I agree with Redeyeracing. This fix is swwweeeet!! There is so much other stuff to spend your money on rather than lock actuators. I did mine in August, no problems yet.

 

Silly me-- Making responses to old posts in a search ignore this

 

I had the same problem with a set of 5 ebay doctorautoparts actuators (same '01 Ford Valdez as original post). After about a month, they all went limp. The motors would all spin and whine, but no function. So...I bought 1 (one) official Ford actuator for about $90 just to try it out. When I pulled the ebay part and held it up to the new Ford part...NO DIFFERENCE! The ORIGINAL Ford part (that failed after 4 years) was different...this Ford replacement looked to be from the same stock as the cruddy doctorauto. So I just put in the new Ford part and thought...what the heck, let's open up the doctorauto and see what broke? All the gear teeth were A-OK. The problem? The plastic cam that attaches to the motor's drive shaft came loose...it was not stuck to the shaft...it was free-wheeling...it was supposed to be locked to the driveshaft by a cheesy friction fit...it came free. Maybe that's where the tin foil suggestion above is supposed to go...what I did was CAREFULLY expoxy the cam onto the drive shaft. I used a toothpick to coat the hole in the cam, and to lightly smear it on the metal shaft. Obviously...you need to make sure you clean up any exposed epoxy before it sets up...there is a free wheeling gear that sits on top of the cam THAT NEEDS TO REMAIN FREE WHEELING...so clean the end of the shaft dern good and let it dry before you put it all back together. Did it work? Yes, but it's only been a week. I'm going to give it a month before I put anymore sweat into it.
Matt

 

was just about to order from the doctorauto definitely not now! I'll look into the foil thing and epoxy fix first. Again this is a great forum! A BIG TEXAS HOWDY TO ALL!

 

I did the tin foil fix on my rear liftgate actuator yesterday. SCORE!! How the hell did we ever fix stuff w/o the internet?! lol!

 

This is a follow-up to my so-called epoxy fix to the Doctorauto actuators. The fix lasted a couple of months, and I wound up at the dealer. Oh well...

 

Keep www.directfordparts.com in mind for BIG savings on Genuine Ford parts.

 

Since the post was revived...Anyone know if I'll have problems with my actuators or did Ford realize the problem and come up with a fix by then? I have an 05 X...

Mike
2005 Ford Excursion V10 4X4

 

I'm pretty sure Ford fixed the problem, but I don't remember when, I think it was around 2002 or 03. I'm sure some one will chime in with a definitive answer.

 

If it was fixed on 2002 ford porbably missed my Ex.3 of my actuators went and thanks
to this forum I repaired it with the foil fix.
It's been 8 months since and no problems(knocking on wood)LOL.

 

This is question in regards to the liftgate. I have a 98 windstar with the power locks. The lock actuator lifts the manual lock/unlock rod in the middle of the liftgate but the drivers side lock does not release. After removing the plastic panelling and looking into the door I notice an electonic device attached to the lock. Is this another electronic actuator for each of the locks as well as the one in the middle of the door for the lock/unlock rod? If it is not an actuator what is it and what is its purpose? How do I manually unlock the liftgate to repair the mechanism? I have tried pulling the wire running to that side but it still does not release. The plastic connection for the outside handle has broken from trying to release the lock therefore I can't release it that way. Any help would be very much appreciated