drive fails, the others often aren't far behind.

And yeah, this car is from early 05, 100K miles. Not sure how the previous owners treated it, though the spidercracks on the corners make me think they weren't too great at parking. Still amazing how pricey these are though, for little DC motors. And I'm a little jealous of my grandma's car - I have a manual 05 LX sedan, she has an auto 04 EX sedan. Only 24K miles as I recall (no, not 124k, not 224K, just 24K or so - I was surprised when I drove it a few months ago and saw the odometer). Single owner, it's been babied all its life, never pushed hard, and absolutely nothing is broken on it. Of course, she's quite happy with it herself and sees no reason to replace it. Dang it. I actually asked her to get in the car, hit the lock all button, and see if the drivers' side door locks after it occurred to me that the door not locking might not be what it's supposed to do.

And yep, both are full keys that start the car, open the trunk, etc. I don't have a valet key, and don't have a use for one. I've never had to use valet parking, and don't trust it anyway. Let me do things myself! (Same with pumping gas... one of the few things I dislike about Oregon) Haven't even seen a valet key in a while, since they don't make sense for SUVs or the like.

Do these look like decent replacements to you? (Obviously each of the 4 is slightly different.)

ezone

Headlight bulbs are famous for doing this too.


Looks cheap enough.

RIPSAW

Those aftermarket Dorman door locks last about 1 year in my CRV. That is when I rebuilt the old parts and replaced them again. On one, I had to enlarge the lever slot to fit out of the box. My third one I happened to get from Ebay that was OEM from a dealer for $30. I never have pulled them apart to see why they quit working.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Price them out for a Toyota sometime.

Replaced the passenger side on my 05 way back when(I owned it)

It got slower & slower.

5spdvroom

Hmm... maybe OEM off ebay is the best bet then. Looks like those are just over $30 for genuine on ebay with this car. I don't want to disassemble all the door panels a year from now... That said, with the actuators that I've seen work on this car, they weren't slow or anything - certainly no more so than grandma's low mileage car of the same gen. Just unreliable with the keyless (so a briefer connection vs the internal switch makes sense).

And as for Toyotas - you didn't say which model, but just looking at 05 Corolla actuators... wow! $116 for a Dorman unit for a single door? Yikes.

5spdvroom

Say, another little thing that comes to mind, while I'm at it (not sure if I should start another thread) - do you guys find that these Civics and the like start better if you let the fuel pump prime itself first (turn to on, let it hum for 2 seconds, then crank)? Mine sometimes has to crank several times (occasionally even multiple tries) if I don't. But if I do, it turns over fairly quickly and fires right up every time, spikes to 1500-1800 or so, and then goes toward idle (maybe a tad higher if cold) nice and happily. And once it's running, it runs fine. Always cranks at a normal speed, just multiple times when it doesn't want to cooperate. On those few occasions that I stall it, it fires right back up quickly.

I recall my mom's '11 CR-V being faster at cranking, for whatever reason, even if I don't let it prime. Seems like it only cranks twice or so before firing up warm, or just a little more when cold. Though that car, too, likes to prime - unlike some other cars (ex. early 00's Corollas) I've seen. Hmm.

RIPSAW

Do not let off the key too soon. Not saying hold it in when it starts but just don't let off starter too quick. The less cylinders, the longer in fractions of a second it takes to catch good enough to run. Does not hurt to let fuel pump set the pressure. Do not think it's actually priming. Fuel pump runs all the time once running holding a set pressure that bleeds off returning to tank. That first run you hear is from a timer since for pump to run all the time requires the computer to know motor is running due to safety requirements. However, if you get off the starter too quick of a FI car, they seem to crank longer the second time. Also reduces starter life since the big solenoid contact only has so many uses. The starter has a overrun sprang clutch and you cannot hurt it except actually hitting it with motor already running. Sorry for the ramble..

ezone

It sounds like you're only cranking it for maybe a second at a time.... change your habit to "don't let go of the key until it runs".

(NOTE: 15 seconds maximum cranking time if it does not start, then let the starter motor cool for at least a full minute so you don't burn it up)..


Seems like most of the cars can take longer to start when the fuel level is low, like below a quarter tank or so.

5spdvroom

OK, I can tend to hold it longer - but it still does take longer to start if I don't let it set pressure first, fairly consistently - which isn't a problem on the CR-V.

And no, I almost never run it down past 1/4 tank. Seems like one more worry on my mind (running out of gas, burning up the fuel pump), so why bother? Unless I really need those extra few dollars in my wallet instead of the tank, that is...

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

I started into the habit with my 05 Civic of waiting until the fuel pump stops before cranking, And NOT ONE single time in about 7-8 years of doing so have my 2 Civics failed to start on the very 1st attempt.