Door Actuator Installation

[86VickyLX]

Yup, I'll second (or is that fourth by now?) the above. I put in the plastic retainer first (and you need it! I tried leaving it out, and the net result was that the actuator didn't have enough travel to either fully lock or fully unlock, since it introduced a fair bit of slop there).

I had trouble weaving the old actuators out and the new ones back in, but what makes it 100% easier is to loosen the door latches. They're held with Philips screws, mine were frozen and threatening to strip out, here an impact driver will save your ass if yours are frozen too. It's a #3 philips iirc.

By the way, can you give me the link to the auction/ ebay seller name/ item name/ etc.? I'm looking for some myself! For a 1990 grand marq, if they had the same door electrics as the '87? Anyone know?
I couldn't find ANY and bought chinese ones.
Utter crap, don't have the strength brand new out of the box to move the locks.
And now yet another lock failed on me, so I need 3 or 4 of the things.

I got a door lock actuator from an '89 Crown Vic with an E8 part number (88) in the passengers front door. In the drivers door, I have a Lock actuator from an 84 Crown Vic with an E3 part number (83) They are physically the same except the 88 has a straight short 'z' rod, the 84 has an 'L' rod. The lock rods are swappable between the OEM lock actuators, when you disassemble them, just mind the ball bearings, or you're screwed.

impact drivers are the epic win! screwdriver that you hit with a hammer and it gives a loosening twist in the process. I would like to have one in my tool collection one of these days.

I used that to remove the explorer TPS on my throttle body. Wouldn't come loose any other way.

[miamibob]

The seller I dealt with on EBAY is called "CAPTAUTOPARTS1" and I believe he is in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Do a search on his store and you should find the actuators. Hope this helps!! Bobby

[gadget73]

Just beware that a lot of those aftermarket lock motors are not nearly as durable as OEM. Unfortunately OEM are stupidly priced now, so they're largely impractical to buy. I've gotten lucky and bought a few wierdly listed ones for small money, mostly stuff that was intended to fit some odd application. the last one I bought was for a 1987 E250 van, which I guess wasn't commonly found with power locks. Nobody bid except me, and I just swapped out the lock rod to work on my car. I think that one is in the Mark VII.

[miamibob]

The two I bought, on EBAY, are OEM. Wouldn't fool with non-OEM. They were about $42 each...Bobby

[86VickyLX]

Could buy the cheapest ones he lists and swap the lock rods, and you'd be golden.

[gadget73]

42 bucks isn't bad. I've seen prices upwards of $200 for OEM, but thats mostly dealership prices. I have seen auction prices around the $100 mark.

[miamibob]

Yeah, I thought the prices were REALLY good so I bought two (just in case....). Bobby

[sly]

if it mounts vertically, like what I'm used to, you could always give the cheapo one an "umbrella" mod of sorts like I did with mine (keeps the moisture out and thus keeps them from freezing up in the winter).

bah... can't find that pic. Basically I used a rubber washer for a GM HEI coil and glued it over the rod just below the Z part of the rod (giving enough movement to keep from applying much/any force against the rubber washer).

[gadget73]

Another thing, if your dew wipes are shot, the door actuators die quicker because they get rained on more directly. the doors in these arent dry anyway, but normally the water is directed towards the ends of the dew wipes. If the wipes are all cracked up, it just pours down the glass and goes everywhere.

[sly]

Another thing, if your dew wipes are shot, the door actuators die quicker because they get rained on more directly. the doors in these arent dry anyway, but normally the water is directed towards the ends of the dew wipes. If the wipes are all cracked up, it just pours down the glass and goes everywhere.

hence my 50¢ parts fix. screw the dew wipes

[BerniniCaCO3]

Dealership doesn't even have them, period, anymore. Whenever I called about anything, they told me my car was discontinued.
Rockauto has a quality US-made aftermarket, the right length (no rod length kludges)... but for $160.

sweet, those ARE reasonably priced:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCURY-GRAND-MARQUIS-REAR-OEM-DOOR-LOCK-ACTUATOR-79-91-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem23102ab8e4QQitemZ150595090660QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I'm gonna order some next week. I need 2 in the rear, 1 in the tailgate, and 1 for the front driver's (is the front a different length than the rear?)

Good advice on the dew wipes; is that also a hard-to find item, or can you buy dew wipe material by the foot?

[86VickyLX]

Dealership doesn't even have them, period, anymore. Whenever I called about anything, they told me my car was discontinued.
Rockauto has a quality US-made aftermarket, the right length (no rod length kludges)... but for $160.

You need the old parts guy, who has been there for 40+ years. That's the guy at the dealership you want to talk to. I got many obsolete parts from my local ford dealer (the very same dealer that the car was purchased from in 1986), including the shift indicator collar, the plastic lever that goes on the shifter, that pulls on the cable for the shift indicator. The door panel clips (the ones that the bolts go into, in metal)

You need the guy who digs out the microfiche!