Power door lock problem

[Jay5oh]

Ok, recently our passenger side power door lock will not unlock when the button is pushed on the remote. Same is true if you hit the unlock button on the drivers door panel. Is there some actuator or something that has failed? Anyone ever have such a problem?

Thanks!

 

[Dennis94XLT]

Try this: close all doors, then press the lock button on the remote, now press the unlock button once - wait a second - press the Unlock button again - try the passenger door. Mine unlocks the driver door only if I press it once, then unlocks all doors on the second press. Yours might work the same way? I don't think this has anything to do with the interior button but it might make the remote work better.

 

[Jay5oh]

Try this: close all doors, then press the lock button on the remote, now press the unlock button once - wait a second - press the Unlock button again - try the passenger door. Mine unlocks the driver door only if I press it once, then unlocks all doors on the second press. Yours might work the same way? I don't think this has anything to do with the interior button but it might make the remote work better.

Yeah ours used to unlock all the doors if you double click the remote button. If you watch the interior lock leaver ( on the pass door ) when you press the unlock button ( on the drivers door ) it kinda attempts to go to the unlock position but returns to the lock position.

 

[White97Jimmy]

Mine was doing that for a while...hasn't done it in about a month though.

 

[tlg777]

What was the solution to the passenger power door lock problem. I'm having the identical problem.

 

[Jay5oh]

I haven't messed with it but it works ( most of the time ) now. My line of thought is that since it's warmed up here in NW PA whatever that was sticking is affected by temperature. I would think that it's something in the lock actuator. But I have no scientific conclusion to the subject. If/when I do figure it out, of if anyone else figures it out please update this thread. Thanks.

 

[johnroy]

solenoid probably starting to go... uses magnetic induction I believe...

 

[ddarko]

Difficulty Unlocking driver's side door

I had a similar problem with my '01 Sport which I only fixed a few minutes ago. In my case the driver's side door had difficulty unlocking but no problems locking. This happened when using the power lock switch, exterior combo pad and the key (bought my car used and didn't come with a remote).

The basis for this problem is that the exterior door handle is supposed to be at the resting position (down) in order to unlock the door. That is, if you lift the handle and try to unlock the door it won't happen. There is a thin metal rod that gets pushed downward when you lift the handle which blocks the locking mechanism in some way. When you let go of the handle the rod rises a couple of centimeters and disengages this safety feature. The rod is shaped like a hook at the very top which is hooked onto the door handle through an oval shaped hole.
The problem was that that the door handle wasn't fully pulling this rod back up into place because thes oval hole is too large and allows to much wiggle room (bad design I guess). Unfortunately I could barely see this rod through the openings in the metal door let alone get easy access to it so that I could properly fix it. Instead, I tied a length of picture frame wire to the bottom of this rod (there is a plastic piece attached to the rod that was ideal for tying the wire to) and tied the other end nice and taught to an area of the door handle that I could reach (make sure the handle is in the resting position when you do this, you may have to hold it down). Ghettofabulous I know and a bit of a bandaid style solution but it's all I can do for the moment and now the lock works fine!

I don't know if any of what I just wrote makes sense as it is kind of difficult to explain. It took me a little while to even get a mental image of what was wrong with it since I could barely see anything in there. If you're still confused let me know and I'll try to draw a simple diagram. I've noticed in some other threads that some explorers use a spring or wire and seem to be much easier to get at.

Cheers.

 

[James1997XLT]

I'm new to this forum and did not see any problems resembling mine. I have a problem that just started today. It is with my power locks on a 1997 XLT 4x4. The lock switches (driver and passenger side will not unlock or lock doors), the keyless entry pad on the driver side door does not work, and if I use the keyless hand remotes the door locks sound like they are cycling thru multiple time (2-5 minutes). Any ideas?
The power seats and windows that are on the same circuit (30 Amp fuse) as the power door locks still work.

 

[ddarko]

Passenger side now...

My passenger side lock stopped working recently too. So I ripped off the door panel and looked inside hoping it would be similar to the driver's side problem I had last year.

Turns out that the solenoid--which is usually mounted to the interior side of the door--had fallen off and was dangling by its cable. On the side of the solenoid there is a metal bracket with a tiny bolt-like piece attached to it that is supposed to pass through the door's sheet metal. Apparently whatever was holding it from the other side (a nut of some kind) had fallen off. I tried using a regular nut (M4 I think) but it wouldn't stay on because the bolt wasn't really threaded. So I found a thin piece of scrap sheet metal and bent it into a u-shape to cradle the bracket, then used a machine bolt + screw to fasten it through the original hole. Works great now

Not sure if what I just wrote there makes sense to anybody but if you have the same problem I can draw up a quick diagram.

@James:
The only time my locks sounded like they were cycling multiple times was when I was holding the button down. Sounds like it could be the solenoid unit itself in your case?

 

[explorer_sport99]

I had a similar problem with my '01 Sport which I only fixed a few minutes ago. In my case the driver's side door had difficulty unlocking but no problems locking. This happened when using the power lock switch, exterior combo pad and the key (bought my car used and didn't come with a remote).

The basis for this problem is that the exterior door handle is supposed to be at the resting position (down) in order to unlock the door. That is, if you lift the handle and try to unlock the door it won't happen. There is a thin metal rod that gets pushed downward when you lift the handle which blocks the locking mechanism in some way. When you let go of the handle the rod rises a couple of centimeters and disengages this safety feature. The rod is shaped like a hook at the very top which is hooked onto the door handle through an oval shaped hole.
The problem was that that the door handle wasn't fully pulling this rod back up into place because thes oval hole is too large and allows to much wiggle room (bad design I guess). Unfortunately I could barely see this rod through the openings in the metal door let alone get easy access to it so that I could properly fix it. Instead, I tied a length of picture frame wire to the bottom of this rod (there is a plastic piece attached to the rod that was ideal for tying the wire to) and tied the other end nice and taught to an area of the door handle that I could reach (make sure the handle is in the resting position when you do this, you may have to hold it down). Ghettofabulous I know and a bit of a bandaid style solution but it's all I can do for the moment and now the lock works fine!

