Tried searching, and got too many archived threads to sort through. I have aftermarket power door locks with my autopage alarm on my 99 civic. The driver's side door does not lock. You can still manually lock and unlock it, but thats it. I recently redid the alarm brain's setup and so I don't think there is a loose wire or anything. What are some things I can check to try and fix this problem? Do the actuators themselves tend to go out often?

Thanks for the help

 

Yes, an actuator can fail, but I would first check to see if there's power at the actuator & check the connections in the door to the actuator.

 

yeah definately check your wiring to the actuator to narrow down if it is even getting pulse from the security system.

 

would i check this by putting a voltmeter to the plugs going to the actuator? and then pressing the lock button

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alacard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">would i check this by putting a voltmeter to the plugs going to the actuator? and then pressing the lock button</TD></TR></TABLE> Firs check for continuity to ground, both wires should show a ground, then when you arm the alarm one of the wires will go to 12V+ for a second, then when you disarm the alarm the other wire will go to 12V+ for a second, if that's working then it has to be the actuator or the linkage to the OEM linkage.
Let me ask you this, can you hear the actuator in the drivers door? 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Firs check for continuity to ground, both wires should show a ground, then when you arm the alarm one of the wires will go to 12V+ for a second, then when you disarm the alarm the other wire will go to 12V+ for a second, if that's working then it has to be the actuator or the linkage to the OEM linkage.
Let me ask you this, can you hear the actuator in the drivers door? 94</TD></TR></TABLE>
Alright, will do as soon as possible. Probably tomorrow. I'll let you know.
and no I can't hear the actuator when I arm it. So I guess its safe to assume that either A. the actuator is bad or B. It isn't getting power? Also...at first the driver's side would lock every once in a while, and then it finally went to never working...is this a typical symptom of an actuator gone bad?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alacard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Alright, will do as soon as possible. Probably tomorrow. I'll let you know.
and no I can't hear the actuator when I arm it. So I guess its safe to assume that either A. the actuator is bad or B. It isn't getting power? Also...at first the driver's side would lock every once in a while, and then it finally went to never working...is this a typical symptom of an actuator gone bad?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i'd say if you can get to the brain easily then check at the brain first to see if it is giving any output first before you start taking the car's door apart. test like he told you tobut at the alarm's output plugs. if you are getting power there then pull the door to get to the actuator. then test at the actuator for power. if power at the brain and no power at the actuator...then there's a problem in the wiring...perhaps a frayed wire or loose connection somewhere. as far as the actuator working sometimes and then not working at all....that could be a problem with a connection in the door itself to the actuator. if the door seals are leaking and lots of moisture is getting in there then if you have a mechanical connection (crimp connectors) in your doors then i suggest that you re-connect them with solder and heat shrink instead as to not let any moisture get at the actual connection itself. if you have some moisture getting in there it will gradually oxidize and corrode over the crimp connections in the door making the actuators performance "fade out" as more and more oxidation gets into the connection making it work intermittently...and eventually stop working.

 

Actuators go bad in different ways, just stop working, get weaker and weaker, or have "dead" spots that get worse over time.
In most of the cases of actuators not working, that I have dealt with, it was not the actuator, but wiring. 94

 

Thanks for the replies fellas. The brain used to be easy to get to. Now its pretty damn buried in the interior ...So I will start with the wiring to the actuator, and work from there.

 

edit: Okay, so if I am using the voltmeter correctly...then it seems that both wires are grounded. After that I hooked up the two wires from the voltmeter to the two wires to the actuator. When I armed the alarm(locked the doors) the meter shot one way, and when I disarmed the alarm (unlocked) the meter shot the other way. So with this information, does it sound like I tested it right, and would this mean the actuator is bad?

p.s. all of the testing was done with the wire connections right next to the actuator, so that rules out the wiring assuming that the above is correct.

 

Yes that is correct, both leads should show ground at rest, but to be sure connect the meters neg.(-) probe to chassis ground, then hold the pos.(+) probe toe each wire, [one at a time] and arm and disarm the alarm, one wire will show 12V+ on arm the other will show 12V+ when disarming, it is a 12V+ pulse, and will only last 1 sec. or less.
If the above is so, you have a defective actuator. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes that is correct, both leads should show ground at rest, but to be sure connect the meters neg.(-) probe to chassis ground, then hold the pos.(+) probe toe each wire, [one at a time] and arm and disarm the alarm, one wire will show 12V+ on arm the other will show 12V+ when disarming, it is a 12V+ pulse, and will only last 1 sec. or less.
If the above is so, you have a defective actuator. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>
ah. I should have checked this thread before I put my door panel all back on. ..well I will go ahead and buy a new actuator, and when I go to install it, I will do one last check on the wiring. As always, thanks fcm. Now what kind of actuator do I need to get?

something like this:
http://www.autotechs.com/items/item129.htm
or ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes that is correct, both leads should show ground at rest, but to be sure connect the meters neg.(-) probe to chassis ground, then hold the pos.(+) probe toe each wire, [one at a time] and arm and disarm the alarm, one wire will show 12V+ on arm the other will show 12V+ when disarming, it is a 12V+ pulse, and will only last 1 sec. or less.
If the above is so, you have a defective actuator. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>



any standard 2 wire DLA should work. some door lock rods are stiffer than others....at that point you might wanna try to get one with a little more oomph.
some are a little stronger than others.