Drivers side door Door Lock Actuator

[Grand1]

The cheapest I can find is like $200.....any suggestions?

[miamibob]

What year/type of car is it for? There is a guy, on EBAY, from Deerfield Beach, Florida that sells Ford ones for approximately $50. I bought them for an '87 GM so you're situation may be different. Let us know.....Bobby

[BerniniCaCO3]

yup, I bought the same one. ford oem. works great.
Chinese one-size-fits-all (comes with different length rods) for $50 failed miserably. Would not unlock once the weather came anywhere close to freezing, the internal lubrication just solidified.
Dorman brand ones are the same deal; and I wouldn't trust them.

Here we go; these are the ones I bought, been a year and no problems so far:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-CROWN-VIC-FRONT-OEM-DOOR-LOCK-ACTUATOR-SET-79-91-/120714927854?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1c1b2b9eee#ht_500wt_1416

[sly]

I've got the cheapo ones from AZ in my 88 (front doors)... though I modified them with washers to work as umbrellas and divert the water away from the rod so they wouldn't freeze up. no issues since.

[miamibob]

VERY COOL fix!

[sly]

FYI: that's the rubber washer from a GM HEI ignition coil.

[Grand1]

What year/type of car is it for? There is a guy, on EBAY, from Deerfield Beach, Florida that sells Ford ones for approximately $50. I bought them for an '87 GM so you're situation may be different. Let us know.....Bobby

yeah that would help, no shit....its for an 88 lincoln town car

[Grand1]

Thanks for all the help!

The aforementioned gentleman at ebay will send me two of these of $100 bucks....you guys saved me some cash!

[miamibob]

Always happy to pass along info that is helpful/cost effective!

[Grand1]

So for installation.....its like plug and play?
any tips out there....would be appreciated

(I am going to weather proof these as well)

[sly]

except for the rivet in the door... yeah.

gotta drill out that rivet and pop a new one in there on the new motor bracket. 1/4 inch rivet.

[Grand1]

Thanks for the advice...I would have probably dicked that up

[BerniniCaCO3]

I hate hate hate rivets,
and I'm lazy, and cheap, and didn't want to buy a riveter.

I found a tap that neatly fit the hole, and actually tapped the aluminum washer that's built into the lock actuator.
I want to say it was 7/16-something. If you have a small sae tap set --they're like $20 at harbor freight, and you'll find other uses for it! mostly cleaning old corroded threads in various things-- just find what fits,
and then like a 1/2" or 3/4" length bolt of that thread size from home depot.
By what fits, I mean the tap that is just slightly too large to fit through the hole, so that it'll cut threads into the hole in the washer. I didn't have to predrill or anything.

As it happens, soon, I'll be doing my driver door lock. It's been acting funny over the winter, so it's a matter of time, and I have to pull the panel to do the window motor.
Do you want me to take a photo?
But really, it is that simple. I tapped the aluminum washer, ran a bolt through, rather than a rivet. When you tighten the bolt, be gentle: overtorquing will of course pull out the thin aluminum threads you've just cut.
But it doesn't take much force to hold 'em. None of mine have fallen out.

[BerniniCaCO3]

I also hate drilling out rivets.
Did I mention that I hate rivets?

Remember to use a larger drill bit. You want to cut the head off. I made the mistake of trying to drill through it with a smaller drill bit... not effective.
Since it'll likely spin, try drilling at a 45 degree angle with a fair bit of force behind the drill, in varying directions, higher speeds. You'll work through the rivet head no problem.

[gadget73]

Its a 1/4" rivet. A 5/16" or so bit should cut the head off fairly effectively. Its aluminum, so it takes little force on the drill if your drill bits aren't totally shot. Don't want to push too hard or you'll overshoot the rivet and start chewing into the door skin. Replacing the rivet is easy if you have a big ass rivet tool, or you can use 1/4" nuts and bolts if you're creative and can get inside to hold the nut in place. Honestly I found the rivets easier, though the Horrible Freight 1/4" gun is kind of a POS.