The passenger door lock solenoid on my 1984 seems to be bad. Gets current when you hit the switch but no action. Has been acting up for years (works intermittently, weakly, etc.). I pulled the door panel off and it appears to be riveted in. How is it replaced? Rivets? Or can you use screws?
Thanks,
Dave
PS: Anyone have one for sale?

 

Door solenoids are very simple devices. They usually work good or not at all. The switch is usually the problem, and the way they are wired, both switches have to be good. Dirty contacts in the switch cause a big voltage drop to the solenoid under load.

 

Well, it's getting voltage, so I reckon that the switch is good. Is the procedure for replacement to drill out the rivets and use screws (or small bolts) to re-secure the new unit?

 

Drilling out the rivets is the simplest way for removing the solenoid. I keep a couple selections of Stainless screws I use in place of the rivets.

I noticed on the passengers side the lock would take some force to slide the switch over where the drivers door was much smoother. Upon further inspection I found that the grease that was applied to the parts in the door has turned into a yellow gell type substance. I would recommend that you clean all the connections allowing the solenoid to engage the locks more smoothly. I ended up doing both doors on my 1988 C4 and it made the locking system work properly again. A solenoid is a fairly simple mechanism, try cleaning the parts and then applying a good penetrating oil to help make the lock mechanisms work more freely. If you have the door panels off it is easy to do. I cleaned the old lubricants off the parts then I sprayed them with a dry Teflon spray to keep things moving smoothly for the long term. A good cleaning of the power wire connectors might be helpful as well.

My passengers door was doing what you described where it would lock and sometimes just not un-lock or lock when told to do so. The cleaning of the parts helped my windows to move up and down easier and the lock to engage and disengage using the power lock button. I ended up doing the same to my C3 with power door locks and the grease there was really hard and nasty after 50 years of use.

Does anybody have a better material to lubricate the moving parts inside the doors? I thought about using Die Electric grease as it doesn't get hard when cold and stays/clings on fairly well. I am using a spray on Teflon lubricant on my cars now but don't know how long it will last as it is probably not the best lubricant for long term usage. The Teflon spray sure helped the windows go up and down easier.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks for this great info. I will proceed accordingly.

Dbo