corolla door lock is acting funky?

[student_driver]

Hi,
Problem is at the rear driver side door on my 98 corolla.
My car is equip with power door lock (OEM)
.
Say, if the current position is "UNLOCK".
If I lock the doors using the switch on the door panel on the driver side, the rear driver side door not locking.
I have to:
Press the switch again to unlock all door, then press the switch again to lock the doors. THEN, it works.

Thus in order to lock all doors, I have to lock, unlock, lock.

I doubt the actuator is bad, because it does lock the door..... on second try.

I've read past postings and did oil the locking mechanism, yet still have the same problem.

Anyone knows whats going on here? Thanks

[freakinbox]

sounds like it's dying...

[Ukrainian102]

You sure you oiled it well enough? Just spray alllll over where the lock mechanism is or any part of it that looks like it might be getting stuck.

[student_driver]

I didn't take the locking mechanism out..... I heard it's a pain in the rear.
Dunno if I sprayed enough oil, I'll try some more today.

Dying? well, only the first try is bad. After that it's all good (second try, third try, forth, etc.). That's why I'm puzzled by this.

[Ukrainian102]

Originally Posted by student_driver

I didn't take the locking mechanism out..... I heard it's a pain in the rear.
Dunno if I sprayed enough oil, I'll try some more today.

Dying? well, only the first try is bad. After that it's all good (second try, third try, forth, etc.). That's why I'm puzzled by this.

You don't have to take it out just use the straw that came with the can of spray lubricant to get into all the tight spots.

You're right that it probably isn't the actuator since it's making a sound... definitely a mechanical problem, not an electrical one.

[student_driver]

Did something I never thought I would do:
I took the lock mechanism apart. Not as bad as I thought it would but it's not a walk in the park either.

All you need to do is remove 1 bolt located behind the door panel, right on top of the actuator. You won't miss it, since it's the only bolt. And remove 3 screws located at the side of the door, 2 below the lock and 1 above it.

Remove the door rod and the lock rod from the clips, then push the lock in. Viola! Wiggle your way thru and out it goes.

I put oil in places no men would ever imagine
Then I test the power lock............ sometimes it work on the first try, sometime it still doesn't.

Tired from squating and holding the oily lock mechanism, I told myself to just put it back and hope that the oil would loosen the gunk overnight (if that what 's causing the problem).

Putting it back is the challenging part. The space is very tight. The outside door handle connects to the lock with a white "Y" shape plastic stick. You have to manage to get the lock thru the Y stick, then connect that Y stick to the center of the lock.
Connecting the Y stick to the center of the lock is a pain. You gotta pull the inside door handle rod so you have room to manuver. So one hand pulling the rod and holding the lock mechanism at the same time, while the other hand is guiding the Y stick with a screw driver

The good news is that you don't have to remove the outside door handle.

Took me about an hour to do this. Second time should be faster, since I now know how to do it. Small hands help alot.... a luxury I don't have.
Flashlight is a must.

Oh well, hopefully the time I spent doesn't go down the toilet.

[Ukrainian102]

Props for taking it apart. Now that you know how to replace it maybe you could pull one from a Corolla in a junkyard and replace yours if thats what's causing the problem.