Driver side door lock doesn't work

[Gamble97]

Ok, did a search and couldn't find much. My driver side door won't lock and unlock with the button. I thought maybe it was related to my keyless entry so I unhooked it and no luck. I lubed it all up, no luck.
Sometimes it trys to move, like it will move 1/8 of an inch and stop. How do I tell if it's a door lock acuator? I can hear the relays clicking. Also if it is the acuator who sells them the cheapest and how much of a pita are they to install?

 

[turbosax2]

To check the actuators, follow this procedure:

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New OEM actuators are hella expensive, so I wouldn't go that route. Instead, use something like shown here. We replaced both actuators on my brothers car, but for the life of me I can't find the site where he bought new ones. He got 2 new ones for very cheap though, and they work great. They have been on for about 6 months now. I'll ask him to see if he remembers where he got them from. The install is fairly easy, but obviously takes a little bit of rigging to get them to work right. You might as well replace both actuators while you're at it.

Edit: Found it - Parts Express:High Power Door Lock Actuator 2 Wire

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

Yeah, holy thread revival but I need mine replaced also. turbosax2, do you guys have any pics from the installation and can you explain in depth about the "rigging" that you guys had to do? I'm looking to place an order for a couple of these but don't want to do a ghetto install.....

 

[turbosax2]

Go figure, this is the one thing I did to my brothers car that I didn't take pictures of. Next time I feel like working on his car I'll pop the door panel off quick and take pictures for you. Shoot me a pm if I forget to post them.


Basically we did the same thing as shown here. Once you pop off the door panel and peel back the insulation you can easily see what you're dealing with and what you're trying to accomplish with the new actuators. You're connecting the rod from the new actuator to the rod from the stock actuator so they both move as one piece. The hardest part was mounting the new actuators, getting them tucked in so they wouldn't interfere with anything, yet keeping them positioned so you could align both the actuator rods. I believe I used some little hardware from an Erector set to mount them, as well as several zip ties. (The actuators are VERY torquey, so when I mounted them like shown in the link they would twist themselves a lot from all the torque. The zip ties were put in so they didn't move around so much.)

Once I got the first side done, the other side went very quickly then. Make sure you wire them up properly too so you don't reverse unlock/lock. I believe the colors in that link are correct, but I can't remember for sure. When I have the door panels off I'll try to check it out for you.

I'm looking to place an order for a couple of these but don't want to do a ghetto install.....

Sorry, but this is actually one of those things I consider a "ghetto" install. The actuators work very well and you obviously can't see the mess behind the door panel, but this is still a rigged up setup using zip ties. But it sure beats spending $400 for factory actuators!

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

Hey thanks man. I think I'll just go ahead and order them. I'll try my best to not make my install too "ghetto".

 

[turbosax2]

Here you go Ricky. Let me know if you need any more pictures. Note that my brothers car is an early 1995 model with the remote entry box near the ecu, rather than near the back seats. I don't know if your wiring will be different or not, but his keyless entry works fine with how we wired the new actuator.

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

Hey thanks for the pics Eric. I got mine in and I'll be installing them this weekend. You and your brother didn't do too bad of a job. Zip ties FTMFW. I'll be following suit.

 

[bpark919]

hahahah! this is exactly what i needed. Search box ftw! thanks for the information.

 

[tduncan907]

Freakin perfect! I went to pull everything apart today and was like wtf how do these mount at all! Thanks for the pics got it done in 20 minutes with those!