It's either this or pay $200! Should I do it myself? Is it pretty easy to do?

 

I personally dont have the power locks.. but I looked at them in a pick-a-part yard. I did the manual-power windows.. from the looks of it, yes the door lock system would be easy to replace. the only thing you'd need to decide is 1. use rivits (big ones), to put the replacement system in, or use nuts and bolts.

 

Thanks, I think I'll try it. I know I'll have to drill the rivits out, shouldn't be too hard to do . I'm not sure if I have a rivit gun though, who know's what's out there
The Chevy dealership wanted to charge me $81 per side for labor

 

Thats cheap to replace the actuators. I need mine replaced and the dealer I called told me $200 a door. That was for the actuator and labor. Then they told me that it COULD cost more depending on if they screwed something up. I was wondering the same thing if it would be easier to do it my self.

 

Wait a minute...

You'd have to pay more if THEY screwed something up? I don't think so...That's pretty ****ed up business practices right there...

Of course, I could have just misunderstoood what you said

 

it's pritty easy, the hardest part is drilling out the rivits, you will break bits if you are not careful. i did. and i used aftermarket actuators, so i had to redo the linkage, but that was no problem. i also just used nuts and bolts. but it was no big deal, just those freaken rivits.
Ryan

 

And it saves a lot of money.

$15 or actuators
$ 5 for conectors
$3 bit

Good Luck
Ryan

 

make sure that the linkage and latch are lubricated before you go through the trouble of replacing the actuators.

if you do indeed have to replace the actuators, a grinding wheel makes removing the 1/4" rivets a much easier job.

 

question:
it takes like 3 presses of the button for me to lock/unlock my doors. is this because the lock mechanism is weak or things just need to be lubed or something?

 

Yep, applying some white lithium grease to the latch & bellcrank will likely fix your problem. My suspicion is that your actuators are in decent shape, it's just that the linkage is binding.

 

They told me it would cost that much unless something happened and it took longer to fix than they expected. Everyone knows how dealers work. They are out to milk you for every dime they can get from you. I thought it was pretty F*ed also. So needless to say I am not taking it there. I can screw it up my self.

I have the same problem with having to push the buttons three or four times if not more to get my doors locked. Can I use some WD-40 to loosen the linkage up or do I need to use the lithium?

 

Use lithium....

 

I cleaned the 'works' with WD-40, then used white grease (while you're in the door, do the window channels too). All works well.

JamesC

 

I lubed mine up a while back...and all still was not good. (I had the same problem of having to hit it multiple times). So it still may be weak actuators.

 

hmmmm... im trying to imagine getting access to the lock piece.... dont remember it being close to an access hole... any pointers?

 

Mine are taking 3 or 4 times to lock and unlock so maybe I'll try the lithium grease thing. If that doesn't work it looks like I'll be drilling out those rivits!

 

My locks used to take multiple presses in order to lock or unlock. I was planning on getting keyless entry a little later on down the road, so I decided to fix that.

If you look at the excellent photos 2vmodular posted at the bellcrank, you can see that the upper portion is a "c"-shaped hitch wrapping around a crook in the rod. What I did was cut 4 small pieces of 1/4" vacuum plugs about the size of the forks in the bellcrank and slipped them over them down to the part that physically touches the rods to move them. That took the severe play out of the strike and also absorbs the loud clatter when you activate the lock. Then I greased everything up and put it back together.

It now only takes one press and sounds like a nice new car's power locks. It was a lot easier and cheaper than replacing the solonoids which were fine in the first place.