Well that was surprisingly easy. I should've taken pictures, but for anyone replacing a lock actuator on a 2009-up Pilot, the procedure is as follows:
Parts (
www.hondapartsnow.com):
72110-SZA-A02 Latch,R FR DR Pwr
$37.38
72133-SZA-A00 Cable, FR. Door Lock
$4.85
72131-SZA-A00 Cable, FR. Inside Handle
$4.85
-Gently pry off the triangular plastic piece that covers the sideview mirror connector
-Use a small flatblade to release the tang on the little plastic cover by the inside door handle that reveals two of the three screws that hold the door card on.
-Remove the two screws
-Remove the one remaining screw under the window/lock controls
-Gently pry up the lock/window button panel and remove it by disconnecting the wiring connector
-Gently pry the door card off from the bottom up and pull straight up to get the weather seal out of the door shell
-You'll have to balance the door card on your knee while you remove both the courtesy light connector, door actuator connector, and both cables that attach to the inside door handle.
-The courtesy light is a quarter turn connector, so simply give it a quarter turn and pull it out of the door.
-Depress the tang on the actuator connector and remove it
-The cables are a little trickier, so be careful not to break any of the little plastic retaining clips out of frustration. Both of them have rotating retaining clips that go over the cable sheath. Move both of them out of the way (this can be done by hand) and free the cables from the handle assembly.
-The bottom cable has a similar retaining clip which can be rotated by hand, which releases the cable end which has a metal 90 degree which then pulls straight up and out.
-The top cable is a little tricker, be careful not to break this clip as it must be reused if you replace the cables too. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to compress the tangs from the bottom and push the clip up through the hole. Be very careful as the hole is also plastic and can break causing you to have to replace the whole door handle assembly.
-Once the cables are loose, you can set the door card aside
-Carefully pry the right half of the sound deadening away from the door shell. It uses a soft adhesive that can be carefully pried off letting you re-attach it when you put everything back together
-The hardest part will be releasing the metal actuator rod out of the door handle assembly. It has yet another rotating retaining clip which must be released before you can pull the rod out. I ended up using a flat-blade screwdriver to then pry against the door handle assembly and pry the rod end out. With a little persuasion it will come out leaving the plastic clip in the handle.
-Use a number 3 phillips screwdriver and remove the three screws around the latch mechanism and one screw on the front of the door shell that attach the actuator mechanism to the door
-Remove the 10mm bolt holding the window track on that side
-This allows you access to remove the whole assembly out of the door
-Once it's out, you'll have to remove some rubber weather stripping and one small phillips screw and the shield that hides the cable attachments
-Once this shield is removed, you can remove the cables and either reuse the old ones or attach the new ones
-Again, the top one is straight forward and has a simple double 90 degree zig zag end that simply goes into a small hole
-And yet again, the bottom one is fiddly but straightforward to remove
-If you replace the cables, once you remove the top one, look at the position of the plastic clip on the end that attaches to the inside door handle, and note the position
-Carefully pry the clip off with a small flatblade screwdriver and place it on the new cable in the same location
-Once you have the new cables attached to the actuator, reattach the shield to the new actuator
-From there re-assembly is the opposite of disassembly
While this sounds overly complex, in practice it took me less than a half hour to do, and I didn't break a single connector or retaining clip. Everything came apart and went back together easily. It's fairly straightforward for your average backyard mechanic. If you can change your brakes, replace a cabin air filter, or change your spark plugs, you can do this. Just take your time and be careful not to break any of the plastic clips.
A couple of things to note:
-I was able to put enough torque on the three screws around the latch mechanism to remove them by hand, but a small electric impact gun would've made quicker work of it. I was just scared to strip them out. One of those impact wrenches that you whack with a hammer would work well also.
-Be careful not to over tighten these screws when you put them back in. Use loctite and snug them up good and hand tight.
-While I replaced both cables to the handle, in actuality both of the original ones were in perfect working condition. I just figured for $5/cable I should just replace them
-I put a gob of dielectric grease inside the connector that went into the actuator to protect it from moisture
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but hopefully this will be of assistance to anyone doing this. Feel free to PM me with any questions.