Look up foil fix. And you can take back the actuators. Done 2 of 4 of my doors. Cost time and a few $ for screws.
T
I'd have to +1 this. I did the foil fix on my actuators (technically the actuator motors). I think I spent a grand total of 3 hours and ~$1.50 on screws+JB Weld. 4 Years and 58k miles later the actuators are still working splendidly. I'm glad I didn't spend money on new actuators.
The only thing I would do differently than he does in the video is make sure you don't damage the brushes in the electric motor. He used the brushes as a pivot point while removing the resistor from the motor. That's probably how he killed the motor on his driver's side door. Additionally, I did the "wrap the resistor in foil" method and it only needs 1 layer of foil. You can't fit more than 1 layer in that small space anyway.
If you're curious as to why this happens in the actuator motor, the little plate is a PTC Thermistor. As current passes through the thermistor to the motor, the thermistor heats up slightly causing it to become more resistive (read: less electricity is allowed to pass through it the hotter it gets). This is designed to protect the actuator motor from overheating. The problem that occurs in our actuator motor is that the thermistor, as it transitions from warm and slightly resistive to cooled and almost non-resistive over and over, it eventually becomes more and more resistive at it's cooled state. Since it becomes naturally more resistive more current is required to pass through it causing more heat generation. This only kills the thermistor faster and faster eventually leading us to our situations: thermistor remains in a completely resistive state and the actuators don't work.
If you're worried about your motor dying by doing this mod, don't. If the motor dies then you can replace the actuator (which houses the motor) with the one you were considering in the first place. If you're worried about the motor generating too much heat, I wouldn't. I attached the same motor to the battery directly for ~2 mins. and it was pretty warm to the touch, but not really that hot. I doubt you'll be on your locks for 2 mins. straight anyway. And even if you were on it for more than 2 mins. straight there is only one activity that I can think of that would cause that and it's totally worth burning a motor over. :jester:
EDIT: Just realized, what's with the necro >_>
