door lock actuators

[CarlosCent21]

does anyone know how to replace the door lock actuators, mine dont work and i dont want to pay the dealer if i can do it myself?

[creslevi]

Hi
I have a 94 buick lesabre that had door locks not work twice and I can tell you its a pretty big job, you have to dismantle the door, to get at the actuator, first determine if the problem is electrical or mechanical and if its all the doors ?.

My problem was a little rubber link that connects the solenoid to the lock linkage it tore and the little rod just slipped out and would'nt actuate the lock mechanism, it is doable but you really have to pay attention to how it comes apart, If I remember right the actuator is mounted behind the window glass channel that holds the glass when the window is down ?.
I am not sure now if the window had to come out or not ? its been a couple years ago.
By the way I think what caused it to tear was shutting the engine off and trying to open the door at exactly the same instant, my doors lock when the key is on and unlock when its off, both times mine broke was in the post office parking lot, getting into too much of a hurry, but then its just such a natural instinct to turn the key off with your right hand and try to open the door simultaneosily. Good luck I hope this helps.
Rick

[Old Suburban]

Check out Commando Alarms on the web (Commando.com I think) they have lifetime warranty door actuators for $10. I just put 3 in my F250 easy job. They will want to know how many wires go to your current actuators.

The job itself was as simple as taking off door panel, mounting actuator in such a way so that it aligns with door locking rod (I had to drill one hole in each door interior) then cuttin and splicing in new actuator.

Really pretty simple, first one took 1-1.5 hours (learning curve ), next two took total of 20min each .

John