Seems that in the last few days my driverside doorlock has been difficult to open, and I know its not cause it needs lube, you can feel that the lock is worn.
Anyone had this before? Cant I just switch switch out the locks from one side to the other?(never use pass. side).
any suggestions?

 

I have the same thing with both my Mustang and my Ranger. BUT both of my passenger side locks are acting up.
I don't think you can swap them from side to side. I think they are side specific.
I would look either fordpartsonline.com or EBay for a new one.
Good Luck!

 

I had problems where my lock motors didn't want to open the locks. I'd hit the button and the lock would come up 1/2 way. I'd hit it again and it would just budge a little. I'd hit it again and it wouldn't move. Didn't matter if I did it with the buttons on the door or the keypad. I just got the lock motors replaced and they work fine now.

 

My locks are worn out too. First the driver's side. Insert the key and it won't turn like the key is not the right one. Tried my spare key which I never use (like new) and same thing. Passenger side lock worked fine, until now. It's acting up now too. Have to jiggle the key to make it work.

Anyone else have this problem. I don't use power locks to unlock it so maybe using the key all the time has worn it out. Cheap crap!

 

my passenger lock did the same thing you describe,and then the drivers started to act up. i put some lubricant in the locks and now they are good as new. my power windows did the same thing. i asked the service tech at the local dealer and he said i wash my truck to much and washed all the lube out of both places. sure enough after a re-lube all is good. can you imagine washing a truck too much? isn't 2 or 3 times a week normal?

 

Mine is doing the same thing. What type of lube did you use.

 

I shot some wd40 in mine but didn't do anything, that's why I thought the lock cylinder or something was buggered.

I'd like to know what lube you used as well?

I wash mine at the most every week. Sometimes every 2 weeks in the winter when I get lazy and it's damn cold out.

At least I'm not the only one with this problem as I didn't find much info with a search on this site.

What was it exactly with your power windows? The sliding channels inside the door?

The Haynes manual has nothing in it regarding lock cylinders or replacement, only how to re&re the whole handle/lock assembly which isn't that great. I'm thinking about pulling the whole handle/lock out of each door and lubing them up REAL good.

 

I went by the Ford dealer this afternoon. For my 98 F-150 it costs $72cdn for a new lock cylinder... can you say RAPE. Anyhow, the guy said I should try some graphite lube at the parts place (he said the stuff from Ford was too expensive) so I got some from www.lordco.com for $5cdn. You can get it in a powder or in a liquid base. I bought the liquid. Anyway it seemed to free up the passenger side (which was still working sort of). You pour some on the key and slide it in and out and turn the lock. The Ford parts guy showed me the tumblers on a new lock set and said those can freeze up with lack of lube.

Anyhow I'm going to pop out the whole door handle tomorrow and lube up the lock cylinder. I'll let you know what I find and how it goes.

I noticed my power windows a bit slow too so perhaps they are in need of some lube as well.

 

I haven't had to use it on any of my vehicles but I used it on all of my 12 year old locks for the house. I worked like a charm. The key and lock turn as if they were brand new.

 

So far I haven't been able to "un-stuck" the driver's door lock with the graphite stuff. The key goes in fine but can't turn. Tumblers must be stuck. Anyhow, I'm going to pull the hole lock cylinder out probably next weekend and clean it out, then lube it with the graphite. A new lock cylinder from Ford was $72cdn! Ouch.

Anyway, no more worries of getting locked out because I just hooked up a couple of relays between my Alpine alarm and the power door lock circuit. I just hooked up the "unlock" feature for now. The wires that come from the door and lock motor is in the passenger side kick panel and they are pink/black and pink/orange. There is also a pink/yellow wire which looks damn close to the orange one so watch out you hook to the right one or zzzzt. Because these power locks are just simple units with two wire hookup you need two relays to unlock and two separate relays to lock them as you need to reverse polarity on the wires for either operation. Or if you can find one you can use a double pole single throw relay in place of two single pole relays (your typical fog light ones).

The Ford manual shows a 15A fuse for the locks circuit but I used a 20A circuit breaker to power it.