Rep Power: 118

2003 Civic EX

Drivers side door actuator stopped working.
A few months ago I pulled the door panel, unplugged the actuator and plugged the connectors into a 2nd actuator that I had pulled from another 2003 EX.
Nothing happened.
Fwiw I did a continuity test on the 2nd actuator and its working as it should.

When the drivers door is closed and unlocked, the remote will unlock and lock the other 3 doors.
When using the lock/unlock switch on the drivers door panel all the other door locks work properly but the drivers door lock does nothing.
If all the doors are unlocked and I manually lock the drivers door all the other doors lock as they should.

At this point I suspect one of the wires in the drivers door harness may be broken.
But I can't see how to get to the wires in the harness.
I can disconnect the rubber boot/ conduit from the door or the body but there's not enough room to compress/ squish it enough to get to/ to see the wires.

So how does one get the rubber boot/ conduit out of the way enough to check the wires in harness?
Do I have to remove the door checker to open the door wider than normal to get more room?
Or perhaps release the rubber boot/ conduit from one side and push it into the cavity on the other side (door or body side)?


Note:
I've been using the key and manually opening the door.
But now the key doesn't work very well and it's likely the tumbler pins are getting worn (key works fine on the passenger door).
That said I'd like to get the actuator/ power door lock on the driver's door working again.

 
Rep Power: 118

After a little more research and it looks like I've got to take the inside door panel off etc and pull the whole harness.
The good news is I have a parts car to figure it out on before doing it on '03 I'm driving
Unfortunately any work I do is done outside and it's too cold up here for that right now.
Oh well guess I'll be using the key for awhile longer. And when it stops working in the drivers door it's on to the passenger door.

 
Rep Power: 225

Alternative is to not lock the car

You are correct though. Door panel needs to come off. You can get to the cab side connector easy enough to check continuity from it into the door but you'll still have to pull it out to fix it.

 
Rep Power: 118

How do I check continuity on the connector? What pins or ?? would be used to check for continuity?
Asking as I assume the connector has more than a few points of contact.


As for not locking the car....
When I "locked" the car with the remote I'd hear the click of doors locking. Same thing when I "unlocked" it.
Bottom line the car was probably left unlocked numerous times over many days (weeks??) before I discovered the drivers door wasn't locking with the remote
Good thing it's a relatively safe community up here.

 
Rep Power: 223

Google how to perform a continuity test

 
Rep Power: 118

I know how to do a continuity test.
What I don't know is what to test, specifically what pins on the connector to test for continuity.

BrotatoChip said "You can get to the cab side connector easy enough to check continuity from it into the door".
Great. So once I have the cab side connector in hand what pins on the connector do I test for continuity from it into the door?

 
Rep Power: 223

Check them all, when I repaired a door harness in my 05 3 or 4 were broken/only had a couple strands left. The rest had cracked/missing insulation.
or just pull the harness out and check the harness where it flexes

 
Rep Power: 118

Will do thanks. Unfortunately I don't have a garage so it's going to be a few months before it gets warm enough here to get it done/ work on it outside.
The good news is I put some graphite lube into the lock cylinder and it has started to work a little better.