Hello-I found a broken spring hanging in my drivers side door latch.The power lock is now inoperatable,my question is can I buy just the spring or do I have to buy the whole latch-?I'm new here and can't find the answer,also will door need to be disassembled to install the spring-/Thanks Dave

 

Welcome to FTE!! You will have to remove the door panel to access the lock mechanism.You say the power door lock does not work now. I am taking a guess here but that spring you found might hold the actuator arm for the power lock in place. If it fell off the actuator arm is probably diconected. Put your ear to the door and lock-unlock the door. If you can here the solinoid clicking the spring will be the missing link. Shouldn't be to hard to fix!

 

Hello-Thanks for the reply,The actuator is nort the problem,I meant t say that because the spring is off/broken that now the lock will not open the door when its closed,if I manualy open the door from the inside,then the power lock will cycle,after i close the door the lock will cycle ,but not push the door button up.

 

If you want to try fixing it yourself the best way would be to pull both the driver and the passenger side door panels. That way you can look at the working side and see were the spring goes. Or you can just pull the drivers side off and see if you can figure it out. If you can't you can drive to the dealer and maybe they can pop it back on for you. Those things can be a pain if you don't know what your looking at!! Keep us posted!

 

I have had the spring on my driver door broken for 5yrs, it allows the handle to slop around but has no affect on the lock/unlock functions.

I am under the understanding that the door handle is riveted on, the rivets have to be drilled out to gain access to the spring for replacement.

 

Everone,I'm new here,doesn't ANYONE know where this spring that goes to the drivers side door latch is supposed to be attatched-?The powerlock will not unlock the door becauseTHE SPRING IS BROKEN.The latch is OK,The actuator is OK,THE SPRING IS BROKEN---The dealer sells the spring,but wants $ 100+ To install it.I can not find a schemematic that shows the spring.Someone else stated its not even in Chiltons repair book.Surely someone has fixed this problem,if you just drop it at the Ford dealer they will charge you a ton of $$$ saying its the latch and/or the actuator,in my case its a spring thats about 1-1/2" long.Help me find the answer please.I'm getting pissed off now ,its been several; days and i can't find the answer.

 

The power lock actuator is connected to a lever on the door latch mechanism.

The door handle is connected to the door latch mechanism via a seperate lever.

There is no spring on either of these links. The only spring is on the outside handle and its intended use is to reduce free play and stop the handle from rattling.

It will get you no where, just getting pissed on this forum, that will not get you any extra help.

Better to work politly with the folks here, or go pay to get it fixed.

Now lets try to diagnose the problem propertly.

Does the accuator work and unlock with the door open?
Does the accuator work and unlock with the door closed?

 

Remote and key wouldn't unlock drivers door.
Removed door panel and found broken tension springs on exterior door handle.
If your door handle feels loose compared to passenger door your tension springs may be bad too.
Broken tension springs allowed excessive play in rod that connects door latch and exterior door handle which interferred with operation of door latch when moving to the unlock position. (The remote and key worked well when locking the door)

If you're having this problem of being unable to unlock your door, try checking the door handle springs as it is an easier fix replacing the exterior door handle (available online around $20 plus s/h) than replacing the latch.
Only problem is door handle comes in black color only. I borrowed the springs from the new handle and put them on my red handle. hello-Heres the answer-from another list

 

I'm not trying to be a smart ***,I know the answer is on the web somewhere,I just figured a Ford List would have someone who understands these things.If I took it to the dealer Mr.Posting Guru,they would tell me I needed an actuator and a door latch,when in fact,the rod is binding on unlock because one of the tenson(see above) springs is broken.I'm just trying to get this fixed,and I 'm losing patience-sorry-

 

