I don't even take the handles out, the less you remove the easier it is.

 

I just used small zip ties in place of the rivets.

 

Just completed all four doors and this fix worked on all doors, fingers crossed it lasts. Before this fix only the drivers door would unlock with key remote and occasionaly a rear door would unlock with drivers unlock button. My passenger front door never locked or unlocked with any button. Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - volez's Album: 2002 Ford Truck Lock Actuator Repair
Helpful pictures of the disasembling of acuatator part that I found while researching this issue.
If you are having trouble getting the clip released for the outside door handle rod try a hanger. I cut a metal hanger @ 14" long and bent one end in a hook, I then drilled out a dowel to give me a handle and bent the other end after passing thru dowel. This hook worked good to get that green clip to release. Thank you to all you previos posts. Very helpful.

 

Actually the part that fails is a thermistor. It's function is to increase resistance as it heats up. This prevents burn out of the 12v motor if someone lays on the lock/unlock button for an extended period of time.

Darn college paid off!

jammer

 

And it's affected by ambient temperature. I your locks are lazy in cold weather they will be even worse in the summer.

 

hey guys, i just did the actuator fix on the passenger side door of my 2000 f150 and when i tested the power windows i discovered it is now binding on the track. before i pulled the actuator i removed the 11mm bolt that secures the rubber vertical track and pushed it to the side so i could access the wire harness to the actuator. as i did this i heard a popping noise and now the track hangs loose inside the door. when i power the window down it starts to bind about a third of the way down and i can only force it down with my hand (it stalls the motor). i can't figure out what is causing the window track to bind, everything looks like it is in the right place....very frustrated. any ideas???

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...oorpanel01.jpg

 

Well, we went on a spring break trip with the kiddos and the locks were working...I think...mid stop on our trip. We get to our destination and I notice none of the locks will work with the key pad or the inside door switch. I can here some sort of module working behind the dash around where the radio area is when I push the button on the key pad. I checked the fuse...actually pulled all of them and looked...and all seems good. I could not find a diagram for the relays and maybe that could be an issue also. I figured I would just lock the doors manually so that worked until I got to the passenger side front door and it was jamed such that I could not lock it with either the inside lever or the outside key. I wound up pulling the door apart and finding the actuator was frozen so I removed it and hooked everything back up since we were out of town and would be going to Sea World the next day. I thought once I removed the actuator that the other locks would work with the key pad and/or the switch but nada. With the key pad, the horn and alarm sound still works...it is just that none of the locks get actuated, they don't even move a little. I am wondering if anyone here has had this happen before...it has been a year and a half since I did the tin foil mod and wondering if the motors might now be toast in the rest of the actuators.

 

They won't be toast unless someone lays on the lock switch. It's nearly impossible (IMHO) for all 4 of them to quit at the same time due to bad actuators after the fix. All 5 of mine have been working fine for 4 years...............but I have no kids.

 

The relays for the door locks aren't the easiest to get to, as they are behind and below the radio on the firewall.

Here's a wiring diagram for them:
http://springerpop.net/F350/PDFs/Doo...door_locks.pdf

And here's a picture of them:



Pop

 

Fixed both mine with the foil trick today, very easy fix. Thanks guys!

 

The little thermistors are definitely affected by ambient temperature. On an average day here my locks would not work or barely work. Then in the evening it would get down to freezing and all my locks would work perfectly for about 6 or 7 rotations until the motors heated up and the thermistors would do their thing. So you can see the types of problems and hair pulling this fault can create. You can be changing switches and looking for broken wires and suspecting you need a new RKE module only to find out that the actuators have been the problem all along. If you have an actuator removed and test it with a few activations it may or may not work. Then spray it with some cool it electronics freeze and away the actuator goes again. I hope any new actuators have a more appropriate thermistor installed.

 

Pulled the passenger side motor out of the actuator and the brushes are gone...melted away. I also pulled the drivers side rear door actuator motor and it appeared okay but replaced the foil on the thermister just in case. I ran two wires from a 12 volt battery into the connections and nada...the gear as you spin it does have a little pausing every 1/8 of a turn like it is worn. I am really leaning towards bad actuators at this point given the one motor will not work with 12 volts to it. I may pull one out of the F350 and put it in the Excursion and see what happens.

 

Once again, a BIG thanks to this site! Door locks are working again. Now onto the overhead computer.

 

Awesome. Simply awesome. How does someone think of such brilliance! Fixed all 5 power door lock actuators with the foil. Thank you to the genius who figured this out! Now if I could only solve the mystery of my intermittent backup warning system and my CD player that does not take in CDs...Oh well, can't win them all with a $0.10 fix I guess!

 

Not to detract from the inventor but it's really not rocket science. The thermister obviously weakens in there so the next step is to look for a way to bypass it.