Mine have been going strong with the foil fix for about 3 years now.

 

WOW!!!! I haven't been on here for a while. (I've been off the internet grid for a few years now) and holy cow! Way back in November of 2005 I started a thread. This one. I posted it in the 7.3 forum.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...at-a-pain.html

I am the original "dude", "guy" etc. etc. that "invented" this fix. I can't believe how many people have benefited and contributed to this over the years!! FTE remains an absolutely wonderful resource that has no comparison. I'm back on FTE as I have been searching for some info for some things I need to fix on the old truck. I decided to update my profile and stumbled across this thread that I subscribed to years ago.

OVER 220,000 VIEWS!!

Way to go FTE! I think most of us are on this forum because we came looking for a way to fix something on our trucks. We needed to fix something on our trucks, because we couldn't afford to pay the dealership for the fix. Believe me, if I could pay a dealer for parts or service I would. My time with my family is the most valuable thing I can think of, but it's also....FREE. Dealer repairs and parts are not. As I said in my original post.

"Necessity and Thin Walletitis is the mother of invention."

With all that being said; By my calculations, Thousands of dollars have been saved by the many who have done this repair. So. If you all can send just 10% of what you saved doing this repair to me at PO Box 13......Just kidding . What a great site. Keep it up All. I know I have benefited to the tune of thousands of dollars from following other peoples fixes and diagnostic work. Alternatively, I've spent a few dollars on mods I learned on this site as well. savings vs. mods.......it's a wash. Either way I've benefited!
Oh yeah. By the way. I invented/performed this fix all the way back in November of 2005 and my PDL's are still working PERFECTLY.

 

You da man

 

Thanks so much Taylormade! Reps sent!

 

just used this fix. Was a bit nervous but 54 pages of "yeah it worked" was pretty convincing.

cheers,

 

Yup, mine have been going almost a whole year so far, no problems!

 

just thought id thank the brain who figured this one out.it took me about a two hours to complete the first one and about 1.5 for the second.the only change i made was to use marine tex (fast set) on the plastic pins but thru bolt the riveted holes. great fix thx.

 

Great fix. I read through the whole post so forgive me if I missed it but has anyone here just ordered the replacement motor (not the entire actuator, just the motor) from E-Bay and tried it? That way you don't need to worry about not having a thermistor in place as the new one has it.

I know it's $6.95 per motor as opposed to a penny repair but that's still much cheaper than new actuators. And no tab bending issues either. Also if you replace the actuator rivets with screws, you'll have an easy future repair should the motor go bad again.

FORD AU DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR MOTOR FC280PC-22125 DIY!! | eBay

 

... but you'll also have a thermister, which WILL go bad again, leaving you with the same problem you just fixed

Some of us won't have that problem again until the motor, itself, fails.

Then, to my way of thinking, a good repair would be that new motor.

Pop

 

I bought one one time and the sliding linkage feature wasn't on it so they couldn't be worked manually so I sent it back and did the fix on all 5 and still great after 2 years.

 

Mine was less that a penny (tinfoil) and I used rebar tie wire on a couple holes after prying it open like a clam and dropping the motor out. Still good after 2 years.........all 5

 

Thanks SpringerPop and EXv10 for replying. Can't argue with success although I am still a bit mystified. That thermistor should be acting as a buffer to prolong the motor life, so it's a sacrificial lamb. Yet the motors have lasted for years without it according to many members so go figure. Brush wear should be accelerated thus shortening the motor life, but again I can't argue with what works. Tin foil or copper alone should change the thermistor characteristics to an NTC rather than a PTC. Nickel and copper combined would serve as a PTC thermistor so I wonder if anyone has made that sandwich to try. I've read of people using a lightbulb circuit as a replacement thermistor. I have a friend who wants me to try a simple pulsed relay timer to simulate the protection a thermistor provides just by limiting the pulse length. Wouldn't matter how long you held the button down then. I suppose that's what I'm after. Upgrading the design by having the protection a thermistor should provide yet be cheap and reliable long-term. The Holy Grail.

 

I kinda' like your idea of a one-shot!

I'll let you design it, however, and then be very quick to ask you to share it!

Pop

 

I'm not sure I need to do this fix or replace lock/unlock button???

My driver's side door lock/unlock button will not activate all doors to lock, but my passenger button will activate all the doors to lock.

Is this button or actuator?

2001 F250

 

with my locks the driver side door would lock the passenger door but not un lock,the pasenger door seemed to be weaker,and would not lock or unlocker either,but there would some movement as to try and the more u depressed the button the weaker it got.also the was alot of carbon build up on the motor and the com and brushes,so alitle contact cleaner and little air preasure seem to make it pretty again also the tin foil fix thats what did it for me im happy they seem as though there brand new again. u could pull just the switch and ring it out w/meter before u tear into the accuator to isolate or rule that out, its much easer to pull just the switch.good luck