Hey everyone,

Over the past week I've been slowly working my way through all five inoperative power door locks on my new Excursion. Most of my information came from the thread in the Super Duty forum and more specifically THIS POST. For those looking to repair the door locks you can remove the latch assembly with the instructions found here. NOTE: While ssjrsw uses a T-25 Torx bit to remove the latch the correct size is a T-27. The T-25 is small enough that I worry about stripping out the screws. The other thing to remember that's not shown here is to use pliers to disconnect the two plastic clips that hold the cable in place on the inside of the door, this allows you to work the latch down after only disconnecting the rods for the door handle and lock.

Some notes: First of all unlike many in my profession I don't have great attention to detail. Functional is what I'm going for here, and you can tell this from how I secured the actuator together after repairing the motor. Secondly please excuse my crappy cell phone photography and crude MS Paint editing. And lastly Follow this at your own risk, I am NOT liable if you break your truck. So anyway, here's how to apply the aluminum foil fix to the rear hatch!

First remove the screw covers on the handle. These two screws secure the trim piece to the lift gate. Then using a trim removal tool, pry up the edge of the piece and pry away the metal clips that are holding it to the metal frame. Once this is off you should see this:



The arrow is pointing to the electrical connector that powers the lock actuator. Lightly pry up the locking tab with a screwdriver from the side and disconnect it. And you should see this:



The black plastic box is the actuator assembly. This is what we will be removing. Pry back the locking tab like this:



And slide the assembly away from the glass until it clears the rails and comes out. Now you take a screwdriver and pry up the edges until all the plastic rivets have popped off the top cover:



And then pry from the end opposite the rivets just enough to slide the motor out. Two of my actuators broke open at the metal rivets when I did this, and this happened to be one of them. No worries, as it gave me an opportunity to show you what's inside!



So now you remove the electric motor from the actuator assembly. BEFORE PROCEEDING REMEMBER THAT THE CAP MUST BE PUT BACK ON WITH THE SAME ORIENTATION. Installing it upside down will cause the lock to function opposite of the intended function! Using something sharp pry out the locking tabs that hold the cap on the little motor...



And pull off the cap. PLACE THE MOTOR DOWN AND REMEMBER WHICH SIDE IS UP! The arrow is pointing to the defective resistor inside the cap:



Using some pliers remove the resistor...



And wrap it in foil! Here's what mine looked like:



Now stuff the newly repaired resistor back into the motor cap:



Reassemble the motor by snapping the cap back on right side up. Again as a reminder if this is done upside down the motor will function in the opposite direction that's intended. If you were able to remove the motor without breaking the housing, pry it open enough to slip the motor back in. Otherwise place the motor back in and line everything back up taking care to ensure that the broken end near the metal rivets snaps all the way shut. Since we compromised the plastic rivets when we pried it open I used two cable ties in the following orientation to fasten the two halves together. Be sure the cable ties don't obstruct the range of motion of the actuator arm!



And the other side...



Now you have repaired the actuator assembly and saved yourself some cash. Time to put it back in! Line it back up on the rails and get it started, but don't snap it on until you verify that the actuator arm fits into the hole in the latch assembly:



And it should look like this when snapped in properly:



Now plug the connector back into the actuator and reassemble the latch. Shut the liftgate and check for proper operation. IF it locks when you press unlock and vice versa you put the motor cap back on! If not you are done, enjoy the functioning power lock!

 

Sweet!

I'll add this to the updated tech folder I have about 90% completed.

The new tech folder setup should be online by next week if it works out the way I like.

Stewart

 

Sounds good Stewart, glad to be of help. I learned everything I know from different threads here on FTE, but the info I found didn't have as many pictures as I like. So I went crazy with the phone camera and hopefully this can help someone. This was a fun job for me to do because I had nothing to lose. I didn't have a working power lock to begin with, and if I broke something I still wouldn't have one.

Took the kids to see my wife selling her wares at a craft fair today with the X. Between two kids, my daughter's equipment, and her nurse we really enjoyed having a nice big vehicle with working door locks to go out and around with. I could do with better fuel economy, but so far loving the new X!

