2010 Legacy - One power lock not working?

Hi all:

 

I have a great 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5i, but one power lock (of course it's the driver's door) stopped working a little while ago. It locks/unlocks when I use key in the lock, or flip the inside lock manually, but it doesn't lock or unlock when I press the power lock button, or the buttons on my remote. All other doors lock and unlock normally.

 

I did a bit of research before I take the door apart, and it looks like the part I'm looking to replace is this one: "Latch And Actuator Door FLH. (Left, Front), Part num: 61032AJ01A". Or in other works, this part in the picture here (attached).

 

Does anyone have any experience with this, or have any suggestions?

 

Thank you!

No experience with it yet but yeah, thats where I would be looking too.

 

Would probably pull the panel and give it 12v direct to see if it's really dead, just to be sure.

scuba's right, try powering it directly to see if there's a fault in the mechanism and test it with a multimeter to see if it's getting power/has a fault in the wiring, and go from there.

Thanks for the advice. Mind if I ask what you mean when you say "power it directly"?

 

My troubleshooting experience with electronics is pretty limited, using a basic multimeter to measure voltage is about as complicated as I've gotten!

 

Thank you!

you'd need a power probe or similar. i'm not an expert on wiring(far from it, i *hate* electrical), but from my understanding if you're getting power there then the actuator would likely be at fault, but if not then you've got a wiring issue. you may also be able to hook the actuator up to the other side(i would assume the wiring/connectors are the same) and see if it works there to confirm if it's the actuator that's at fault. kinda like swapping engine coils to see if the coil's at fault or something else...

Yup, creep has good troubleshooting suggestions.

 

I havent seen the wiring but my assumption is that triggering the central locking feeds 12v to the actuator.

 

If you can check voltage with a meter, pull the actuator harness and see if there is 12v from any of the pins there when you trigger the central lock. If you have power, it does point to the actuator being faulty.

Got it, thank you guys for the background!

Update -- I finally ended up swapping this part out, and it was indeed the "Latch And Actuator Door FLH. (Left, Front), Part num: 61032AJ01A". My driver's door locks and unlocks like a dream now, with the door switch and the remote.

 

Also -- just a helpful tip in case anyone else has to do this: before taking the old latch/actuator piece out, you'll want to remove this bolt, right here (see picture, I'm pointing to it).

 

This bolt secures the bottom left side of the window channel as the window would roll down, I highly recommend removing it temporarily to allow you to get some play in that channel piece. Otherwise, you would have to maneuver the entire latch/lock assembly around that channel, and trust me, it's nearly impossible. This will also likely turn a 2-hour job into a 45-minute one.

 

 

https://imgur.com/a/Vp2N4V4

Edited April 26, 2021 by nickm81
couldn't figure out image uploading

thanks for the update and tip, hopefully it saves people some time and frustration in the future