Hello All,

This weekend I spent some time rebuilding my Kiekert style door actuator/motors from my '87 XJ6. None of the power locks worked. First, I looked in the driver's door and found that it was missing the switch. This I ordered from a supplier. I did some youtubing and found several instances of people replacing the interior motor of their door lock actuators and this inspired me to give it a try. I didn't find any guides here so I decided to write up my experiences

Step 1: Ordering parts. I ordered 10mm Round Shaft motors [link removed - GGG]

Step 2: Opening the door motor. Here I used a razor blade from my box cutter and a hammer. Getting one side opened was fairly easy as I put the flat side down on a hard surface and carefully struck the razor blade until it went through the hard plastic. The other side was a little trickier due to the shape of the actuator. I balanced it the best I could and cut through most of the areas. I then used a flat screwdriver to pry up one side. After doing the first one, the rest were pretty easy. I did use wire cutters to cut the small tab on the back side where the wires come out.

Step 3: Pull the motor, cut the wiring close to the solder, and remove the pinion gear. Remove the white plastic backing (I used a small screwdriver the pry the two tabs at the side). With the back off, put the motor casing on a deep socket. I then hammered out the pinion using a small phillips screwdriver tip as a punch and my hammer. Watch for flying little parts.

Step 4: Attach pinion gear to new motor. I used a c-clam and a 1/4 socket.

Step 5: Solder the wires onto the tabs at the top of the motor. If you are reusing the small black plastic piece to hold the wires, be sure to put them through before you solder. I found that the new motors worked the opposite way as the original. I wound up just reversing them at the connector, but you may want to be aware of this.

Step 6: Return the motor into the lock. Make sure you get the small piece that pushes the rod in and out is properly aligned with the correct gear.

Step 7: Use plastic bonding epoxy to rejoin the two sides. I used [link removed - GGG] I used clamps to hold it in place for 5-6 hours.

Step 8. Reinstall into car.

I did not take pictures as I was doing this, but I have one still opened at the house so I will add pictures later. Hopefully, this is helpful. I fixed 4 actuators for less than $20. Much less than the cost of buying new ones.

 

Joseph,

Your post was automatically locked for moderation and was defying all my attempts to unlock it! Finally I found it was the links to Amazon and Home Depot causing the lock. Now I've removed these, the thread is open.

Graham

 

that is weird, why would those links lock the post?

 

Hi Joseph --
Wondering if you can clarify something for me. Haven't found any photos of the insides of the driver side Kiekert actuator unit (the unit with 4 wires). How do the insides of the driver unit differ from the other units? Mine is clicking and not activating the other units. I'm planning on doing some exploratory surgery but hoping to figure out what to look for. Thanks

 

I’ll try to troubleshoot the driver door unit. Here’s some photos.