Door locks on a VX commodore

[pancakes]

Hi Guys, if this has been posted before please direct me to the thread as I have had a look but really couldn't find the same sort of problem. My vx s2 is having trouble with it's drivers side door lock. Sometimes it opens fine but there are times that it looks to be unlocked (little lock plug "looks up") but the door will act as it's locked. This has been going on for about a month now, and it is starting to annoy me. and as of today, the door now unlocks but when opened it really feels like theres some resistance, i.e. it doesn't feel right or normal at all.

What I what to know is, what do I need to replace to fix this problem, I can pull the door apart myself and have no trouble replacing parts, I just need to know what part you guys think it is.

Any suggestions would be extremely helpful.
Cheers

[Cameron P]

from previous experiance problems like that its the door actuator

[Hot-Rod]

From reading previous posts its something you don't want to leave as well. Fix the problem asap as the lock can become jammed in deadlock mode which means you have to cut your way through the interior of the door to fix the problem. Others have said it is the door actuator as well.

[pancakes]

Thanks guys for the reply, i'll get straight onto it, what would I expect to pay for the actuator and is it easy to remove \ replace? As far as my understanding goes, it's the thing that pushes up the lock slider yeah?

Would I be better off getting a brand new one or a second hand one?

[Cameron P]

id go a brand new one for better peace of mind, but it obviously depends on how much you can spend i guess..

[pancakes]

I have just rang around to a few Holden dealerships and also a reconditioned parts place. The Holden dealer wants $161.70 for a new one with a 2 year warranty. The second hand place (reconditioned) wants $38.50, with a 3 month warranty. Doesn't seem to bad to go either way really, the new one will be peice of mind, but for $38.50 though, it seems a steal, and the guy said he has quite a few in stock.

[Cameron P]

yeah go the reco one... you get a warranty and if it stuffs up after that whats 38.50 compared to 160?

[ZOMBIE]

Pancakes,
as everyone has said it is the door actuator. I had the same problem with my VZ.
Last week I had enough of it and I took the door trim off and clean the dust off the actuator and just gave it a bit of lube, since then its been working great.
If it happens again i will then get a reco actuator but for the time been ill see how it goes.


ZOMBIE

[lout]

price a doortrim and then decide whether to get a new one, a reco or clean and lube. I know which way i would go

[Cameron P]

price a door trim?

[pancakes]

Yeah i'm going to go with the recon one as it still has a 3 month warranty. while i am in there replacing it, i will be cleaning as well. I have been thinking about the actuator completely locking thing, and if it does, I could see how you would think that you wouldn't be able to get the door open. But surely there should be some way of doing it, I mean how do holdens do it? I dont think they'd just rip into the door interior...