2001 sienna rear door wont unlock

[Gunruh]

Rear door wont unlock when using the remote or key . Took rear panel off and it looks like a small black lever wont kick over far enough to unlock the rear latch. Already replaced rear door handle which broke earlier in the year.Does the actuator need to be replaced or what?

[wiswind]

I have run into the SAME problem with my 2003.
The lock is not moving the lever on the latch far enough.
I sprayed some lubricant onto the latch assembly to free it up and bent the rod that comes down from the lock cylinder to the latch assemly at the bottom of the door to get it to move the lever more.
I don't know if it might be caused by it hanging up...and then it needs to be bent a bit AND lubricated?......seems once it acts up.....I have to remove the inside trim panel to mess with it.

[kloss1a]

I had just replaced the latch which broke after 10 years. I found one on-line for $29, so I decided to use it instead of trying to drill the old one as has been mentioned.

After replacing the latch the door did not open with or without the remote. Took the inside panel off and noticed that the cable had slipped from the slotted connector I had placed it in.

What I did was to file the slot in the latch connector just enough the force the metal housing on the cable into this piece. The metal cable housing has a area which looks like it was meant to slide into the piece on the handle mechanism. This now holds the cable so it cannot slide off and cause the latch to not work.

Hope this helps
kloss1a