Power Door Fix (In Progress) with Pictures

[wingzero]

I've searched high and low to find a visual DIY guide for fixing the power door on my Sienna. Google - No, Siennachat - not, Anywhere - NO! So I figured I'd do one myself.

Keep in mind that this is a DIY in progress, however it should have every step necessary if you have a replacement motor assembly.

I am attempting to fix my motor assembly myself.

*Disclaimer* I am not a certified mechanic, so use this narrative at your own risk. These steps are my steps, nothing more.

*Disclaimer 2* This is being authored late at night - you get what you get at this time.....


Preliminary Step 1.

Purchase Beer
Purchase Stress Reliever


Preliminary Step 2. Use TSB Sparingly

Wow, who the hell writes these things? Maybe it's just me, but I thought that the TSB was pretty cryptic.... Helpful in steps, not helpful when you can't figure out how the hell to take something apart.


Preliminary Step 3. Prepare

Remove / Stow all Seats (for your own comfort)
Park vehicle in good lighting
Prepare 2 - 6 hours depending on your skill level
Prepare Camera (take pictures)
Drink Beer

I actually tried to do this a week ago and failed. I ended up putting everything back together again. It was due to me not being mentally prepared to rip everything apart. Really, when you get down to it, it's not that difficult - just takes patience and a good setup.


Preliminary Step 4. Tools

10mm Sockets / Wrench's
Needle Nose pliers
Flat Head Screwdrivers
Short Phillips Screwdriver
Torx Bits (I'll have to see which one)
Heat Gun (Or your wifes hair dryer)
Magnetic thing so you can fish out dropped bolts (and you will)
Wire Cutters


Finished! Ok, now you can start the actual work. Good luck!

Pictures will start in next post......

[wingzero]

Step 1

Drink Beer

First things first - My Sienna Door could open about 10 inches. If your door doesn't open you will have to figure that out yourself. As you can see, the tell tale signs of poor engineering rears it's ugly head. Seriously - I have LASER cruise, 360 degree radar, GPS navigation and they use some 1913 technology for opening the power door WTF?



Remove Outside Molding.
What a pain in the ass. Remove Screw behind molding (easy see picture)


Next you have to wrestle with the cheap plastic grommets / clips. This things break if you look at them wrong. As you can see I was able to break one of them.... nothing a bit of double sided tape won't fix. The other task will use the heat gun / hair dryer. You need to heat up the molding on the bottom as to pull it away from the door. Here is a picture of the trim off the door:


And here is a picture of the door sans the trim:


Next you need to lower your window and remove (from the outside) another cheap plastic clip. This is an easy one.... however, sometimes the easy ones are the ones you want to just hammer the hell out of because you can't figure it out. Here is a picture of the door:


And here is a picture of the grommet. Separate the grommet BEFORE trying to remove it from the trim piece:


Trim Piece pulls right out (upward). here it is:


Next you need to remove the inside door trim started with the handle / power window button cover. Remove two screws at front of door:


And remove cover (will need to push the lock to the 'locked' position). DO NOT UNPLUG THE POWER WINDOW SWITCH YOU WILL NEED IT LATER. Simply unscrew it from the trim piece (2 screws).

[wingzero]

Next remove the entire interior trim using a taped flat head screwdriver. Gently loosen the cheap plastic clips all the way around the trim piece. Here is a picture of the removed piece. You can see the locations of the clips. Oh - and there is a screw at the very bottom that you'll need to remove first.... Once the are all loose, you can pull up on the whole piece and it will slide out (I have the window blinds).


Next open your rear windows. Another fun plastic trim piece to remove:


Honestly, I have no idea how the hell I got this thing off in one piece. The TSB has decent instructions on it. The best thing I can do is show you the back of the unit:


Then you'll see one of the 1913 cable 'tensioners'. Use your torx bit to get it off.


Next move to the other 1913 cable deal on the rear door jamb. Remove bolts.


Drink beer

Now the fun begins....

Now you have the wonderful task of removing the window. The joy of knowing "If I so much as chip this thing in the wrong place, my DIY effort will have cost me at least $500 bucks......

Remove this bolt (back inside of door). Why? I don't know - I did it and it seemed to work.


Loosen, but don't remove this nut on the back of the actual door (inside jamb).


Now pull out the window seal starting at the rear and going forward. If you are worried that you may never get it back in, you've got great instincts. Make sure you've purchased some plastic and duct tape in case it rains....


Move to the inside of the vehicle and make yourself comfy. Remove the two rubber hole plugs to access the window bolts:


Now, more fun ensues....
Using the cleverly kept power window actuator, move the window up or down so that the bolts line up with the holes. At this point, you may want to drink a beer - why you ask? This is simple, just a few bolts, and i'm home free with the window. You are correct, this is easy. Drinking the beer now will give it time to kick in for when you put the window BACK in.

