Was just reminded we are commenting on a 4 year old thread..
Thanks Mec..

 

Oh, it's well done with parts **** and all.
The OP has not been logged on to the forum in almost three years.

 

Great to see it revived to help others out again!

 

Old threads aren't bad threads.

 

Yeah, great post. I had gone through the procedure to fix the actuator motor and when I reassembled, it still would not drive the latch. I fiddled with the latch for 2 hours before giving up and searching. Bingo. This was spot on. This AM I ran PB blaster through it for an hour until finally it works smoothly. I have a couple miles of gravel road and the dust that gets stirred up wreaks havoc on parts like this. This post was a HUGE plus. I don't think I would have found the source of the issue, nor persevered long enough to get it resolved. Maybe the OP will stop by someday. I know I have gone years but always come back when the going gets tough.

 

My key lock still won't work however :-( it's just frozen.

 

Maybe not, did you see my write-up on that? It might be in the folder.

 

Thanks everyone. It's nice to know exactly what to expect. Makes a potentially frustrating job into a 10 minute quickie. Mine wasn't too dirty (unusual for this truck), so I just blasted it with some air and put a little light oil on it.

 

Thank you for the how to and pics. Need to do on my 2000. Have you had problems with the glass door being released slightly and the lights staying on? Mine has killed two batteries from this. It will come loose while driving when you park and run into store interior lights will still be on eventually battery kicks it.

Thanks again

 

My back door lock wasn't working so I finally popped off the trim to take a look today. I noticed right away that the actual lock was pretty crusty looking. The little white plastic clip that, I suppose, holds the locking bar in place was very crusty. I barely touched it and it broke in half, causing the locking bar to fall off the lock Ok. Moved on to the actuator and now that the bar is free from the lock, it seems to be working fine. I took my truck key and placed it in the lock to see if it would move. It is still frozen in time. I'm assuming this is my problem and NOT the actuator.

So what now? Obviously, I'll lube the crud out of it to see if I can free it up, but do I need to replace the entire lock because of the little plastic guide thing? I've been all over Google and am finding a fix for the actuator, but not the actual lock.

Anyone deal with this before? Thanks!

 

I think you're on the right track with lubing it. If possible remove it and let it soak in a small plastic tub (or platinum tub, I don't care) for a few days agitating it and working the lock whenever able. The other option is to just hose it down with silicone lube every day and work that thing like it owes you money. It'll eventually break free... or break.

 

Ok, little more research into this and I see now I have to replace the key lock cyclinder. Kind of sucks to have a different key for the back, but in all the years I've had this truck I've never used the key to open the back, just the remote. I'm finding the lock on ebay, but they're saying right or left. Anyone know which one the back liftgate would be? The actuator is drivers side, if I remember correctly, so is the lock the same as drivers too?

 

Soak it in one one those "super" penetrating oils overnight and use a little pick to scrape the rust etc, it should free up...........mine did, see my thread on it (should be in the tech folder).

 

I can't soak it, it's broke. Check out this:




See the red or blue plastic piece? That's what holds the bar, which connects to the actuator. Well my plastic piece is split in half. So I see no way around replacing the lock cylinder, I just don't know hot to go about doing it. Who's bright idea it was to make such an important piece plastic?

 

Ok. Well, I had a brain fart and realize that I don't NEED the key cylinder in working order for the door to lock as long as the actuator is in working order, which it is. I already ordered the key cylinder, so it will be a project for...someday. Thanks for letting me 'talk it out' to myself on the forum.