Rear driver and passenger side door locks!

Hello,
We have a 98 Lincoln Navigator. The rear door locks seems to be flaky now. Using the remote sometimes they lock and unlock and sometimes not. Would that be the door lock actuator? I think that's what they call it. Anybody change one of these before and how much they cost?

Thanks in advance.

Hello,
We have a 98 Lincoln Navigator. The rear door locks seems to be flaky now. Using the remote sometimes they lock and unlock and sometimes not. Would that be the door lock actuator? I think that's what they call it. Anybody change one of these before and how much they cost?

Thanks in advance.
if the lock actuator are binding/dragging thay more than likley bad. cost between 45-100 a peice.the door panel has to come off,and the latch and rods need to be removed.its a pain in the rump to do .make sure the actuators are slow to respond before tearing in.good luck

Thanks for responding sir.
Does anybody have pictures of how to do this? A link to some website on how to.

I have a 2000 Navigator doing the same thing. It looks like the actuator is riveted in place. Did you replace yours?

My have a 98 Lincoln Navigator and the front passenger left door lock also wants to work when it wants...it unlocks more often and rarely locks back. Has anyone actually replaced the actuator and cured the problem?

I replaced my actuator last night in my 2000 Navigator. It was the passenger rear. I had to remove the door panel to replace the actuator. Here are the steps:

The upper handle, inside the vehicle, on the door (used to shut the door) has a plastic cover on each end. After popping the plastic covers off, they reveal the 2 metric bolts screwed to the inside of the door that secure the door panel to the door. Remove the bolts. You also have to remove the plastic trim piece around the inside lower door handle (used to open the door from inside the vehicle). Pop off the plastic trim and there is another metric bolt to remove. After removing the above three bolts and the lower door handle, the door panel lifted up and off. The power window wiring harness can be unplugged after you lift off the door panel. Next, carefully peel back the paper starting on the side towards the rear of the vehicle. I peeled it back to the door handle. You should be able to see inside the door now. The actuator is riveted to the side of the door from the outside. You have to drill the center of the rivet out. It is located on the side of the door you see when you open the door. It is below the door latch where the door starts to curve inward. You can see the rivet without taking the door panel off. Before drilling out the rivet, you should unplug the wiring harness from the actuator. After drilling the rivet out, the actuator dangles from a rod with a hook on the end. I could not get the rod off without breaking the plastic piece below the rod where it attached to the actuator. The new actuator comes with a removable rod making it easier to install. I had to install the rod through the eyelet and then attach the actuator to the rod inside the door (a little tricky). The Ford dealership (they had the actuator $10 cheaper than the Lincoln dealership) sold me the actuator and gave me the rivet. It appears it is 1/4 rivet. My pop rivet gun only went up to 3/16" and the rivet was too big so I had to borrow a bigger rivet gun. After riveting the new actuator on, the door lock worked fine.

Drew

I replaced my actuator last night in my 2000 Navigator. It was the passenger rear. I had to remove the door panel to replace the actuator. Here are the steps:
Drew

Drew,
You da man !!!!

Makes me want to run out and buy a f'd up Gator just so I can follow your instructions...

Sweet...Thanks Drew...I'll try that out and see what happens...How long did the job take? I'll also go to Ford instead cause 10 bucks is 10 bucks!

I took the door panel off the first night (30 minutes) and evaluated the situation. I ordered and received the part the next day. I replaced the part that night (2 hours) including driving to pick up the large rivet gun.

I would call all local Ford and Lincoln dealers to get the best price. The prices do vary dealer to dealer. My local Ford dealer also gets parts the same day if I order them in the morning. Good luck!

Drew

i have a 2000 navigator, the door from the driver side is not locking automatically, sounds like the lock mechanism is dislodge while playing the lock and unlock mode from the remote key. any suggestion. thanks

Your theory sounds accurate. If you hear the lock solenoid making the lock and unlock sound when you play with the remote, but the actual door doesn't lock/unlock, you may have a disengaged rod which goes from the solenoid to the door lock mechanism and the little manual stud which pops out the top. Just pop off the door panel and see for yourself. If you dont hear the solenoid engage or disengage when you use the remote, you may have a dead solenoid. You will have to replace it. You can often times tell if its just the one solenoid or the control mechanism by playing with the lock/unlock switch. If all doors but one lock and unlock then its isolated to just one door/solenoid. If none of the doors lock/unlock then it could be a fuse or control module. Hope that helps.

[quote=ernestofelix]i have a 2000 navigator, the door from the driver side is not locking automatically, sounds like the lock mechanism is dislodge while playing the lock and unlock mode from the remote key. any suggestion. thanks[/

thanks. another thing I found a piece of metal (like alluminum button) right in between of the door.

thanks

I have a 99 Navigator that is doing the same thing I have replaced both rear door actuators but the same problem is still happening. Some times it will unlock/lock and sometimes it won't. I'm wondering if it could be the door latch/lock cylinders. I have pulled the door panels apart several times and have hit the lock/unlock button on my remote and the front drivers door panel and I can see the actuators engaging but it does not unlock or lock the doors some times. 9 times out of 10 it doesn't do what it is supposed to do. Can anyone give me some advice on the next step. Like I said I have already replaced both rear door locking actuators. Oh and the actuators can be put back in with 1/4" nuts and bolts but it is tricky to do.