How hard is it to replace the power door lock actuator? My drivers side one is completely shot. It does not move at all so I probably need a new one.

 

The bad thing is they are held on with really big rivits. You will have to drill them out. These are big enough you have to have a haldrollic or air rivit gun, you can't put them in with a hand one. You can with a little headach bolt the new one on. Make sure to grease and oil all the linkages. I took my passanger one out when I was trying to fix the linkages. its bolted in now.

 

Ah ok. Looks like I wont be able to get them out at the junkyard then I will probably bolt them in too since I dont have a rivet gun. What size bit did you use to drill the old rivits out?

Mike

 

or you can use what most glass shops use.... a HUGE hand riviter....

whenever i have to get somting on the door panel rivited, i take it to a glass shop... its free or cheap, and they have the right tools to do it. they should even have the rivits.

if its a junkuard car, just eyeball it to the big size, sicne if you hit the door some, it doesnt matter..

but you should bring extra bits anyway.... just in case someting snaps one, you arnt SOL.

btw, as far as getting your door panel off... get a door panel remover... they're in the red/white tool section of your local autoparts store... looks like a screwdriver with a bent "foot" at the end.....

 

dont remember the size, just grab one that looked good and used it. I drilled it with my cordless drill though.

You might be able to get it out of the car at the junkyard with a sharp chizle and hammer if you dont have a cordless drill.

Use lock-tite when you bolt them in.

 

About GM and there rivits....

Time too vent, last Saturday, i was at my buddies house,
he just put this new mint door on his Camaro it had no window...
so i thot putting in a window shouldn't be that bad... but before we did that he thot the switch for the power window didn't work so i said lets drag your other door over and see if its the motor, that motor in the other door worked, needless to say i spend 7 hours on one f-cking door ... just to put in the other power window motor and window!!!... never again.... GM and there stupid rivits

 

it takes all of 1 min to remove a rivit with a drill, and 5 seconds to put a rivit in when you have the tool.

i can understand it being a pain to put bolts inplace of the rivits since it wasnt designed to be put together that way, but what problems did the rivits themselves cause?

 

he had no rivit gun, and trying to aline the bolts up in the holes is no fun... there just not that handy when you want things you have to re-do done fast... sure i can see them as being fast and thats why GM probly used them... but they just slowed me down...

 

may i suggest if u have to money that you replace the acuator with a new one, id just hate to see you get a old used one from a yard than have the same problem

 

I have the same problem, where can I get a new actuator??