Universal door lock Actuator will work on 2001

[5greenmonkies]

Gary - I can't believe you pulled your radio and searched for the relay. I love you guys on this forum.

Now, after going through the nut-roll of installing one actuator for no benefit was fine by me. It was my dogged determination that there had to be something electrical wrong with the locks that lead me down the primrose path.

So, there I was about 3 hours ago having spent oh about 7 hours on this lock problem and then it hit me that I had not completed a basic check. We all know its best to check fuses first, I kind of did that. But when I removed the interior wall-covers and exposed the door lock mechanisms I noticed they were all gunked up. Like I said, 7 hours into this it hit me that I never cleaned the lock mechanisms. These are my two sliding doors and the passenger door. I cleaned them up and put in a heavy dose of powdered graphite lubricant on every pivot point and voila the locks work fine.

You know, there is something to be said about preventative maintenance. Thanks all for the advice and the help. I am keeping my actuators because I know what will happen if I get rid of them now.

[garync1]

The radio took every bit of 3 seconds to pull out maybe another 5 To look for a relay that we may not have on 2001. But I felt like I should at least look. I do have the removal tools for the radio.. An thats Great if it only needed lube. Maybe now if someone has an issue they can try that first before digging into the job..I would have not guess on that. Glad you got it fixed. So if you do have problem later on you should now know how to fix it as far as adding a new actuator. Gary

[sgilmore]

I want to THANK Gary for all the advice here and the blog photos, and others for posting as well! I am absolutely non-mechanical and completed this repair to both the driver and passenger side doors, and it went pretty much exactly as you described. It took me around 3 hours for the passenger side, being completely clueless and terrified, and around 30 minutes for the driver's side. This is my new "best-use-of-the-internet-ever" story.

My mechanic quoted the following: 2 door lock actuators for $96.44 each, actuator latch @ $28.42, switch $21.52, labor $198.00. Total of $440.82.

My cost was 2 actuators from eBay at $3.40 each, plus $9.30 shipping. Total of $16.10.

Regarding the process, I also cut the wires and spliced them to the actuator wires, and left the old actuator in place. I didn't disconnect the car battery before cutting the wires. My wires were red and yellow on the driver's side, and red and light blue on the passenger's side. I also found that the holes on the bracket for mounting the actuator was too narrow for the pre-existing bolt on the Windstar which we use to mount (per Gary's photos), so I would recommend drilling these out a little wider in a few spots before starting. I nearly ruined the threading on the bolt. I also used just a single screw to tighten the actuator to the bracket.

I would suggest the following order after getting the door off:

1. Widen the bracket in a few spots with a drill so the bolt on the Windstar will fit through it
1. Set the bracket vertically as Gary describes using that single bolt on the Windstar
2. Mount the actuator to the bracket using a single screw. There's really no room to get both mounting screws in place. Before tightening, be sure the wires from the actuator will reach the point where they need to be spliced. I didn't have much room to spare. Mine ended up positioned like Gary's "finished" shot.
3. Tighten the acutator's long metal rod to the car's door lock rod using the hardware (clamp & screws) that comes with the actuator.
4. Cut the wires, and spice. Red from car to green on actuator; yellow (or light blue) on car to blue on actuator.
5. Test the actuator using the door lock switch on theother side of the car, to be sure it works, and to be sure the actuator isn't blocked or unable to achieve the open and closed positions
6. As Gary noted, test the power window to be sure there's clearance. It was pretty close call for me, but no problems.

Good luck! Thanks again Gary.

[garync1]

Im glad it worked out for you.. A long while ago something told me this would work. Just finding the location on where to put them for the easiest install. There are many ways to install them, but for pictures would have been a challenge. The wires to me were the hard part. I did not wont to end up with a bigger problem in the end. Good thing was everything worked and did not cut the wires. I just spliced mine in.. I know a few have and thats fine as well.In the end it may be better because of the old actuators decides to short out it may affect the others..As of now my door locks are still working and have had no problems.. I use these same actuators on cars that don't even have power door locks.Who wanted power locks. So I knew they should hold up over time.. The Great thing about these actuators is they are so universal you can mount them upside down but will need to reverse wires for that type of install and mount them at angles as long as it does not bind. But over all there is really nothing to be worried about on this install. As for the wires if you do make a mistake you can always correct it.Or replace a fuse at the worse.. I don't for see anything major happening to the wire if a little mistake is made.. I am really GLAD this is helping. I just wanted to help people save money.. Gary...

[garync1]

2 yrs now and still no problems... Gary.. opcorn:

[akkhandelwal]

I am really thankful to garync1 for his photos which helped me to venture out to install the universal actuators for 98 Windstar. Got 2 actuators from ebay for $ 12.95 delivered.

During installation, I came across some minor issues and would like to list it here.
1. I took out the connector from the existing actuator, which made splicing easier and I could test the polarity and connect the new actuator wires easily. Be careful about the routing while joining the actuator cable to the wiring harness. The actuator has to be inside and the wires should be coming out from the right hole, otherwise you will have to redo it. ( I ended up redoing it). After the new actuator were installed, I plugged the connector back. Connected the blue form actuator to red on the harness and green from actuator to red with black lines on the harness.

2. I enlarged the bottom hole on the bracket beforehand so that it can be bolted to the bolt holding the guide rail for the window glass, as shown in gary's picture. However, when I unbolted the rail, it came loose from the clip at top and I had some trouble to get it back in the slot which is up somewhere and one can not see it properly. I suggest to somehow support it while you have unbolted it and trying to slip the bracket between the guide rail and the body.

