1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I set the actuator on the ground and opened it carefully with a hammer and screwdriver (if you can do that). When the locking pin is taken out, you can see that it protrudes from a plastic housing. This housing has mating teeth the line up with one of the metal gears inside the actuator (there are also plastic gears inside, along with a small motor). Do not worry about gears popping out if you want to open the actuator - they are all seated pretty well. Anyway, the rear-most two teeth on the housing of this locking pin had worn/chipped/broken away, to the point that, when locking the vehicle, the locking pin does not provide enough resistance to the motor to shut it down (the gear turns away just underneath these worn teeth while pushing the actuator case slightly open), and the motor runs through its full cycle (probably almost twice the duration needed to lock the fuel door). I found that I could get the vibration to stop if I pressed the actuator together between my hands while activating the remote. I had to sqeeze hard though, and while I almost ventured to bolt a support bracket across the other side of the actuator (to provide a sqeezing force on it at all times), I found that the force had to be applied to the very middle of the actuator and not to the sides (where the bracket would have applied pressure).
So I think the only solution, if my problem is representative of all, is to make the housing out of a stronger material (I realize that plastic is used to allow for resilience). So since I do not wish to buy another actuator that might wear out again, I removed the actuator and mounting bracket since they would just be dead weight. Now I like locking the doors - just one faint beep....
posted by 67.213.173...
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