I don't know if any of what I just wrote makes sense as it is kind of difficult to explain. It took me a little while to even get a mental image of what was wrong with it since I could barely see anything in there. If you're still confused let me know and I'll try to draw a simple diagram. I've noticed in some other threads that some explorers use a spring or wire and seem to be much easier to get at.

Cheers.

wow... i MUST say that YOU just solved my problem. I was pushing rods up and down and checking to see if pushing up or pulling down on a rod made a difference (my problem is that my key will not unlock my door). well... that plastic thing you described (mine is yellow) when it is pushed up then the door can be unlocked with the key. i also noticed that loop spring thing on the handle is LOOSE.... like its OFF or something... somehow they are connected to keep this plastic thing up. well i have been thinking about how i am going to fix this... i thought maybe some tape, but the picture frame wire trick is awesome! thanks man!!!!

 

[ddarko]

wow... i MUST say that YOU just solved my problem. I was pushing rods up and down and checking to see if pushing up or pulling down on a rod made a difference (my problem is that my key will not unlock my door). well... that plastic thing you described (mine is yellow) when it is pushed up then the door can be unlocked with the key. i also noticed that loop spring thing on the handle is LOOSE.... like its OFF or something... somehow they are connected to keep this plastic thing up. well i have been thinking about how i am going to fix this... i thought maybe some tape, but the picture frame wire trick is awesome! thanks man!!!!

Awesome! I've received so much from the great people around here so I'm glad I could help someone else

I eventually replaced the wire with a $0.50 spring I picked up from a local hardware store (picked up a few to try out different lengths). I was worried that the wire might eventually get slack over time.

 

[bjorkyou]

***one other solution***

I had a similar lock problem on my Ford Explorer 2000. I checked for the broken wire/s in the boot on the drivers door, but all looked good. The power locks would open, but not close. Originally, the locks would try to close and they couldn't (almost like there wasn't enough power to close them) so the relay would keep trying over and over and drain my battery. I found that when I tried using the 'lock-all-doors' button, none of the doors would lock, but there was a 'click' from the back of the truck. I looked in the compartment in the drivers side in the back where the jack is stored and I found two boxes that appear to hold two sets of relays. the clicking was coming from the box the is furthest to the rear. You need a star type screw driver to remove this box (two screws) so you can remove the cover and see the four relay modules. Two relays are about 1" x1" and two are a little smaller. After swapping relays around I realized that if I swapped the larger relays around, my problem would reverse. In other words, the locks would now close, but not open. I bought a replacement replay and tried replacing one a at time and BINGO, it solved the problem. Only took me a year to figure it out. The part number on that relay is FOAB 14B192-AA and cost about $12.

Thanks to the previous posters for getting me on the right path.

 

[sl33p3r]

similar problem, but not the same

Recently on my 2005 Sport Trac started having lock/unlock problems. The driver side will lock all doors, but in order to unlock the doors I have to reach over and use the unlock button on the passenger side. Which can be annoying. Passenger side will not lock door. The key works fine in both doors and the keypad works fine also. Remote works as it's supposed to. So.... driver side locks doors, passenger side unlocks doors.
Any known fixes for this before ripping things apart?

 

[Ababyvoice]

The part number on that relay is FOAB 14B192-AA and cost about $12.

Did you go to the Ford dealership for the part? I can't seem to find it here in Michigan at auto part stores.

 

[Ababyvoice]

Did you go to the Ford dealership for the part? I can't seem to find it here in Michigan at auto part stores.

Never mind I found it! It can replace with Duralast Part # 19283. Cost about $9.99 Thanks again for the post. I was tired of climbing through my back hatch to get into my X.

 

[Woodbutcher]

Similar intermittent problem on my 98

On mine, all the power locks work fine, locking and unlocking, except the driver's side lock sticks shut. Sometimes it will open after a few tries with the key fob, sometimes a few tries with the key in the lock, and sometimes it will open using the keypad. Sometimes one try with the key fob is enough - interestingly it seems to work better at a longer distance, like a few yards away than up close to the vehicle. Sometimes it just won't open. It's cycling - I can hear it and visually see the buttom move up slightly, but it won't release. Also, the outside driver's door handle is loose - it operates as it should, but there is almost no tension on the spring that would hold it down (lifts easier than it should).

 

[ddarko]

The floppy door handle is a separate and common problem. Not sure if a simple fix has been found yet (apparently the spring is hard to access) but there are a number of threads on the topic.

As for your driver side lock problem... by "cycling" do you mean it repeatedly attempts to unlock after hitting the button? Or does it just try once and fail? I had a problem with the passenger side and it was the latter scenario. It was because the solenoid wasn't secured to the inside of the door. The first time this happened it had completely fallen off and was sitting in the bottom of the door. The second time, it was merely loose and all I did was re-tighten.

 

[Woodbutcher]

It tries once and fails for each push of the button. When I use the inside unlock button, it seems to work fine, but all the exterior methods are hit or miss. Anyway, looks like I'll have to open it up and take a look. When it engages it works as you'd expect, just seems like something is keeping the thing from releasing to pop up.

 

[jls1znv9999]

I was taking a look at mine and figured i would post up some pictures to help other explain more in detail what to be looking at.