Good Evening All,

Hopefully I can save some folks a little grief...

The Door lock issue cropped up a couple of months ago on our 01 Excursion. I searched online, and found replacements at Doctorautoparts.com (Big Mistake). I had already printed the replacement instructions, and figured that an actuator was an actuator.

2 weeks after install, the drivers door failed, followed by the other 3 over the next 2 days (rear hatch still original...go figure). I called Doctorautoparts (2 year warranty) and they sent out a new set (only after charging my credit card for the deposit). The new ones arrived in 2 weeks (woo-hoo). The new ones were installed a little bit ago, in the dark...and in the rain. Fortunately I had the mosquitos to keep me company.

Anyhow...one of them worked an entire 2 times before failing. I read that lubricating the locks may help, but they do not seem to bind. Occasionally one of them that failed to unlock electrically is hard to pull, but once it is unlocked, it's fine for a while. I assume that the bad actuator is causing the bind, as when the lock is pulled up, you can hear the same noise the actuator makes when it is attempting to unlock the door.

Unless anyone has any other ideas or input, I guess I'm going to try the "Genuine Ford Parts" and see what the outcome is. The door panels are nice to work with and I can now change all 4 in about an hour, but I sure hate to make this a once a month project.

Anyone considering ordering Non-Ford parts Beware. I sure wish I had spent the extra $20-$30.

 

I have an 01 that a couple door locks quit. I noticed on mine I could hear the locks working but would not move the manual lock button or unlock the door. When I took the panel off and watched them in action, both had failed the same way. The design that holds the acuator to the metal broke the slot in the acuator. The actuator was still good but was not held in place to move the rods. I simply mixed some fast set jb weld and carefully fastened the plastic acuator and reinforced the slot. No more problems for over a year. I also have instructed my kids to wait until they hear the locks work to pull the door handle. It could be that pull and unlocking timing thing that breaks the slot setup. CHEAP FIX for me. Good luck with your locks. JOHN

 

Blue02gt, I also can change the four lock actuators in about an hour, I learned the same way you did with the doctorautoparts on e-bay. reading your post I thought that you may have been one of my neighbors watching me taking the door panels off once a week. the lesson I learned was the factory actuators will solve the problem the others are junk. I orderd form this site www.trademotion.com or try www.powerstrokeshop.com
Good luck Mike

 

Hi all,
I was wondering how easy it is to take the panels off. I am infamous for having to take my truck in for repair to repair my repairs.... I would like to fix my actuators because the deal want to charge me $250 each!!

Thanks

 

Ictbu, I belive that changing the door actuators is a project any one should try. The front doors are a little more difficult then the rear. First using a flat screw driver carfully pry the front of the window button off of the door panel, Their is one 8mm screw at thet location the other one is behind the red/white reflector.Lift panel up and out. To remove the actuators.First you will need a torqs socket to remove the entire latch assembley the actuators are attached to the latch/lock assembly you will have to take your time to remove the linkage rods and plug wires. then you can see the actuator saddled on top of the lock. A little pry with a screw dirver and it will slide out in your hand. Give it a try and save yourself some cash. Try ordering from one of the web sites in earler posts. I think they were $46.00 +/- factory ford parts. Good luck Mike

 

Thanks Mike,
I ordered a couple and will give it a try.... Keep your fingers crossed! lol

Darin

 

Keep us up to date on your progress

 

yes , if you get ford parts..the new design..yoiu should not have a problem. i bought mine from an fte sponsor for about 250 for all of them

 

Would you belive that all 5 of mine have gone south. I Emailed FORD about it and they said that there wasnt any big problem with the door locks.
I had the drivers door fixed and let the wife open the rest from inside the truck.
100 bucks a pop!

 

There is a thread on the Super Duty Forms detailing how to fix the problem using tin foil. I was skeptical but tried it and it worked. The locks pop solid. do a search for "tin foil" or "aluminum foil" can't remember which. Basically involves pulling the actuators out, cracking the case and removing the motor inside. Once the motor is out you have to crack that case and wrap tin foil around a part in the motor. Then put it all back together. I have not detailed it very well but if you can find the thread that discusses it there are pics and all. It sounds complicated but really not that bad, and the money saved is nice.

Below is the thread.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...light=tin+foil

 

Did FORD ever pick up on and improve this problem at any time?

 

I replaced two the front driver and passenger and rear lift gate actuators on my 2000X. Earlier someone had said that the it was a good idea to lube the lock mechanism. I think its a good idea too. The rear liftgate lock mechanism seems overly complex for what it does, and it was kinda sticking. So I took it out and sprayed it with WD-40 and then after that dried, some white lithium grease. Even if the locks dont appear to be binding, even a little gumminess puts extra strain on the actuators. Just a word of caution to anyone taking out the mechanism on the rear liftgate. TAKE NOTE of how it fits and how it comes out. I spent about an hour trying to get it to fit back in its spot until it finally dropped in. So be mindful when you pull it out.

I have another door lock question though. The little tabs that move up and down when the doors lock/unlock are shorter in the front than in the back seats. As in, when the doors are locked, the front tabs lie almost flush with the top of the door panel, and the back seats are about .5 of an inch higher. Is this normal or is my truck just messed up? The doors lock, so im not worried, but I was a little curious

Isaac

 

afreemanmd

i was playing with my rear lift gate lock today, trying to figure it out, it sems seized to me how far does it actually move or does it just bind up against the pin on the handle and stop it from opening smoothly? i can not get the locking peice to move much more then about 1/8th of an inch. and themn i broke the lock actuator pulling it off as well so now i have no locking in the back till i get one of them shipped in.

 

To answer your question above, this problem was on the 00 and 01. In 02 they put in new motors in the actuaters. I did all 5 of mine with the tin foil method. It takes about 2.5 hours to do all 5. You get faster and better as you go. I could probably do another car in a little over an hour knowing what I know now. I recomend doing it yourself. You can fix all 5 for pennies and it really works. I didn't believe it until I did it myselft.


Nate

 

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