Power Door Lock Actuator - Took a dump

[Nasty350LT1]

My DS rear "Power Door Lock Actuator" died.

Is it hard to change ?

Can a replacement be found at "AutoZone"

What is involved in swapping it out ?

Thanks in advance, Dave

 

[gijoecam]

Piece of cake! Remove the door panel (two screws above inside release), then push the power sindow switches in towards the back of the panel, and unplug the mirror switch), carefully peel back the plastic draft-stopper, then remove the window channel (one bolt near the bottom of the door) and drill out the rivit that holds the actuator in place. You'll need either another rivit with a large pop rivit gun, or replace it with a nut, bolt, and washer with a little bit of blue loctite. Shouldn't take more than an hour!

-Joe

 

[dogfriend]

You'll need either another rivit with a large pop rivit gun, or replace it with a nut, bolt, and washer with a little bit of blue loctite. Shouldn't take more than an hour!

-Joe

I used a button head cap screw and a nylon locking nut. I think a #8 works well. I replaced 2 out of 3 on my truck (pass side and rear hatch). I bought the actuators from the dealer; about $80 each, but that was a few years ago.

 

[Hokie]

I wouldn't say its a piece of cake. My driver's side one took a dump and it was pretty annoying to get back in. Do-able though.

 

[nssj2]

i did a write up on it not long ago. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185707

 

[nssj2]

one more thing. EBAY. autozone and the dealer is $80. got mine for $25. this ebay guy is AMAZING for used explorer parts, and a damn good ebayer. http://stores.ebay.com/Automotive-Unlimited-Used-Parts

 

[UKExploder]

PDL actuator -------

The easiest, cheapest thing to do is just take the damned thing out like
I did my '94 driver's door. (it locked my door for me & wouldn't let it open again , harder than hell to fix when the door won't open , hard to get panel off) You just have to lock & unlock that door with a key , terrible, huh? Free tho', just a little work is all my way.

 

[c1joe]

I've got a '98 Sport that the driver's side door lock is stuck in the locked position. The key and handle will not unlock it. I'm guessing the actuator needs to be replaced, but how can I get the door open to replace it? I don't want to have to remove the door panel with the door closed. Any ideas?

 

[dogfriend]

I've got a '98 Sport that the driver's side door lock is stuck in the locked position. The key and handle will not unlock it. I'm guessing the actuator needs to be replaced, but how can I get the door open to replace it? I don't want to have to remove the door panel with the door closed. Any ideas?

Try to grab the lock knob and pull it up. You might be able to turn the lock knob ccw a few turns so that it sticks up enough to grab with some pliers. Sounds like you might have a problem with the linkage instead of the actuator. When mine failed, they just would not work electrically but the inside handle would still work to unlock the door IIRC.

 

[mikesparky]

Mine buzzed when they went bad, so it was pretty obvious. Just changed my passenger side and it wasn't fun, not hard just time consuming. Going to tackle the tailgate next, they went within a few days of each other. From what I've seen a fair price for one is around $30.

 

[gijoecam]

I've got a '98 Sport that the driver's side door lock is stuck in the locked position. The key and handle will not unlock it. I'm guessing the actuator needs to be replaced, but how can I get the door open to replace it? I don't want to have to remove the door panel with the door closed. Any ideas?

I had the exact same problem on the exact same vehicle last week...

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186106

There's a little spring in the latch mechanism that went sproing. I got lucky and was able to get it to open one time. Once open, remove the inner door panel (two screws above the pull), remove the switch assy from the panel and set the panel aside. Remove the drapt skin to access the openings in the inner door panel, remove the window track (one bolt), the inner pull handle (two screws), and then you should be able to remove the three screws that hold the latch into the door. Pay close attention to the way the linkages are oriented on the old latch assembly. It's also easier to extract the latch if you drill out the rivet holding the power door lock actuator in place, but I didn't do it to mine (made it tough to get everything lined back up when installing the new latch)


Also, to get the door open, I got lucky and was able to get a pair of pliers on the door lock button. I pulled up as hard as I could and was able to force it to unlock. Hopefully it'll work for you. I was fully prepared to hack a hole in the door panel with a sawzall just to get access to the latch mechanism.

Good luck!

 

[c1joe]

Thanks for all the advise. It was especially comforting to know that someone has dealt with this exact problem. Thanks gijoecam. I'll try my hand at it this weekend and hopefully I'm as successful as you. It really is embarrassing crawling over to the passenger side door.

 

[gijoecam]

It really is embarrassing crawling over to the passenger side door.

Yeah, tell me about it!!

I did a few 'Dukes of Hazzard' entries and exits while mine was broken. Still had to reach across from the passenger side to roll the window up and down, but it was a lot easier than crawling across the center console. Got a few looks from traffic stopped at the corner store though!

 

[HUA99XLT]

Is there one or two separate actuators for the rear lift gate? My problem is when I lock my Explorer electronically the lift gate itself will lock, but the glass lift will not.