How to needed rear door

[Blobbt1]

Hi, I can’t open the rear door on the car, it sounds as something is moving but the interior door lock indicator only moves about half way to the open position. How can I get the door open?  Any help would be appreciated

[Micholas]

You might need to get medieval!  

[BigBoomer]

It's nearly impossible to get the door card off with the door closed.
Your best bet for getting the door open may be a good car locksmith. They have tools and tricks that can sometimes perform "miracles".
Once you get it open, remove the door card there and then as that's the only way to get access to the lock mechanism.

[Malc1]

OR, a bit drastic .......  sacrifice the existing door card IF you can get a replacement from a breakers yard maybe !

Malc

[steve2006]

Hi James and welcome to the LOC.

Failing lock motors are a common issue, the carbon brushes wear out and the motor only moves slightly.

The lock release is cable driven so a decent auto locksmith should know where to go in down the outside window seal, hook onto the end of the cable and pull.

As previously advised once open take off the door trim until fixed, new actuators are around £100.00 from Lexus, I wouldn’t go the secondhand route.

[Blobbt1]

Thanks for all the help, I dropped the car at a specialist yesterday and they got the door open. It was in the half lock position something that Honda used to have a problem with. They had not done a Lexus before but were willing to try. The car is now going for some mot related repairs. 
the car belongs to my father in law who had a almost life ending stroke in 2021 and he wants to drive his car again hence my needs for the help from the club.

I have one further question the dash only partially lights the dials? The needles are bright but not the background? It’s been a long time since I owned a ls400 so any help would be greatly welcomed 

[steve2006]

That’s all good to hear James and thanks for coming back with an update 😀

The most obvious dull illumination cause would be if the knob on the lower right of the dash panel next to the security/Smart key LEDs had been turned down.

[Blobbt1]

Tried that, but makes no difference, I will try to get a picture when the car comes back.

do they use normal bulbs? For the backlight or is it an LED type?? I remember issues with the ls400 many years ago when I had them

[steve2006]

IIRC they are bulbs, just out of curiosity do all the button illuminations work at night when the external lights are switched on ( the ones for the AC and other functions for example) ?

Another thing to check are the sensors on top of the dash are clear from obstructions.

[Blobbt1]

I have not checked at night, I will when I get it back and update you