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Door Locks

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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 03:59 PM
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Jim Lane's Avatar
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Door Locks

Does anyone know if the door lock mechanism and the lock motors are still available for our trucks?

Although I am sure there are a lot of generic lock motors that I could make work.

My drivers door is getting hard to unlock.

I have not checked with the dealer yet.

Thanks in advance.

Jim
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 05:17 PM
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From: Isanti, MN
Originally Posted by Jim Lane
Does anyone know if the door lock mechanism and the lock motors are still available for our trucks?

Although I am sure there are a lot of generic lock motors that I could make work.

My drivers door is getting hard to unlock.

I have not checked with the dealer yet.

Thanks in advance.

Jim
Aren't they just open frame solenoids? Should be able to clean em up and lube them to restore performance.

Universal set of 4
http://www.jcwhitney.com/replacement...erid=c2789u0j1

BTW, what do you know about restoring the action of sticky electric mirrors?
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 05:27 PM
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Jim,
Define "hard to unlock".

I found out that with mine the door latch assembly was worn out. If you look inside the plastic side on the jam of your door, you should be able to see inside there and tell if the linkage is worn causing "hard to unlock" situation.

I had to replace my whole assembly on both doors and then it was back to working as normal. Hope this helps.
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by j_martin
Aren't they just open frame solenoids? Should be able to clean em up and lube them to restore performance.

Universal set of 4
http://www.jcwhitney.com/replacement...erid=c2789u0j1

BTW, what do you know about restoring the action of sticky electric mirrors?
No the door locks are actually a motor driven actuator, it has a rack and pinion setup that drives the control rod up and down, direction is controlled by reversing the polarity for a few seconds.

BTW, what do you know about restoring the action of sticky electric mirrors?

I know you cannot successfully remove the mirror glass but if they are already broken you can get to the internal mechanism to repair then then replace the glass.

The factory glass is secured with several big blobs of silicone and you cannot get to it to release it.

I have some pictures of the inside of the mirror I will find and post.

My Body Shop found a place that has replacement units but they are about $250.00 each.
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by GIT-R-DONE
Jim,
Define "hard to unlock".

I found out that with mine the door latch assembly was worn out. If you look inside the plastic side on the jam of your door, you should be able to see inside there and tell if the linkage is worn causing "hard to unlock" situation.

I had to replace my whole assembly on both doors and then it was back to working as normal. Hope this helps.
When I try to lock or unlock the doors using my alarm they do not pop up all of the way, I pulled out the lock last night and serviced it but I still have the same problem but I am thinking it is more of an electrical problem because after I start the truck for a second they work fine.

Guess I will install a new door lock circuit and take it off the fuse block.
Hmm maybe some more relays..

Ill let you know what I find.

I would like to replace the locks because they are the only thing that keeps the doors from flying open in an accident.

Jim
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 07:09 PM
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Ok, what mine were doing was taking 3-4 times to hit the unlock before they would pop up enough to unlock. Replacing the latch mechanism took care of my problem. Let us kow what you find out.
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by GIT-R-DONE
Ok, what mine were doing was taking 3-4 times to hit the unlock before they would pop up enough to unlock. Replacing the latch mechanism took care of my problem. Let us kow what you find out.
So where were you able to find a replacement latch mechanism?

Jim
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Old Feb 24, 2012 | 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Jim Lane

BTW, what do you know about restoring the action of sticky electric mirrors?

I know you cannot successfully remove the mirror glass but if they are already broken you can get to the internal mechanism to repair then then replace the glass.

The factory glass is secured with a big blob of silicone and you cannot get to it to release it.

I have some pictures of the inside of the mirror I will find and post.
Thanks. I'll start another thread. Put em there.
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Old Feb 25, 2012 | 06:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Jim Lane
So where were you able to find a replacement latch mechanism?

Jim
A friend of mine had some NOS from a truck he was going to rebuild, but never did. I got lucky finding those. My truck with 400K on it, I was surprised it would even open the door from being wore out sooo much.

I Cant imagine how many times someone has gone in and out of it over the years.
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Old Feb 25, 2012 | 06:18 AM
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FWIW,

I had all the problems that you guys were discussing so far. I fixed them in about 5 minutes.


All I did was opened the door, and removed the "plastic air vent" above the latch mechanism by using a flat screwdriver in the center of the side edge of the louver, and lifted it up. The louver just pops out.

I took a teflon based lubricant, and sprayed every part that I could get the tube down to, multiple times. I lubricated any mechanical springs, and the back of the cylinders as well. I then sprayed lube inside the cylinder from the outside. I hit the lock button up and down a few times, and re-lubricated it again.

My door locks work as they should, and they don't get stuck any longer
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Old Feb 25, 2012 | 07:58 AM
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My driver side door is doing the same thing.
Will lock with key but will not unlock.
Repeated attempts - no unlock.
Took latch out - cleaned well and lubed with white grease
Same problem
I have to get in through passenger door if I lock driver door
Does anyone know what latches off other vehicles will fit?
Other years of ram's or dakota's or ??
Cheers
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Old Feb 26, 2012 | 11:14 AM
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My door locks are hit and miss, it's the switch. I was having some issues with my driver's door not unlocking properly with the key. One day I had a can of blaster in my hand and got a brainstorm, shot a bunch into the cylinder and solved that problem.
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Old Feb 26, 2012 | 12:43 PM
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My driver side has been funky since I got the truck. It locks ok with and without the key. Unlocking is just fine with the switches but when it comes to unlocking it with the key, I have to turn it hard enough to get it to "pop." I don't know if this is a cylinder, linkage or actuator issue. If I want to unlock it from the passenger-side switch, I have to press it multiple times over and over until the actuator pushes the rod up far enough. I've lived with it since I've owned it but it'd really be nice to fix it.
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Old Feb 26, 2012 | 04:52 PM
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Jimbo, shove some WD 40 in the key hole and give it a shot. Let me know if that works for ya. If not, read my above post again, thats what helped mine.
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Old Feb 27, 2012 | 06:40 AM
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Originally Posted by GIT-R-DONE
Jimbo, shove some WD 40 in the key hole and give it a shot. Let me know if that works for ya. If not, read my above post again, thats what helped mine.
WD-40 needs to be used with caution


I had several homeowners who used wd on their window frames. The frames, several weeks later still had the wd on them, but also was covered with a layer of dust / dirt, because WD is sticky, and leaves a residue.

From what I've found, I would prefer using a lubricant that doesn't attract dirt.
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