 

Thanks! ..............Fixed the water spewing problem........whew, not a gasket.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12272367

 

Shoulda got a diesel.

We get 30+ MPG...city driving...towing 10klb trailers...uphill!



Stewart

 

I repaired 2 of the actuators on my X last month after I bought it, I am glad to see that you took a picture showing how to unlock the actuator from the assembly, the lift gate lock was the first one I did and could not figure out how it came apart, I had the entire lock assy loose and slid it to the side before I had the "aha" moment, where I could see how it came apart. I had to lube up the key lock assembly too since it was frozen up, and would not lock at all, even with the key. I used some scrap aluminum that I had, that was the same thickness as the little resistor/fuse, I just trimmed it to size, rather then using tin foil.

On closing up the actuator, I have seen too many zip ties break when they get old, I used a product called Q Bond, this stuff is amazing. It uses some "filler" powder that you put on the part that you want to repair, then you put a couple of drops of the glue on it. It "smokes" and dries almost instantly.
I held the actuator closed with a small hand clamp and put little piles of the black powder on the spots where the plastic rivets had popped off and put a few drops of the glue on the powder, they all set fast, and that stuff holds AWESOME! It is amazing 10 seconds and it is dry.

Q Bond Repair Kit Small Quick Bonding Adhesive : Amazon.com : Automotive

I found Q-bond earlier this year.... 1000 miles from home..
I was in Idaho at the sand dunes. I had put a new desert tank on my banshee the night before the trip, filled it up with fuel and loaded it on the trailer. Got up there and the tank was half full. Turns out my new tank was cracked at the bottom. I pulled it and called around to ALL the local bike shops, some one pointed me to this product, I cleaned the tank with some brake cleaner , sanded the spot, and then used the Q bond on it. It held and works perfectly. After I fixed my tank I ended up fixing 2 more tanks for guys in the group. I rode it for 2 days that way, and it is still holding to this day. They say you can fix metal parts with it too. I will never, not have this product on hand again.

 

Fantastic info here guys! Already forwarded this page to two of my buddies with Xs. Many thanks!

 

Hi Donn, that's a product I haven't heard of before. Looks good, I'll have to order some once we get moved so I can have it on hand! I do prefer zip ties for this though, as I've seen what can happen if the motor cap is installed upside down, and I would want the ability to cut the ties and tear it apart again if I had any issues. But now that all is working well if I ever have the occasion to tear the doors apart I may have to try that Q bond on those plastic rivets! Thanks a lot, reps sent!

Really glad to be of help, hope their lock repairs go as well as mine have!

 

I just used tin foil and crammed it in all 5 actuator wafer slots, and used rebar tie wire around the bottom holes and twisted. I just drilled one rivet out and dropped the motor out like with a clam shell. This was all 3 years ago.

 

so if you look at the metal piece that makes the movement,can it rotate in two directions?
it looks like so..
Because then I could use this for my Ford F1 1950..

 

It does only go in two directions, but there are only two positions that it will move to. All the way one way, and all the way the other way.

 

Looks like this particular actuator didn't go as smoothly as planned. As we were about to leave church this morning I hit the unlock button and heard a rapid clicking sound from the rear hatch. I got home and took it back apart and found the cause. The plastic rivet closest to the metal rivets was sheered off completely when I pried it open the first time, and unlike the rest that snapped back into place it was doing nothing to hold the case shut. Which enabled the worm gear to slip out of its slot and not engage the gear that rotates the arm.

After a failed attempt with super glue I decided to drill the housing and use a machine screw. A 5/32nds bit was just about perfect for the size of the plastic rivets and the holes in the top cover. That and an appropriately sized machine screw and we were back in business! Note how far my screw extends past the housing, there was nothing behind this section and ample clearance, so I didn't bother cutting it flush with the housing.

 

5 Star rating added to the thread.

Stewart

 

More great info.

 

Just did this to my F350 Dually and now have an Excursion. I found 12g Romex cut to size worked great too. I pulled the resistor and replaced it with a short piece of Romex.

Just curious how Central Cali trucks do so well on DIesel?? I think someone is using Berkley Fuel if ya know what I mean.