3. I mounted the actuator with only one screw (top hole of the actuator to 2nd slot on the bracket from top) and taped it to the bracket at an angle so that it is in line with the vertical rod.

4. I found another hole to which the wiring harness was attached with a pin and which I had removed in order to get more slack in the harness. This hole perfectly matched with the bracket top hole and I used the folded sheet quick nut from the hardware kit to put a screw at this spot too.

5. While bolting the actuator rod to the vertical rod, I used my wife's nail polish on the screws so that they done become loose due to vibrations.

I got pictures of the installations and can send it to any one interested or can post it somewhere.

Thanks to this forum again.

[garync1]

Btt

[Allshookup]

Thank you for posting this! I have a 2000 SEL and both of the front door locks had completely quit working. I followed the instructions and completed both sides in about 2 hours.

2000 Windstar SEL wire colors
Driver side front door:
RED connects to the GREEN wire on the new actuator.
YELLOW connects to the BLUE wire on the new actuator.
Passenger side door:
RED connects to the GREEN wire on the new actuator.
BLUE connects to the BLUE wire on the new actuator.

I need to do this on the driver rear door as well. Does anyone have any pictures or descriptions on how to do this?

[garync1]

I am really glad everything has been working well for every one. I am also glad every one adds to this post. I will also add this will work on most Other Fords with electric door locks.I notice Ford Exploers have this issue as well.. NOW wires and mounting will differ..

[cleveman]

has anyone attempted this on one of their rear sliding doors? both my driver's side doors are acting up (driver's door and rear slider). The front door is clearly an actuator problem... So I'm gonna follow Gary's now well-trodden path for that one.

The rear door, tho, is a little different. at times it won't unlock, even when you try to pull up the lock manually - the rod is stuck in the locked position and won't move at all. Some times you can play with the handle on the outside of the car while reaching inside and pulling up on the lock, and it will pop up. but other times nothing I can do seems to work. Then mysteriously a few days later it will just start working normally, with no intervention.

Any ideas on this sliding door lock issue?

[12Ounce]

Not being as brave as you guys ... today I used the Ford replacement part (6L3Z-25218A43-AA) for my '99's driver's door power latch actuator. It took me more time than you .... am I just slow or what???

Just for info ... the Ford actuator is redesigned ... smaller. Don't know if its any better tho...

Approx $40 each, so you guys are saving good money.

I took the chance to clean up the contacts in the driver's window switches ... using a small file and some 600 grit metal abrasive paper. Then filled all the little contacts with electrical silicone paste.

[lewisnc100]

cleveman, I just went through this recently. My sliding door actuator on the passenger side was acting the same way. Assumed it was the actuator going bad, but once I got in there saw the voltage was not consistent. I think the actuator was good to replace while in there, but there were other issues.

First the power gets to the actuator via the pad and plunger connection. It may look clean, but can easily be the culprit. It really needs some serious rubbing to get a good connection. Also I used electrical contact cleaner on the electrical connector on the back of the plunger and the connection to the actuator, the plunger connection did look like it needed it.

Those steps have fixed my issue. If you think about it the intermittent working makes sense as the connection is provided by the pad and plunger setup which connects each time you close the door.

[garync1]

As far as the rear doors I would look into the contacts like above posted.. Im sure the uni-actuators would work. But unless you see there is no contact power issues then I would not attempt just yet. The only two I have done on my van are the front ones. I had an issue but only miner on one of the slide doors and that was the little metal door contacts. A pencil eraser did the trick as far as cleaning them..

[cleveman]

Originally Posted by lewisnc100

cleveman, I just went through this recently. My sliding door actuator on the passenger side was acting the same way. Assumed it was the actuator going bad, but once I got in there saw the voltage was not consistent. I think the actuator was good to replace while in there, but there were other issues.

First the power gets to the actuator via the pad and plunger connection. It may look clean, but can easily be the culprit. It really needs some serious rubbing to get a good connection. Also I used electrical contact cleaner on the electrical connector on the back of the plunger and the connection to the actuator, the plunger connection did look like it needed it.

Those steps have fixed my issue. If you think about it the intermittent working makes sense as the connection is provided by the pad and plunger setup which connects each time you close the door.

thanks for the replies, lewis and gary... I'll try cleaning the connections.

I have a problem, tho - i can't get the driver's side sliding door to open for over a week now. in the past it would magically start working after a day or 2 - not so lately. I cannot unlock the door with the automatic locks or even pull up the lock manually (it feels like it's being held in the lock position, maybe a "safety feature"?).

Any suggestions on how to get the darn thing open? do I have to take off the door panel? if so, another stupid question - how? all I see is 1 screw just behind the inside door handle. Once I get it open, what should I do to release the lock?

you guys are wonderful - thx much.

[cleveman]

talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire...

now i REALLY have a mess.

I got into the sliding door and poked around until I could get the door to open. good so far.

Then I cleaned the electrical contacts on the door jam as suggested, and caused some kind of electrical problem. the remote keyless entry doesn't work at all, and when I press the unlock button on the driver's side door, I occasionally get a little attempt from one of the rear locks to open, but no other lock responds.

And HERE'S the kicker! the anti-theft system has now locked down the entire car - I assume because it thinks its still locked???? so I've gone from a non-functional door to a non-functional car.

Any ideas? from looking at the manual it looks like fuse 6 might be the culprit, but I pull it out and it looks ok. unfortunately, it's Easter Sunday - so finding an open store to replace that fuse is likely NOT happening.