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Did this on the '05 Excursion a month ago and it works well
I did learn something though...wipe up the excess white lithium grease after it sets. If you don't, your truck will wreak of it and you'll start having visions of sugar plums dancing in your head and on the road.
[quote=Toreador_Diesel;13807079]Did this on the '05 Excursion a month ago and it works well
I ran out of time for moving out of the country and ended up putting it in to the dealership to get fixed over a year ago with mine. It was the motor that went bad. $320 after all said and done. Fixed. But my brother in law picked up the EX the next day and has had it ever since. We have been living in New Zealand for a year now, and plan to be here another year. Brother in law and my sister keep trying to get me to sell it to them, but we won't
The one thing I hear from my kids, and unbelievably from my wife every week is how much they miss the EX. But at $2500 shipping from USA to NZ and, $9+ a gallon for gas here in NZ (est $450 to fill up tank), not to mention the overweight road tax costs for a heavy vehicle like that: best to leave it in the states. Plus it won't even fit on the skinny roads here. We will always have the EX no matter where we are in the world. Best vehicle ever.
I spent part of this afternoon in 60 degree weather for the middle of January no less, working on the rear hatch lock of my newly acquired 2000 Ex. It too, had ceased to work who knows how long ago. The key wouldn't even insert past half way into the cylinder much less turn it. The actuator is shot and I'm awaiting a whole new set of 5 to be delivered sometime this week hopefully. Meanwhile, the latching mechanism seemed to be hanging up and not operating smoothly so I removed it, sprayed it down really well with carb cleaner to rid it of any old crudded up grease and dirt and regreased it. Seems to be working a lot smoother now and I think the new actuator will operate it once installed. I'm ordering a new key cylinder tonight and was able to salvage the existing pawl after scraping way the rust. I think it'll work once reinstalled onto the new cylinder.
I need to replace mine... I removed it when I first got it so I could rebuild it. I lost it in the move and it's been missing since. I could manually lock the hatch up until the last 2-3 months but now nothing works, it stays unlocked
Bumping this up for those who may not have seen it. Just completed the procedure for my Ex which I had found had a hatch that wasn't locking. Sure enough a lot of lubricant and some white lithium grease and I was able to get things moving. Bad thing was that it was so frozen that the solenoid that operates it with the power locks tried to force it and broke the tab that moves the arm that moves the latch mechanism. So now I can use the key but not the remote or power locks.
If you have never done this to your Ex, I highly recommend that you do it now. It is very easy and if you catch it in time, you may prevent the failure that I now have. Who knows, you may find that your hatch doesn't even lock! I know I was sure surprised.
FYI, I was able to get the lithium white grease from Amazon for about $7 with Prime.
Mines been broke for as long as I can remember... Razzi might have fixed it when I first got it but all I know is it's been stuck unlocked for as long as I can remember. I have the rear cover off now so I'll try to fix it today if I have time after the shocks
I cleaned and lubricated my rear hatch lock about 2 weeks ago and works great now. Takes 2 minutes to get the trim off. I used PB blaster dry lubricant and just worked the action back and forth a bit. The back of the lock was a bit rusty but the rest was ok.
It should be the same as the driver's side door actuators. You can get them at Autozone for $65 and they have a lifetime warranty.
Thanks.
I got into my tailgate and gave the lock cylinder and mechanism a good going over with WD40 and managed to free it up perfectly. I'll get some better lubricant later and protect it properly.
This thread has saved me splashing out on a new actuator and possibly a new barrel too.
Quick reminder on this maintenance item. Mine was freed 4 years ago, but had re-frozen due to dirt, oxidation, oil accumulation.
As mentioned above the 4mm hex is the only special tool needed. A good rainy day job.
I'm going to show some photos of the exact arm that gets stuck over time. The actuator works fine, but won't budge when that arm is stuck. Ignition Key won't move it either. My rear window exterior molding (the one that peels black clear coat) was loose and allowing more desert into the hatch than normal.
Some pic's of that gap also. Tighten the inside nut to snug the trim piece back to the rear window.
Stuff needed:
Overall view:
Clean out all that silty dirt.
Area to focus on, rearward of the actuator, right of wiper motor, behind the red square:
No issue with the locking mechanism nor arm.
Here is the arm that I'm moving back and forth manually. After spraying some lube in there, work it back and forth 20 times so it's a smooth movement.
Side view:
Work that mechanism and arm back and forth with index finger.
Finally, tighten the exterior trip below the window to keep dust out.
gents, just wanted to follow-up and thank you all for the content of this thread, was having issues with the rear hatch lock on my 2005 excursion, followed the advice found here, a little pb blaster, some mechanical fiddling, and voila!, the rear lock works like a charm! great forum, great posters, great content, thanks for your continued contributions, it really makes a difference!!
