How do you get that little tab off that holds the actuator? I don't want to break that tab.. Do you have to remove the torx screws that hold the latch mechanism before you can get the actuator out?

 

Nope... but on your first lock, if you can't find the tab that you have to pry with a screw driver, then you could take the whole assy. out and then you'll know what to look for when you do the next one. But look REALLY close at the picture and look where the screw driver is stuck. if you can't see it, let me know and I'll post an enlarged picture.

 

There was one tab on the front door actuator I couldn't get loose.I pulled the whole thing out the outside handle hole to get to it

 

Thanks Guys.. Jonathan if you could enlarge the picture that would help.
To remove the whole assembly do I just remove the 3 torx screws on the door edge?

 

Super job on the actuator post.....

I "fixed" all 4 of my 2002 F250 actuators and left the garage a happy man....about 3 days later my wife went to take the truck out and it barley had enough power in the batteries to crank over. What would cause the "fixed" lock actuators to drain my batteries? I pulled the main fuse for the locks and the truck is starting fine....after a re-charge.

Any clues would be appreciated.

 

That, or you were just "lock happy" and drained the batteries watching the locks work because it'd been so long since you used them. HAHA!!! Hmmm... I have no idea. My locks never did that... did you just make metal dummies to put in the ends or did you do the foil thing?

 

I did the metal dummies....was so easy....once I did one.....I called my Dad and "fixed" his Ranger door lock actuators. His battery is fine....must be my personal rain cloud. I hate electrical problems....hard to track down.

Any help much appreciated!

 

Check your switches... might be stuck. If you haven't used/actuate the locks since they went dead, I'm wondering if something is getting hung up? I don't know... any ideas, fellas?

 

You may be grounding one of them out ever so slightly and it is acting as a resistor ( why the fuse does not blow)and draining the battery.

 

The fuse is one of the 30 amp Maxi fuses.....it would take a good ground to "pop" it.

I may pull the power plug to the back door locks and see if the battery drains...try to single out which door is the culprit then tear into it. I'm just not that savey on electrical problems....ie testing switches and motors etc....

 

On my third door I couldn't get all the plastic pieces inside the actuator to seat properly and the actuator wouldn't work. I ended up drilling out the two metal rivets to completely open the actuator. On the fourth door I might just drill them out to start with, in order to have complete access to the actuator, and then replace them with small screws. I hope I don't have to do that fourth door for a while.

I don't see how the resistor could be draining your battery. The resistor simply sits between the switch on the door and the electrical motor in the actuator. Something would have to be supplying constant current to the resistor, and if this happened, I would expect to see one or more of the doors continuously locked or unlocked, depending on the current flow, or the motor would burn out and not work at all. I suspect the current drain you're seeing is coincident with the upgrade you made, not dependent on it. The first place to start is to check whether your battery is indeed seeing a drain with the engine off. There are good directions on this site for checking for battery drain, I've had to use them myself.

 

Hows does the tinfoil work??

 

It's when you wrap the resistor in foil instead of making a dummy. I tried the foil, but the whole thing kept tearing on me when i tried to put it in. Also, on another friend's actuator, I was actually able to bend the contacts that held the resistor to the point where they shorted and I didn't even have to put a dummy in the cap. You could try that, it just takes a bit of patience.

 

Gang,

It wasn't the lock acutators after all.....I tested my 3 year old Duralast batteries and the driver side battery dropped to 6 volts when I tried starting the truck.....bad battery!! So for a bit I have been running off of one battery.

I replaced the old batteries with new Interstate batteries.....put the fuse back in for the locks and I'm once again enjoying my power locks

Thanks for all of your tips and clues.

 

Awesome! It's awesome to enjoy the locks after all those years, isn't it!?