I have a 1996 Accord EX 4-door sedan. After a decade of faithful service, last night the front-passenger side door lock started acting up. Whenever I try to lock the door (either through the remote, the driver side door lock, the outside key, or even just pushing down on the lock) I get a loud squeeching/whirling sound. The door does lock though. Unlocking works just fine. Any ideas what the problem might be? Is this easy/cheap to fix?

On a similar note, I have the original 2 remotes that came when I purchased the car. One of them no longer locks/unlocks the car while the other will work about 70% of the time. I've changed batteries and the light looks bright. Is this something wrong with the remotes or with the car?

Thanks

 

Put a door lock actuator on it if it bothers you.

 

Not sure I understand. Is a "door lock actuator" something I add to the car to stop the noise? Or is it a replacement part? Is it easy to install? Thanks.

 

door lock actuator is attached to the door latch assembly, you need to buy it from the dealer,
as for the ease. you need to remove the door panel , with a bit of work , you can replace the actuator without removing the door latch asembly , if you got no clue .. you might either live with the noise or pay a tech to do the job .. should not charge you more that 1-1.5 hr in labor

 

So, it's taken a while to find enough time to do this, but I've finally taken off the door panel and have removed the plastic sheeting. I can see the actuator (off-white) but I don't see how to remove it. The window runner appears to block it's removal. Are there any instructions on how to remove/replace it?

 

okay pull the bolt that holds the lower run channel in place, then you'll need a #1 phillips bit to remove the actuator, when the 3 screws are out it will unhook from it's latch connection.
I used to just open up the case and shim the broken spring tab with little washers and epoxy them in place.
Then I got to plastic welding a rod in place to support the tab, 35 watt soldering pencil works great.

 

Thanks. Does it matter what position the window is in? Up/down/halfway?

George

 

Thanks for all the advice. I fixed the problem yesterday. Cost me a tube of superglue and a lot of time. Better than forking over over 500 to the dealer. Here's a photo history of the process:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6406756...7601502353138/

 

Awsome write-up on that! 4 hours and $1.99 tube of super glue or $520 and all day.... hmmmm.... which way would I do it?

Thanks for the follow up.