Hello Dab Sunny,
I totally understand your problem. I have a 98' Eddie Bauer with the same exact problem and Ford and my mechanic just want to replace the whole lock mechanism for big bucks! I have been having problems with the drivers side door lock mechanism for over a year. The only way I can open the door is to hit the key fob a number of times, while with my other hand jiggling the door handle which seems very loose anyway and the lock button will pop up. I've now got it down to a science and can open the door within 10 seconds. If you try to lock it with the key fob, the button tries to go down all the way, but sometimes will not fully lock. I then open and close the door and sometimes the button will lock and go down all the way and lock properly. There IS a spring on mine also that was just hanging there broken off just like you described. It doesn't seem like anyone on this site has had the same problem, but I do believe the problem is just these springs. I can hear the actuator working fine and when I jiggle the handle, I can unlock my door, so it's got to be these stupid little tensioner springs, so does anyone out there know where this spring attaches to?
Thanks,
The Digital Artist

 

Dab,

You will have to replace the lock mechanism. The small spring that you found helps to hold tension on the lever that the door handles attach to to unlock the door. The exterior door handle linkage unlocks the door by pushing this lever down. That spring you found pulls it back up. Without that spring gravity pulls this lever slightly down which jams/locks the un-lock lever. All the unlock devices are attached to this one unlock lever,(key lock, interior handle, electric door lock actuator and door unlock/lock button. The test is to keep hitting the electric door button or jiggle the exterior door handle while trying to use the door key, sometimes this will bump that lever up and everything works.

Its madding but you will have to take the interior door panel off. Take the one bolt that holds the window guide next to the mechanism loose. Take the three screws loose on the interior door that hold the mechanism. Drill out the 1/4" rivet that hold the electric actuator. This should allow you to remove the mechanism. Remove the interior handle and disconnect linkage. The exterior Door handle linkage is held with a keeper with a yellow snap connector. unsnap and the linkage can be removed without removing the exterior handle.

You will have to get a rivet gun that will put a 1/4" rivet to re-attach the electric lock actuator.

Do not remove all the linkage from the old lock mechanism until you get your replacement so that you see how all the linkages attach. Replace in opposite order.

Good Luck

 

Hello-Well,the problem was the small spring located inside the door latch itself.This is the reaon the spring is not shown in any of the repair manual diagrams.The local(LONGISLAND,NY)dealer wanted $40 for latch plus$135.00 to install.I also wanted to get the keyless entry code extracted fro the computer and he wanted another 1/2 hour ($45) labor for that.The whole job w/tax would have been about $240.I made an appointment,then cancelled.I went back and bought the latch for $40,and my local mechanic put it in for me for $30.00.I was there when he did it,and he had never done a Ford latch,but fiqured it out with very little problem .I would say now he could do the job,without breaking any door clips in about 40 minutes stsrt to finish.I still don't have the keyless code,but I know its somewher on the module (which is NOT in the jack compartment)My trucjk was made late in 2001 production year,and I think they moved it up behind the passenger side airbag.I need to pull the defrost vent off and see if I can find it.There are answers to all these little problems,and if your carefull you can get around the dealers high costs.Someone who had the time and knowledge could replace that one little spring and save the $40 latch cost.It is accessable once you take the latch out,but I wasn't going to ague with my mechanic John,as he does me way too many favors.I bought him a 12 pack of COORS light as a tip-!

 

Great info DAB , ya don't by chance have the part number for the latch handy ? My temp repair on my daughters Sport let go today and she's climbing in / out from the pax side .

Thanks , Rich

 

Rich-Ford part # for the drivers side door latch-2001 ford explorer sport is-
6L5Z*7821813*C---list price-$39.87+$43.31 w/tax-Good Luck-Dave

 

ahhhh, yes. The door lock on mine is broken as well. First a couple of years ago the door handle got very loose very fast. I lived with it. Now my back lock is frozen. The key goes in but doesn't turn. My driver's side door lock key goes in and turns but he button doesn't pop up. My husband took apart the door panel and found a "c" clip that was hanging there the wrong way. So we bought another from the lock auto store. and it worked for about 2 days. Now it's broke again. Anyone have a permanent fix to this problem. It too cold outside to replace this part every other day.