Question about power door actuators

Morning all,

OK, so I have the problem of the screech/squeal after locking
the doors on my 97 Accord Wagon. It's not the problem where
the doors repeatedly try to lock.

It seems like it's the front passenger door actuator, and searching
archives seems to confirm this is a distinct possibility, but before I
shell out for a new one I'd like to check. As a result, I have two
questions:

(1) Does anyone know whether the actuators in the two back
doors are the same part as the front passenger door? If so then
I might just switch one in temporarily to see if it fixes it.

(2) How do you get the actuator off? My shop manual includes
a procedure for removing the latch but not the actuator. Even
that looks tricky because the window channel looks like it's in
the way.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Al Reynolds

 

Al Reynolds wrote:

No, the actuators are not the same.

I had the same problem on the rear, driver's side door on an '96 Accord.
Getting the actuator out was such a pain (window channel in the way
there too) that I gave up. I ended up cutting the wires to the factory
actuator (but leaving the actuator in place) and installing an after
market actuator (http://tinyurl.com/7x4wc, part number 330-010 from
www.partsexpress.com) At $4.25 it was quite a bit cheaper than the OEM
one.

 

Much cheaper!

How did you fix the aftermarket actuator in place?
Was there enough room - looks a bit cramped in my door!

Al

 

Since I did a rear door, my experience does not really apply to you. The
actuator comes with a fairly long lock rod, and you can bend it into
whatever shape you need. You can go to http://www.a1electric.com, click
on "Installation Articles" and then "Power Door Locks". Scroll down to
the bottom of the page and you'll see links to a couple of installations
to use as a reference. The beige actuator shown above "Door lock
actuators mounted in various vehicles" is the same size and shape as the
$4.25 one from PartsExpress.

 

Cheers,
Al