Automatic door locks

Apr 26, 2005 10 Replies

The automatic door lock on the passanger side in my 2000 Ford Mustang is not working. When it is locked the only way to unlock the door is by pulling the handle. Even if I push the door lock/unlock button in the car, it will not move. I was told it will cost $250 to have the problem fixed. Is there another way I could fix the problem without having the lock replaced? Thanks for your help.



Probably not. Chances are the problem is your door lock actuator. This is just's Ford's name for an electric solenoid in the door. In time, this fill up with dirt and corrosion and just stop working. $250 seems a little high for the fix, though. There is a chance it could be the lock/unlock button, or a fuse, but Ford techs replace the door lock actuators frequently.

If youre at all handy, swapping the actuator is trivial. Any wrecker will sell you one for $20-$40, if you do the work of pulling it out:)

That is true. I replaced a left and a right in both front doors if a crew cab a few weeks ago. There are just a couple of screws on each door to take out. Most of what holds the panels on are the spring clips that quickly pop out of the frame of the door. However, I'm not sure I totally agree with you on pulling them out of a salvaged car. These things fail so fast and frequent that I would probably get new ones, even if they are from an aftermarket source. To each his/her own.

Hes concerned about cost.... OEM actuator for a Mustang is ~$150. Aftermartket, ~$100.

I'd go with OEM, but Im not usually concerned with cost.

If the 200 is like the Older models it does not have a pair of solenoids, it has a DC electric motor. Available from aftermarket vendors for $50-$70

Looking at the 2000 service cd, the actuator isn't the cylinder type like this:

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In the 99-04s it's attached to the door latch. The best I can show is a drawing:
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it's probably looks something like this example:
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Ford door lock actuators are $40 from this site (probably $50 to your door) :
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$53+tax from your local Ford folks. DP Pics of the cars:
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Thank You very much for the information...I have ordered the part and I will put it in myself.

It is real easy to remove the inside part of the door. Just make sure to take out ALL screws before pulling on the plastic. You need to pull the plastic UP.

Start by prying the little buttons for the windows out the door. There's a little opening you can stick a screw driver in. From there it's a breeze.

Great. Looks like an all plastic piece of crap....

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