[bfeekes]

When locking the driver door my passenger lock wont go all the way down into the locking position. When I unlock the driver door the light on the lock button in front of the gearshifter is on? It won't go off until I pull the lock up manually to the unlocked position even though it was never technically locked. My question is could this be a bad actuator and if so are they hard to replace? I'm getting some new speakers installed soon so the door panel will be off I thought I could try to take care of this as well when they are getting installed. My second issue is the front right headlight when turned on goes up without a problem. The problem is when I turn the lights off it kind of stutters back into the off position. Is this a sign of a bad motor or could it be something much simpler? I appreciate any feedback anyone can give.



Thanks,

Ben

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[ryker]

Hey Ben, I had a similar problem with my door locks. Ended up being the micro switch on the passenger side. This is the white wire that connects in the bottom of the door and goes up into the door handle. It was $55 at Sunset Porsche. Mine was easy to diagnose because I pulled the door handle out just enough to see that the microswitch was broken. The little plastic wings that hold it onto the handle get brittle over time. If you know what you are doing, you can pull the handle out just a bit and use a tiny screw driver bit to take off the screw that holds it on. Then with the door panel off, string in the new wire. The challenge is to not knock off any of the connectors to the handle. If you do this, you will have a real project on your hands, and this thread will become longer.



I presume it could be the actuator, in which case your job will be a great deal easier.

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[bfeekes]

In your case was the door lock even attempting to lock? I found an actuator for $29 it looks like you would just unhook the old one and hook the new one in? If it is the micro switch i might have to call you if you are open to that to maybe help walk me through it. I appreciate your feedback.

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[ryker]

Exactly what was happening was that if I locked the doors form the passenger side (the side with the broken micro switch), both locks would engage, and alarm would set. If I unlocked the passenger side, the alarm would go off if I opened the door, and I would have to run around the car and unlock the driver side. If I locked the driver side, it would go down then pop back up, so I could only lock the car from the passenger side. The passenger side also took more effort, because the actuator was not pulling it down, since it was not electronically engaging. It was a process to lock and unlock the car, so I was very happy when I got it fixed. I hope this helps. Mine does sound a bit different than yours, so might actually be your actuator. Definitely PM me if you have questions, and I can give you my phone number.

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[MCL968]

I had a similar problem, I disconnected the actuator and removed the boot. With the arm facing upward, I worked some thin oil lube into the mechanism. After about 30 manual cycles of the actuator it was working like new. Reinstalled everything and it all works fine. Did the same thing to the driver side and lubed the linkage and latches in both doors. Now the actuators work like new and the alarm light actually indicates that the alarm is armed.

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[bfeekes]

ryker, it sounds like we have the same situation just in reverse. MCL968 when locking the doors my passeger lock lights up that its engaged its just not fully locked because i can open and then the alarm will sound. I'm going to have the speaker in the door installed in probably a month but when looking at the door i'm wandering if the door panel even needs to come off? It looks like the lower half of the door is removable? I'll have to look into it more. Ryker I'll pm you closer to when the install date is. I appreciate everybody's feedback I'll definitely have to address this as I would like to be able to lock both doors.

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[hot968]

any info on problem with headlight? I have the same thing , I have oiled the strut but still isn't working right.

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[ryker]

bfeekes, I actually lived in Wichita in the 5th grade but haven't been back since then, otherwise I would stop by and look at it for you! Yes, it is a hassle when both doors don't lock. You will definitely have to take the door panel off. It really is pretty easy to do. An easy way to check the micro switch is to just pull the door handle. You have to take off just one allen on the edge of the door, then slide the handle and gently pull it out. You can see the micro switch white wire attached to the handle. If it is missing, or not seated properly, you will know that's the problem. I suppose the wire could be damaged somewhere else, but the plastic gets brittle right at the handle.



Drop me a line anytime.

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[MCL968]

[quote name='bfeekes' timestamp='1390458876' post='154535']

ryker, it sounds like we have the same situation just in reverse. MCL968 when locking the doors my passeger lock lights up that its engaged its just not fully locked because i can open and then the alarm will sound. I'm going to have the speaker in the door installed in probably a month but when looking at the door i'm wandering if the door panel even needs to come off? It looks like the lower half of the door is removable? I'll have to look into it more. Ryker I'll pm you closer to when the install date is. I appreciate everybody's feedback I'll definitely have to address this as I would like to be able to lock both doors.

[/quote]



Yes, the door panel will have to come off, but it sounds like the same problem I was having. The actuators were not smooth and they didn't have the power necessary to fully engage the locks on the door mechanism. Lubing the actuators, the latch, the linkage, and the key locks solved the problem. While I was in there I lubed the window regulator slides and pivot points. That helped a lot too.

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[bfeekes]

Ryker, what school did you go to in the fifth grade? I'll have to pm you when i get brave enough to tackle this. Hot968 haven't heard anything on the headlight yet. MCL968 what product did you use to lube the actuator, linkage, and latch?

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[DaveN]

Same problem I had last year. I made it worse the year before when I replaced the door handle seals and shot some cleaner into the lock area. My solution was to get a used actuator form the Pelican forum; works like a charm now. I cracked the old one open, cleaned and lubed it lightly and reassembled - Crazy Glue <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> for next time.

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[bfeekes]

Ok, so Saturday is the moment of truth getting stereo installed and door panel will be off. I bought a used actuator so my plan is to switch out the old one with the used one I bought. Is the actuator pretty easy to switch out? Are there any tips I should know about?

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[ryker]

I think you will see that it is very simple. As I recall, just two 10mm screws, unclip the white plastic arm, and pull the electrical connection. Once you get in there I think you will find it pretty simple. If you have the replacement actuator, you can sort of picture how it might install but will become much easier once you open it up. I looked through my photos but I didn't take any with the actuator in place, only one with it dangling as I was installing Dynamat, which would not be a bad idea to do while you're in there as well.

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[MCL968]

The linkage pin is a bit of a pest. Keep a magnet handy to retrieve it from the bowels of the door when you drop it.

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[bfeekes]

Ok, I appreciate everybody's help here but when the door panel came off i thought it would take me too long since they were installing my stereo as well. On another note my car proceeded to make a new noise in front around the belts so I took it in to get a diagnosis and $2400 later I have had a new timing belt installed, new water pump, all five of the Idler pulleys, and to top it off the used actuator fixed the door lock problem! On a brighter note the headlight seems to have fixed itself with using it more. I think this car was just sitting around to long and had a poor mechanic taking care of it. I have found a good shop in Wichita to take care of me so I'm happy about that.

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