I pulled the driver's running board off of my Mountaineer and tried to get it working and didn't have any luck. With the motor cover off I can easily twist the board in and out. Neither of the mechanisms seem resistant enough to cause any issues. I cleaned everything, made sure the bearing in the cover was moving freely and greased it, but when I plugged it back in before I bolted it back on to test it, it didn't do anything besides sluggishly move through about 1/8 of the travel and then stop.
That would lead one to believe that the motor is bad, but I dunno. I'm not so well versed in inspecting electric motor internals. Looked fine to me. Might pull the passengers side off and mess with it. Motor shouldn't be burned out on that one.
I'd really like to get them working.
I got the driver's side board working by bolting it back on and having someone open and close the door while me and a helper assisted the board up and down through its travel while lubricating periodically. I've been using CRC white lithium grease, CLP Break Free, and a 50/50 mixture of ATF and acetone. I've been using the atf/acetone mixture sparingly because I'm concerned of the effect it'll have on the plastic bushings/seals on the hinge pins. I feel like it definitely does the best job of seeping down into the hinges and freeing things up though.
After quite a few up/down cycles and a lot of lubrication, its working pretty good. Action continues to get quicker and smoother as it's used more.
Not having as much luck with the passenger's side board. After soaking it down with the atf/acetone mixture multiple times over a week or so I unbolted and removed it. I then removed the motor cover so I could clean and inspect the internals, and wind the board in and out by hand to break it free. More resistance in the hinges, particularly the front, than the driver's side board. I attribute this to it probably being stuck down for longer than the driver's due to being used less frequently, giving the hinges more time to rust together.
Plugged it in to test it and it moved maybe halfway through the travel then stopped. Bolted it back on to try and free it up more by helping it through its travel and it wasn't wanting to do anything. Open the door and the motor would buzz for a second but the board would stay in place, not even wanting to move with assistance. Got it to work after messing with the motor for a bit, but was only able to assist it up/down less than 10 times before the motor stopped cooperating again. Not sure what's up with it. I think something's wrong with the motor or associated electronics. It was free enough to come down on its own, albeit very sluggishly, before the motor stopped cooperating.
I think the thing to remember though is that it doesn't take much resistance to make the motor stop. They're probably designed with a pretty sensitive limit switch to keep from pinching or smushing any body parts that end up in the way. No movement doesn't mean dead motor.