Electric Lock

I noticed the electric lock on the front passenger side of my 92 Taurus wagon had stopped working. I could control all the other locks from either front seat lock switch, but the right front lock itself only operated manually or with the key.

Coincidentally, the driver's side window had been knocked out by a thief a few months ago but I didn't consider that a factor since it had been repaired the day after it happened. I only mention it on the off chance my thinking is wrong.

Anyway, I removed the door trim today and felt around inside the door for a loose plug... never found one. There are two parallel wires that go to the bottom of the lock mechanism but they seemed snugged up all right. There also was a single white wire in there that appeared to be grounded to the door on the inside of the striker. In any case, everything seemed well connected.

I also pried the grommet off the door and played with the wires feeding through... nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The whole time I'm doing any of this I'm continually trying the lock switch on the passenger door but to no avail. Despite everything I tried I couldn't get it to work electrically. In fact, as I messed with it, it stopped operating the other locks. Damn! Checking the wires under the switch did nothing.

Finally in disgust I just put everything back together. What do you know? It all works again. I suspect the next time I run over a pothole it'll stop again.

This is not my primary vehicle and yet I like to keep everything working on it. I've already spent considerably more than it's worth to keep it in good repair. I got it for free from my dad after my mother died but I've probably sunk $4500 in repairs over the last couple of years. He believed in deferring nonessential repairs; I do not. But I digress.

What do you think is happening with the lock?

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
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While it would be a lot more convenient for the problem to exist on an unused back door, I suspect the process of moving them around would be a major PITA. And at this point I'm not exactly sure where the problem is. Intermittent problems are the worst to diagnose.

The driver's side switch is OK because sometimes it works on the defective lock and always works on the nondefective locks. It was not touched and yet the lock started operating again when I disassembled the right front door.

The passenger side switch seems to be OK in that it operates all the other doors but its own when it's misbehaving and oeprates all of the doors when it's not.

The single white wire which I assume to be a ground (attaches to the door itself at the inside of the striker) seems very well connected.

The double black wire which connects to the lock itself also seems well connected. I assume one wire controls lock and the other unlock.

The wiring harness itself doesn't seem to react to being manipulated although my suspicions are leading more and more to this area. The fact that the uncorrected door lock suddenly started working again just by being reassembled leads me in this direction. I had done all I was going to do, had no luck at all... the door was dead... so I put the trim back on the door and suddenly it started working again as it should... from either door.

If I were a rich man I'd just take it to a dealer and let them fix it. But if I was a rich man I wouldn't be driving a '92 Taurus wagon.

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

Electric door locks use relays between the switches on the doors and the electric lock motors (solenoids)inside each door. The relays are usually located somewhere under the dash panel. The one that controls the front passenger door lock on your car could be intermittent. Another possibility is the electric lock motor inside that door. Since the door lock started working again after you were working inside the door, I would suspect the lock motor is the problem.

Reply to
Fordfan

Thanks for answering. The lock is still working now after a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the car has developed another problem. Every day a new adventure with The Beast.

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

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