I started installing power locks today and I got the actuators mounted and the bracket that allows them to move the locking rod. I wired it all up and hit the lock button. The actuators moved as they should, but for some reason the locking rod did not move far enough to lock the car door.

After looking at it further, I found that the little bracket that goes from the actuator to the locking rod was moving, but not far enough to move the locking rod into the locked position. The bracket moves a lot on the locking rod, but a lot of its movement is wasted in the gap between the sides of it. It almost seems as if the part that holds onto the locking rod is too wide.

Is there anything I can do to correct this problem? I was thinking of making the gap smaller, but I am not sure how I can do it. Has anyone has this issue before?

Thanks in advance

 

I got a picture of the bracket that seems to be to wide to grab the locking rod properly. Hope it helps describe what I am talking about.

 

Anyone have a thought on this?

 

i just got done doing a GM power lock swap and i didn't have any problems with mine, i actually grabbed 2 sets out of the pick-n-pull. Are you getting that in the 90* turn in the rod closest to the latch, i had your problem, then i realized i didn't have it within that 90* part of that rod it's supposed to be in.
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are you getting the little lip to come through the rectangle hole in the sheet metal and using the right size rivit???

 

I believe that I have it on the bent part of the locking rod, but I'll check on it in a little while. I have the little lip through the door just above where the rivet goes in. I am using a rivet that the GM dealer gave me, I believe it is just smaller than the 1/4 rivets. I am not sure if they are the correct size because when I drilled them out (to make sure I put the brackets on the correct sides), they started spinning around with the drill bit.

I'll take another look and check everything over and let you know if it is one of those problems. Thanks for the help

 

yea mine did the same thing when i tried to drill it out. You are correct it is just a size below the 1/4, should be 3/8th i believe, and that spinning i wouldn't worry about, i had to go to the extent of pushing the drillbit at an angle just to get the head off and it didn't seems to damage the door.

When you say it's moving, is the entire bracket moving (as it shouldn't be) or is just the arm moving like it's supposed to be, but not far enough???

Yea the rod from the latch goes like this (if i remember correctly, ignore periods):


____________............____________________
...................|______/

..................^
right there is the 90* part you need to have that in...

 

I checked on everything and it all looks like it is in the correct position to me. When I hit the lock button, the bracket, actuator, and locking rod move, but the locking rod does not move far enough to lock the door. The locking rod only moves 3/8 of the distance it should. I attached some pictures to verify everything is in the correct location.

If I have the locking rod in the lock position and I hit unlock, the rod will not move far enough forward to unlock the door. In the same way, if the locking rod is in the unlock position and I hit lock, the rod will not move far enough back to lock the door.

Is it possible that the actuators are not moving far enough? Also, is it supposed to be hard to push the locking rod to the lock or unlock position? I noticed that I have to push pretty hard to get it to move and am concerned that the actuators are not strong enough to do it.

Thanks again

 

Ok, still a little confused, so i will spell it out just in case and you can take whatever information you need...if the rocker mechanism is moving from side to side like you may have made the hole too big, then you have a bit of a problem and obviously that needs to be addressed before anything else can be done.

Main suggestion, get some white lithium greese, i took my lock system out of an '86 and it was well used. You need to clean and spray the crap out of that mechanism. I also went the extra step of greeseing the latch set-up and evertyhing in the door that had a rod going to it with moving parts, then by hand move it back and forth quickly, you should start to notice that it is moving more free-er. You may need to re-spray a couple times but after a while it will work. If your mechanism isn't moving and your only getting halfway into lock and unlock, then you are having the same exact issue i had, i just needed a lot of white lithium greese. In walmart they sell a can called white greese, that is what it is and thats what it's for. Use it freely, i haven't seen it gunk up at all, and it doesn't evaporate like wd-40 will. while you have your door panel off clean yuor window tracks and do that as well with the lithium greese.

 

The rocker mechanism moves from side to side at the piece that hooks onto the locking rod, which I believe is where it should move. It doesn't move where the rivet is holding it in.

Ok, I am going to pick up a can of white lithium grease spray and see what I can do. Should I take the entire locking mechanism out of the door and clean it up?

Thanks for the advice on the window tracks, I am planning on greasing it good because I am swapping to power windows too

Thanks

 

Yea i just did a power window, lock, and mirror set-up. I installed it, got the problem, and got sick of playing with rivits so i sprayed it right in the car, hasn't caused me any problems since, and my garage is not climate controlled, i live in upsate NY with all the snow right now so my garage is cold and i can still go out there and use the locks and they work great, thats why i like the grease, it doesn't come off or evaporate and it's made for almost any moving part in the car so it's a very good investment.

Just spray the mechanism down with it, and then move your lock/unlock rod back and forth many times quickly, it should start to loosen up. Good luck!

 

I got some grease and did what you said and now the locks work great . Thanks a ton for the help, I would not have thought of putting grease on it myself.

 

Not a problem, next thing would have been the possibility of weak actuators and you would have had to go get more 1/4 rivits which i know is fun. Glad it worked for ya! Any other conversion probs you have i most likely can help ya with so feel free to PM me. Congrats!

 

Yeah, I was really hoping it was not the actuators and am quite happy it wasn't. I actually found out that Car Quest sells the 1/4'' rivets, they don't peel into 3 pieces like the stock ones, but they are designed for window regulators. They call them window regulator rivets there. To my surprise, they also sold a gun that handles the 1/4 rivets great.

Thanks again

 

yea when i went to car quest they didn't have a clue about the 1/4" rivits, all they could find is window stopper rivits w/e the heck they are (1/4" but like 1" long...waaay too long), but they cost a fortune. I'll have to remember that next time i waste a 1/4 tank of gas and 12 stores later trying to find enough rivits.