power door locks not working

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Aug 27, 2014 | 03:27 PM

krewmaxxed

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power door locks not working

So on my 2001 excursion v10 my power door locks won't work. The 30amp fuse under the hood is blown and originally thought it was simply the fuse. No biggie picked up a new fuse... yay it works! Well it did for 2 locks and 2 unlocks then blown. So after reading I suspected it was the resistor inside the door lock actuator. So I did the free mod (taking them all apart and using foil instead of a resistor) got done last night popped in a new fuse... 2 locks 2 unlocks and a blown fuse. So I feel like I wasted a bunch of time doing the resistor mod but whatever,and now im back where I started.

So right before this problem started originally one of my boys was messing with the number pad on the driver door. Not sure if its related just thought I'd put that in for out there. Anyways I'm getting frustrated with this problem. Have done some googling trying to search for similar cases which all led to the actuator resistor. So any help would be very much appreciated!

Aug 29, 2014 | 05:38 PM

krewmaxxed

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Anybody have suggestions?

Aug 29, 2014 | 05:49 PM

Apocalypse

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From: Salem, VA

Well the resistor mod isn't a waste of your time so don't feel bad about that. I would go through the fuses again and see if they are good and then start with the drivers switch panel. Everything goes through it first IIRC so the issue might start there.

Aug 29, 2014 | 06:41 PM

Dcope17

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This may sound like a pain... but, I'd open all the doors and unhook all the actuators.
With a pile of fuses at hand, I'd toggle the switch and see if you blow a fuse or not.
If it does blow a fuse, then you have a shorted wire or a bad switch.

If all is good, then I'd hook up one actuator and toggle it back and forth and see what happens. If its good, I would only have one hooked up at a time and toggle each one several times.
If that all works out, then start hooking up all of them one at a time and testing them. ( Note: if you hook one up in the group and you blow a fuse, that doesn't mean that the last one is the bad one ) certainly one in the group is pulling too much power but the fuse may be able to handle it until more are hooked up.

Aug 31, 2014 | 01:26 PM

krewmaxxed

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Only problem with testing each lock is those damn fuses are like $3.75 each. Good news is I just found some evidence of an alarm that was installed and then removed. Im gonna follow that to see if there were spliced wires that are messed up. Fun day ahead...

thanks guys for the help and keep it coming!

Aug 31, 2014 | 04:09 PM

Dcope17

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Just thinking out loud here... but you maybe be able to test each one individually with an amp meter ( one with a 10A setting ) and see how many amps each one draws. Maybe give you some clarity about what you're chasing. ( Bad wiring/switch or bad actuator)

Good luck.

Sep 16, 2014 | 01:00 PM

krewmaxxed

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Little update: so I've been busy and finally got to monkeying around with the door locks last night. I disconnected the door keypad on the outside to eliminate that as the culprit... not the problem. So I noticed that when it did have momentary power the passenger rear door lock wasnt moving. Took the door lock mechanism apart lubed it up and got it to freely unlock and lock w/o popping the fuse YAY! Victory was short lived. I thought it was catching on the door panel bc after I put it back on and shut the door it was sticking again. HERE WE GO AGAIN! Well after playing around with it for a good while I figured out that it didnt happen until the door was shut. So not being able to get parts at 1 a.m. I disconnected the actuator harness and put it all back together. So for now 3/4 door locks are working! Gonna check some pick and pulls for the whole assembly. Hopefully I can find the latch/actuator combo!

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Sep 21, 2014 | 09:24 PM

greg807

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Joined: Oct 2013

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From: LA in Winter WI in Summer

I have had aftermarket actuators installed on all doors of both of my Excursions. The aftermarket actuator is installed in addition to the factory actuator. I believe, but am not sure, that the factory actuator can be left connected or disconnected if causing electrical issues. Most places charge about $50 per door parts and labor. Ford dealer charges about $185 per door for OEM part and labor. On the first Ex, I found once one original actuator is weak that other will begin failing shortly thereafter, so I just all four at the same time on the second Ex., The part cost $6.68 last time I bought them. I believe it is the same actuator used to add power locks with an alarm system when the vehicle does not have power locks. I have head two separate shops I use say this is the way to go. They work flawlessly, here is a link to Amazon, but many outlets sell them -