Door Lock Not Working - Help

I have a '97 Grand Caravan SE -- the driver's side door has been making a whirring sound for a few months now when the door locks/unlocks. Now it doesn't work at all. I have to manually lock/unlock with my finger or key from outside. I asked somebody else this question and they said it was the "lock motor". Is that the actual name of the item I need to replace? Not trying to sound ignorant here, but I don't know much about repairing parts on vehicles and I'm going to try to order this part and do it myself. Please tell me what I need to replace and any info on how to do it would be great!

Here is something you could try if you have a bit of time on your hands and feel ambitious. You could try removing the door panel from the working door just to see what actually goes on in there when you lock and unlock the doors. You will most likely see a small motor mounted in there which locks and unlocks the door. This I am thinking is your problem. I have not done the locks on one but have replaced the motor on a window, and that only took about an hour start to finish. You might even be able to take out the motor you think is not working and apply a seperate 12 volt power source to it to see if it isn't a power issue (I'm not sure if you can but cannot see see why not) You could test the wiring going to the motor with multi meters to make sure there is power there to begin with. A few thoughts, hope this helps some.I almost forgot to mention, the window motor I replaced was held in place with large rivets which we had to drill out and replace with bolts and nuts, not sure for the locks but maybe. If it turns out to be the motor or actuator, you may even be able to go to a local JY and take one out from there to use.

Here is something I found on the net also you may be interested in, on this site they don't call them motors but power-door-lock actuators.

How Power Door Locks Work (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/power-door-lock.htm)

Something else I found on the net.

Question: 1996 Dodge Caravan 3L mileage: 75200. I have power door locks & want to install remote opener. Where is control box located in van?

Answer: The control box is located under the left side of the dash-top cover.

Good luck.

Wow, thanks for all your help. You're awesome.

Wow, thanks for all your help. You're awesome.

No problem at all :)
Let me know how it works out for ya.

it is an actuator and the whirring noise is beinning of it going bad have 96 TC and have replaced three different ones so far