Door lock problem

[Gerry Blodgett]

My passenger door lock is getting slugish - sometimes I have to lock/unlock/lock a couple of times to get it to lock or unlock completely. The problem is that when it only unlocks halfway and my passengers opens the door, the damn alarm goes off and I have to dive under the dash and push the button to stop it. My question is, are the locking mechnisms on the 03 ST easily accessible in the doors for replacement? I've had cars where the mechanic had to cut an opening in the metal frame to get at them.

 

[Art Garcia]

somewhat accessible. Most people experience this problem with the driverbside door.

 

[Ed C]

I have the same problem, passenger side, 03 ST. A while back I took it apart and took a look. IMO, It looks like it would be a PITA but doable. I sprayed some wd-40 on it and seemed to help a little. It works but still sluggish. I haven't touched it since...too busy with other stuff.

 

[Rodney Leary]

I had the same issue with my driver side door. I found a helpful post on an explorer forum which led me to find hat a small spring was missing that is supposed to hold up one of the bars inside the door. I bought the spring at the hardware store for $1 and had the door apart and fixed in under 30 minutes.



I had a link in one of my other posts that links to the article, which has pictures and a very good explanation.



Dont be scared to pull the inside of the door off to inspect the issue, you could have a stretched spring causing the same problem as me, and fix it for dirt cheap.

 

[Marc Quintin]

There you go



http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207373



Marc..

 

[EddieS'04]

 

[rob chaw]

Marcq- THANK YOU for the link...That helps me dramaticlly...

I took apart my door yesterday, and seen a small sping by the lock actuator area that i couldn't figure out where it went, so i checked out the other door just from the outside and seen the spring attached...So i kinda knew something was still missing, so i reinstalled a NEW exterior door handle and was hoiping i was good to go, it works sometimes but not all.. I bet that spring is what is causing my door not to unlock now. (yes i did need a new door handle anyways, the springs in the handle broke too... I just need to stop by the auto parts or hardware store to get a new sring to install.... just takes minutes to take the door panel off.. THANKS AGAIN for sharing your info..



rob