Ok - After the bolts are out, push the window gently down on the back side and slowly pull out of the door. Take your time and ask for help - you don't want to drop it.
Bolt Hole up close:


Now you need to unplug the eleventy billion cables and wires from the window / latch module. BEFORE YOU START - TAKE A PICTURE WITH A HIGH QUALITY CAMERA.
These little deals just need to be lined up with the slot and pulled out:


Here is another one:


Ok - that was easy. Some of the cables are a pain in the ass to disconnect. Just take your time and it'll be fine. Once your done, unbolt the unit from the door:

[wingzero]

Now you get to the motor and pulley assembly. My pulley was all bound up due to the cheap cable and coating:


Remove bolts at top of pulley:


Remove bolts and wires from motor housing. Pull pulley housing, cables, tension things and motor out through motor hole. This takes a bit of acrobatics, but it does work.


VOILA!!! You have now removed your motor!


If you have a new one, you can probably use it, reverse the steps and be golden. Me - I'm cheap, i'm going to try and fix mine. Upon further inspection, it would seem that the cable casing is cracked into pieces, and the cable is a spaghetti mess of shit.


The main pulley is part of the culprit in my mind. Seems that cheaply coated cable, combined with cheaply manufactured pulley = grenaded housing, and bad day. I think that the coating also protects the main pulley. When it wore off, it started to cut into the pulley causing sharp edges. These edges wore the rest of the cable out.

[wingzero]

Fixed the main pulley housing first a la superglue

[wingzero]

Reserved

[jogger]

is it done?

[aanders999]

I just want to thank you for taking the time and trouble to post these pictures! I don't have any trouble with mine yet but most likely will at some point, I do have a question though where did you get a copy of the TSB? Is it online or can you post so we could print it?
Again, thanks, Andy

[osteome1]

E-mail me at bavariandoc at g.mail

I can send you the documents, including the part numbers for the replacement spool only, which can be used with the existing motor. The spool piece is about half the cost of the spool and motor assembly and is very easy to swap out. If you can get the motor out, you have completed the tough part. The motor itself does not fail, the 1913 spool assembly does.

[posguy]

Nice write up, thanks.

I hope I never need it.

[tbalon]

Yes. Thanks for taking the time to post this info and all the pics... you have done us all a great service.

[Mac Attack]

Thank you WingZero!

My 2005 door had to be "nudged" to get it to open/close so I knew the cable bit the dust. It had a cracks all over the sheath, but only had a few places where the sheath had come completely off. Glad I got to it before it did damage to the pulleys and plastic pieces.

Anyways, I used your inspirative post to remove the power assembly from the door, and tried to rebuild it with a new cable from this blog:
http://polifrogblog.blogspot.com/200...ower-door.html

If I've got time for a repair, why not try and save $400?

So, I went all over town trying to find coated small diameter wire. The smallest I could get was coated 1/16" wire. The coating was green. Oh well. Bought 15' of it, some ferrules, and a crimper. Total was about $40 at Home Depot. Lowes, Harbor Freight, and Northern Tool didn't have the kind of wire needed for this.

Got the door innards apart from your instructions and the Toyota TSB for replacing this thing in about an hour. The window was a PITA for me. I had to remove the rear window guide from the door to get it out.

Got the power door assembly apart and all the plastice pieces and pulleys looked OK. Just took everything apart and cleaned them up. Next, I measured the wire length from the old ones, crimped a stop on one end of each new wire, and cut the new wires, leaving exactly 2" extra to try and attach those ends to the anchors on the body (later).

With my larger diameter wire, I also had to grind away the main spindle housing so that the wires wouldn't rub. Used my dremel and then finished it up to make it smooth with fine sandpaper and rubbing compound. With the larger wires, it's important to ensure that everything is smooth with little resistance. I should have checked the old stuff for resistance but didn't before I took it apart....

It takes a lot of fitting to go this route.I had to trim the rubber caps going down to the main spindle. I also had to trim a lot on the plastic cover for all the pulleys going to the body. After it was all done, there is some resistance, but hopefully it will work. If not, I'm only out $50 and one night of work!

The last picture is where I finished for tonight. Now, I just need to figure out a way to attach it to the original anchors and then try it out! If it doesn't work, I'll soak everything in teflon lubricant to see if it loosens it up more. If not, then I'll just have to buy the $400 spool assembly from Toyota. Now that I know how to take it all apart and put it back again, it shouldn't take long to swap out....

Hopefully I'll know if it works tomorrow night.

Dave

[acthad]

This post does not print out too well so re-formatted it to pdf. Thanks a million WingZero!

[jacobylarson]

My cable broke a while ago and I am thinking about fixing it in a similar fashion. But when it broke, the door froze in an open position. I drove home that last mile with the door open and the kids freaking out. Instead of fixing it right then, I cut the cables and have had a working manual door. In that regard, if I find some cabling that works, I have no idea what length it should be. I don't want to install it and find that it needs one more inch just to close. Can anyone give me an idea of cable length for a 2004 Toyota Sienna?

[dangeo]

I did this fix on our 06 Sienna - thanks SO MUCH for helping us all out. Total cost of fix - $22. My swag'ing work might not have been good enough for the long haul, but if/when it fails again, I know exactly what to do. I'm the farthest thing from a mechanic - I've never done anything like this, so believe me if *I* can do it, anybody with a reasonable amount of hand-eye coordination and mechanical sense can do it.