Finally got ALL my door locks working!!!

[YoungClayB]

Hey guys,
I've hit a milestone...ALL 4 of my electric door locks are working now (up and down!!!) I know, its amazing; I can hardly believe it myself

Prior to getting them all working, I went to the local car stereo shop and had them install an aftermarket keyless entry system...the parking lights even blink when I lock and unlock the doors on my 88!!! They tried to also wire in the horn, but apparently the horn doesnt work unless the car is turned on...oh well.

For anyone having issues with either non-working or "sticky" door locks, here are the things I did that finally got them working;
- I had to replace the actuators for the driver's side doors - front and back - I ordered the OEM replacements from teamgrandwagoneer.com
- Even after replacing the actuators, the rear door would lock, but it refused to unlock. Solution: After trying MANY other things, I finally just removed the torsion spring in the door lock mechanism. Presto. There is plenty of friction in the rear lock linkages already to keep the locks from "falling".
- The front driver's side door lock (after replacing the actuator) was
intermitant. It would always "lock", but only occationally would it "unlock". This was quite the PITA since..you know, it is the driver's door afterall. Solution: First, I opened up the drivers side "switch" and noticed that the "up wire" was a little loose so I took some needlenose pliers and clamped it tight - this helped a little, but it still wouldn't unlock 100% of the time. So, I bought a "light duty" spring from home depot and rigged it up so that the spring was pulling up slightly on the actuator rod. Works like a charm now.
- The rear passenger door worked fine for a while...or so I thought. Upon closer inspection, I realized that when I "locked" the doors, the rear passenger door appeared to be locked (i.e. the plunger went down), but you could still open the door from the outside. Solution: same as the other side - I just removed the torsion spring and it actually locks now.

I found it interesting, that most of the advice on this forum for "sticky" locks is to remove the door lock assembly so that it can be cleaned and degreased. None of my door locks needed this. I actually did remove one of the rear assemblies, but once I got it removed, I realized that it was fine. After this realization, I checked the other ones by simply disconnecting the rod assembly and checking the resistance by hand.

Hurray!!! Door locks!!!

[crispyboy]

YCB,
Congratulations! You are step ahead of me. I need to tackle this job but I can't get the gumption up to do any work with the winter blahs....

[jcountryman]

Thanks for the very helpful tip! I picked up some (4 inch springs) decorative plate hangers from the hardware store this morning and created hooks out out of the wire that hooks onto the plates and it works great. I'll post a pic later along with the item number. Took about 3 minutes to do one door.

[Crist Clapper]

Hey folks, I’m about to tackle my 1990 GW door lock actuators. They all “click/work”, but some only open, some only close, that sort of stuff. I found this posting. Any other advice would be much appreciated!!! Thanks.

Originally Posted by YoungClayB

Hey guys,
I've hit a milestone...ALL 4 of my electric door locks are working now (up and down!!!) I know, its amazing; I can hardly believe it myself

Prior to getting them all working, I went to the local car stereo shop and had them install an aftermarket keyless entry system...the parking lights even blink when I lock and unlock the doors on my 88!!! They tried to also wire in the horn, but apparently the horn doesnt work unless the car is turned on...oh well.

For anyone having issues with either non-working or "sticky" door locks, here are the things I did that finally got them working;
- I had to replace the actuators for the driver's side doors - front and back - I ordered the OEM replacements from teamgrandwagoneer.com
- Even after replacing the actuators, the rear door would lock, but it refused to unlock. Solution: After trying MANY other things, I finally just removed the torsion spring in the door lock mechanism. Presto. There is plenty of friction in the rear lock linkages already to keep the locks from "falling".
- The front driver's side door lock (after replacing the actuator) was
intermitant. It would always "lock", but only occationally would it "unlock". This was quite the PITA since..you know, it is the driver's door afterall. Solution: First, I opened up the drivers side "switch" and noticed that the "up wire" was a little loose so I took some needlenose pliers and clamped it tight - this helped a little, but it still wouldn't unlock 100% of the time. So, I bought a "light duty" spring from home depot and rigged it up so that the spring was pulling up slightly on the actuator rod. Works like a charm now.
- The rear passenger door worked fine for a while...or so I thought. Upon closer inspection, I realized that when I "locked" the doors, the rear passenger door appeared to be locked (i.e. the plunger went down), but you could still open the door from the outside. Solution: same as the other side - I just removed the torsion spring and it actually locks now.

I found it interesting, that most of the advice on this forum for "sticky" locks is to remove the door lock assembly so that it can be cleaned and degreased. None of my door locks needed this. I actually did remove one of the rear assemblies, but once I got it removed, I realized that it was fine. After this realization, I checked the other ones by simply disconnecting the rod assembly and checking the resistance by hand.

Hurray!!! Door locks!!!

[halftrac]

What are you calling a torsion spring?

[Crist Clapper]

YoungClayB you are a genius! I removed/cleaned/adjusted and other stuff... And could not get the two back doors to lock. Until... I removed the small spring on each as you suggested and bam! ... They work! Just like the day it was delivered. I just stood-back pushing the button watching them go up/down. A thing of beauty. Thanks!

[Bulldoginit]

I appreciate you for this one. I will try this. My passenger side door will not unlock with the OEM Key fob on my 90. Thanks!

[Billygoat]

congrats

My power locks work just fine, but the key locks are froze on Gonzo and I don't have the keys for Thumper, so I pulled the fuses.
This was after I had to climb in Gonzo's rear window because I must have bumped the lock switch.

[KyooMac]

This post is worth it's weight in GOLD!

[GWDriver]

BIG thumbs up and Kudos. Thanks alot.............

[Tripwire]

SWEET! it can be a biatch (sp) sometimes

[asudchiman]

Wow! How have I not see this post before?
Hopefully, this just saved me a lot of time and agony trying to get my door to unlock again.

[serehill]

Great thread.

[ShagWagon]

I just went through all mine and found if they work too well they will lock on you when you close the door. Not a good thing if you hop out to check the mail or 100 other somethings and close your door and lock your keys inside.

Found most of the latch springs sheared off and clinging on in the grease so they still provided just enough resistance to keep the heavy pull handles from dropping. So when you clean out the metal pieces and lubed them up they would drop very easy Into lock position on you.

GM steering column blinker cam return spring is a close fit if you're good at minor modifications a clip here and a bend there will make it work it's thin to fit.

I got the BJs spring kit and the spring is very thick to fit between the moving parts and rubs and is very stiff. I broke one trying to Install on drivers door so I used the other one for the back for drivers. Very stiff, So much that I worry I'll break the key off trying to unlock it. I hope it breaks in.

I think honestly if you can leave just enough dirt in the mechanism and your old spring pieces, to where it doesn't drop on you, and the actuator lifts it smoothly then you'll have achieved enlightenment and a happy medium.

If your a perfectionist and want it clean and proper then your in for a struggle.

BJs off road has a tutorial to show you how to change these out on the website where you purchase the replacement springs.