I have a 92 GT and I keep having door lock actuator issues with the passenger door and I though I could share my bad experience with others.
First, summer 2009, the passenger power door lock stopped working which becomes an issue for locking the car with the alarm. So I did some minor troubleshooting. The key worked, it could be manually locked, and there was voltage getting to the actuator itself, so I replaced the actuator with the ones you see on latemodelrestoration.com which fixed the issue...the first time.
Second, late winter 2010, the passenger power door lock stopped working, again. I removed my door panel and found rust on the slotted pin which holds in the piece which fits into the door latch/locking mechanism. I removed the actuator, again, removed the boot and found rust/corrosion on the upper part of the actuator. It was very tough to manually move the arm up and down on the actuator. I filled it with WD40 which smoothed it out, but this would be no permanent fix as the actuator was severely rusted inside (evident by the rust colored WD40 present on the arm). So I ordered another new actuator from latemodelrestoration.com.
This time, I pulled the narrow part of the boot up on top of the black colored intermediate linkage piece which links the arm to the small adaptor piece you install with the slotted pin, and carefully applied a small amount of clear silicon to prevent water intrusion. I installed it today and guess what? The lock actuator lacks enough juice to lock and unlock my door. Applying minimum resistance keeps that brand new actuator from moving up and down. It will lock and unlock only if I help it out.
I saw some previous posts where users had experienced "stiff" actuators they purchased from latemodelrestoration.com. I now believe latemodelrestoration.com is selling an inferior product. I recommend trying someone else. Since it is too late to return the product, I am going to try to loosen it up with some graphite lubricant. I will let everyone know how that turns out.
I also saw some previous posts where other people have had the key not work when the actuator fails. Knowing what I know now, this will happen when the actuator fails because the internals of the actuator become rusted or mechanically broken which prevents the moving arm from traveling up and down. If you remove the boot from the actuator, this will be evident by corrosion around the top of the actuator case opposite the electrical connection. If the key does work, the actuator can still be broken however the actuator has an internal electrical issue (motor seized, internal electrical damage, etc...) which was the case on this first repair.
Joe D.
Groton, CT
First, summer 2009, the passenger power door lock stopped working which becomes an issue for locking the car with the alarm. So I did some minor troubleshooting. The key worked, it could be manually locked, and there was voltage getting to the actuator itself, so I replaced the actuator with the ones you see on latemodelrestoration.com which fixed the issue...the first time.
Second, late winter 2010, the passenger power door lock stopped working, again. I removed my door panel and found rust on the slotted pin which holds in the piece which fits into the door latch/locking mechanism. I removed the actuator, again, removed the boot and found rust/corrosion on the upper part of the actuator. It was very tough to manually move the arm up and down on the actuator. I filled it with WD40 which smoothed it out, but this would be no permanent fix as the actuator was severely rusted inside (evident by the rust colored WD40 present on the arm). So I ordered another new actuator from latemodelrestoration.com.
This time, I pulled the narrow part of the boot up on top of the black colored intermediate linkage piece which links the arm to the small adaptor piece you install with the slotted pin, and carefully applied a small amount of clear silicon to prevent water intrusion. I installed it today and guess what? The lock actuator lacks enough juice to lock and unlock my door. Applying minimum resistance keeps that brand new actuator from moving up and down. It will lock and unlock only if I help it out.
I saw some previous posts where users had experienced "stiff" actuators they purchased from latemodelrestoration.com. I now believe latemodelrestoration.com is selling an inferior product. I recommend trying someone else. Since it is too late to return the product, I am going to try to loosen it up with some graphite lubricant. I will let everyone know how that turns out.
I also saw some previous posts where other people have had the key not work when the actuator fails. Knowing what I know now, this will happen when the actuator fails because the internals of the actuator become rusted or mechanically broken which prevents the moving arm from traveling up and down. If you remove the boot from the actuator, this will be evident by corrosion around the top of the actuator case opposite the electrical connection. If the key does work, the actuator can still be broken however the actuator has an internal electrical issue (motor seized, internal electrical damage, etc...) which was the case on this first repair.
Joe D.
Groton, CT
