motor for door lock actuator

[AMB]

Anyone know if you can get a similar motor from somewhere like Jaycars? The mechanism is working fine, just the motor has got slow. I had the motor apart before, cleaned up the brushes etc, got it working really good, but it only lasted about 3 months. You can here trying to work, just hasn't got the power. Brushes too worn.

[toolchick01]

Nah I work at jaycar and they don't have anything like it or even parts to fix it. Best option I have found is a change over one. They cost about $70 but they come with at least a 3 month warranty. Only other option is to buy a kit off ebay to rebuild it, but for the time, effort and money, the change over is the better option. And Ford want too much for a brand new one.

[AMB]

Thanks for your reply toolchick01.
Just been doing a bit of reading about it on the net. I think I found the problem. Its that positive temperature gradient thermistor (flat disk) which is inside the motor near the brushes. The thermistor is suppose to stop the motor burning out if it gets too hot from pushing the button for too long/too often. The thermistor gets hot, its resistance greatly increases, and so it cuts current to the motor. Apparently the thermistor gets old and doesn't let enough current to pass to the motor. The symptom is that the motor seems to work properly, but slows down too quickly, before the door is locked/unlocked. That's what mine is doing. The simple fix is to bypass the thermistor. Many have done this with no problems for many years. Will try that, but I'm not sure if it's a permanent fix, because I'm thinking the thermistor may also act as a simple timer, allowing the motor to run just long enough to lock/unlock. Will have a look at it, see if its possible for the motor to run for too long under normal operation (one normal push of the remote). I know i can get a cheap replacement for about $60 delivered, but I enjoy this sort of stuff. Jaycar and the like only sell negative temp gradient thermistors (resistance decreases with temp).

[AMB]

Okay so I bypassed thermistor and its working just fine. Easy fix. Now I wonder if that's why all the locks in my EF seem to work really slow (ie. the thermistors are getting old). The locks in the AU snap open and closed.

[Rfordsfun]

dead thread ? took the motor out od actuator in my au fairmont ghia 2000, it works fine pressing the test button, but seems to get weaker and weaker. Reason for removing was remote wouldnt lock or unlock drivers door. Got a new one coming from america for $13. hope that fixes the issue cheap and easy, like a good ford driver should be .

[rowan194]

Wonder how AMB's bypass fix worked back in '09. Wouldn't it have been better to replace the thermistor?

(Pretty sure that EF/EL use a different lock mechanism to the AU, the former is like a noisy cycle of about a second, the latter a snap)