[bikestuff]

Gang,

My bay door locks are looking a little old. The rubber that covers the mechanism is falling apart on all the locks. All but one are still working, but they are really corroded and ugly.

Does anyone have experience in swapping these out? I can see a Ford part number on one of the actuators.

The wiring appears to be just simple spade connectors, but the way that Newell holds the wires is suspect. The wires are wire tied to little square plastic things that (had) glue / adhesive. The glue has long since given up so the wire just hangs there with little plastic squares attached. Maybe some of the industrial double stick tape would hold the plastic thingys?

Thoughts?

Cheers,
bill

[encantotom]

hi bill,

i replaced some of mine. the oem price is like over 150 bucks apiece as well as the newell parts price.

here is the identical ones in aftermarket. i paid 36 bucks for 2 of them last year and i see they are up to 47 for 2 of them now.

as for mounting, they are mounted on a small aluminum plate that is mounted to a piece of plastic that is mounted to the door. all is done with double sided trim tape.

i replaced mine and all was well. i replaced the plastic squares that hold the wires. you can buy them at home depot.

Mercury Topaz Power Door Lock Actuator Rear Pair
Make: Mercury / Model: Topaz/ Year: 1990
Item: AM-21047945

http://www.am-autoparts.com/search.html?...5&x=18&y=6

there may be cheaper aftermarket places. i would buy the cheapest ones i could find. they are just door lock actuators, nothing special about them. used in a ton of different ford cars over a 10-15 year period

tom

[encantotom]

the same company has them on ebay for $43.95 shipped for a pair of them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Lincoln-Mer...es&vxp=mtr

[lbrachfe]

A&M auto parts.com and the door lock actuators are for Mercury Topaz or any other Mercury or Ford sedan pre 2005 with interchangeable actuator arms

[rheavn]

I tried the lock actuators from AM-auto parts.  They did not throw long enough to lock the bay doors.  I tried adjusting and every thing else I could think of.  Couldn't get them to work.  Decided to try a name brand.  Purchased a Dorman 746-147 door lock actuator.  Looks exactly like the ones from AM-auto parts, but more expensive.  Mounted them & plugged in the wires.  Worked perfectly.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IZ2...PDKIKX0DER

I'm not posting this to say that the AM-auto parts actuators don't work.  I'm just saying they didn't work for me.

[MrE]

Steve, great post! Always nice to have drop-back alternatives.

[encantotom]

interesting. it must be how they are mounted as mine worked fine

tom

[Richard]

It could also be the length of the toggle on the lock. A short toggle would require less stroke on the actuator, and vice versa.

[lbrachfe]

The ones I got from AM had several length and differently configurated "toggles" interchangeable with a set screw end. Mine work fine after replacing all of them a few years back 2 for $37 or so.............

[Richard]

I should have defined toggle better. The toggle is the rectangular piece on the lock that opens and closes the lock mechanism. There is a hole in the toggle for the actuator arm to fit into. The further that hole is from the center of the lock, the more travel that will be required from the actuator motor to open the lock