Okay, so we're up to the fun part. That whole door lock mechanism is a pain in the butt to get out of the door! Even after disconnecting the multiple connection points from it, I had to wiggle it back and forth and contort myself to try to see into the door and find some way of pulling a square peg through a round opening. After much maneuvering, I was able to get the whole device out of the door.

 

Here's a shot of the door lock mechanism laying outside of the door:



The cable coming out of the upper section of the mechanism with the blue tape around it is the inner handle cable.

The cable coming out of the center of the mechanism is the cable (in it's trough) that runs up to the door lock that protrudes from the top of the door that you use to manually lock/unlock the door. In order to get the mechanism to come out of the door and drop down this low, you have to remove the phillips head screw that holds the top of this cable onto the door. The point of this mounting point is to hard mount the manual lock/unlock post. Also, that trough that holds this cable has a phillips head screw that had to come off. Then it lifts up and two tabs pull off the door in order to drop it down.

 

After this, there were no more pictures because I was just concerned with getting the job done.

The mechanism has a big plastic cover on it that you have to manipulate in several areas to remove. In one place is a metal snap, I used a flat tip screwdriver and pried it off that. Then another place is a plastic snap. Just a push of a fingertip removed that side. Then the black cable trough had to be removed. One side has a push pin type connector and the other side a tab connector. I removed the tab connector but bent the push pin too much that it snapped off. I had to use superglue to reconnect it so it could be reinstalled correctly. There was also a small phillips head screw that had to come out.

After all that, the cover could be slid over enough to get at the one phillips head screw that held the lock actuator in place. With that removed, the actuator came right off.

The new actuator went right on, being mindful that the bottom of it has a slot that fits onto a tab on the mechanism. Then be sure the arm out of the lock actuator slides into the hole in the lock mechanism. This is what connects the mechanical operation between the two.

After that was slid into place and the screw holes aligned, the screw went back into place. The plastic cover fitted back where it belong. The trough (with the super glue finally dried) slid back down. The locking mechanism maneuvered back into the door. The three bolts to hold it in place. The trough refitted into its tab's slots and screw reattached. The manual lock cable routed through the door and reattached at the top. Both the connectors on the actuator reconnected. The outer door handle rod. And finally, the window channel bolted back into place.

Then place the plastic cover back down where it was, pressing on the caulk material to make sure the plastic adheres to the door.

Next is to lower the window again so you can start to place the door panel about where it'll fit back on the door and reattach the courtesy light socket and inner door handle. Then the door window/lock panel. Then starting from the front, slide the door panel into the window channel and maneuver it over the manual lock post. With the top where it should be. Start snapping all 7 of the clips into place.

After that's done, reinstall the one screw in the door grab handle and two screws under the inner door latch. Replace both covers. Next, replace the door window/lock panel. Then replace the mirror housing cover.

Lastly, check to make sure the door panel aligns correctly before test closing and opening the door with both the inside and outside handles. Then test the power door lock and power window again. Then manually test the locking post.

Finally, comes cleanup...

 

I hope I covered everything and didn't leave any steps out. If so, please post them.

I'll be happy to answer any questions about this job. Just don't start this job and run into a problem and hope to have a quick reply from me. Sometimes I don't come to this board for several weeks, so your reply might take awhile.

Like I've said in the beginning, this job isn't an easy one. I'd rate this one much harder than changing your own oil or air filters. So if that's about the extent of your maintenance abilities, I recommend just taking it to the Honda dealer. If the estimate I got was correct, you'll only be saving about $70 by doing this job yourself, successfully. But it might end up costing you more than that if you break something or run into problems and have to take it to the dealer anyways.

 

Keith ! Thanks for sharing the steps involved. While I HOPE I never have this problem, I feel much better already having seen it done along with reading the steps along the way.

Our 05 HAH is still younger than yours, only 36K miles on it which I noticed yesterday so it will hopefully be a while before ours wear out some.

I appreciate your efforts. GREAT JOB!

Tony

 

Good stuff, thank you for taking the time to take pics, and post instructions!

 

My passenger door wont open at all, for me to take off the door panel. Can I rip it off and replace the door panel with another or what would you suggest?

 

Because the lock is stuck in the down position? And pulling up on the lock post doesn't unlock it? If so try this: pull up as hard as you can on the lock post and as soon as you get it as high up as you can, try opening the door with the latch. If you can't get a good grip on the lock post, try using locking pliers on it. The lock post is much cheaper to replace than tearing off the door panel. Let me know if it worked.

If the lock post is stuck down, I'm thinking either the actuator motor is fried into position or there's still power going to it to keep it latched. You can always try pulling the fuse to the power door locks and seeing if that works.