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Power door lock motor Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter NYFox
  • Start date Start date Mar 15, 2026
N

NYFox

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Jan 19, 2026
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New York
Mar 15, 2026
#1
  • Mar 15, 2026
  • #1
Hey Guys,

When I purchased the car over the summer, the doors did not lock or unlock from the outside with the key on both sides. The previous owner didn't drive it often and stored it inside, so he didn't worry about it. The power locks have always worked with the door mounted switch, locking and unlocking both driver and pass sides. Here is what I did so far to driver side only.

I removed the door panel to access the key lock cylinder and removed the rod from the lock cylinder. With the rod disconnected from the cylinder, it turns left and right with ease so no binding here. These are the original Ford actuators; the rubber boot was there with very slight tearing to the rubber. I sprayed the spiral shaft from the actuator motor with Kroil and after a few minutes the door cylinder was working with the key again.

Question: 1- is this normal maint. or am I on borrowed time for a replacement? 2- If a replacement is in the cards, what's a proven quality replacement door actuator, want to make sure I don't get a cheap knock off.

Thanks in Advance.

Augie
 

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor
Admin Dude
Jan 4, 1985
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Mar 15, 2026
#2
  • Mar 15, 2026
  • #2
NYFox said:
Question: 1- is this normal maint. or am I on borrowed time for a replacement? 2- If a replacement is in the cards, what's a proven quality replacement door actuator, want to make sure I don't get a cheap knock off.
Click to expand...

For a 30+ year old car with OEM actuators, yeah. I suppose you could call that normal maintenance.

Whether they stay fixed as they are or deteriorate further is a tough guess. If they do, checkout the attachment from the following post: https://stangnet.com/mustang-forums...g-part-numbers-and-rivet.921914/#post-9319342

It's a file that you can download and print left to us by @jrichker, former aircraft maintainer, former electronics engineer, and former Stangnet member. R.I.P.
 

Attachments

  • Door lock actuator fix.pdf
    Door lock actuator fix.pdf
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Reactions: General karthief and nickyb

nickyb

I gotta say i never painted my nuts, Never Ever
15 Year Member
Apr 3, 2009
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nevada
Mar 15, 2026
#3
  • Mar 15, 2026
  • #3
Take it from someone who has replaced a few actuators, the replacement ones all suck.
Do the jrichker fix and you'll be done.
 
Reactions: General karthief
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NYFox

Member
Jan 19, 2026
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New York
Mar 17, 2026
#4
  • Mar 17, 2026
  • #4
Thanks guys. This looks to be a great modification, and I will get these actuators on order asap.
 
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