Short circuit location found. Power door locks
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Short circuit location found. Power door locks
I found what I consider a design flaw that may be the source of short circuits. My case concerned the power locks, but there's potential for other systems to fail.
I installed new door lock actuators on my 1999 F150. They worked better than new for about 2 months then all of a sudden the corresponding fuse (#8 15 amp) decided to blow every so often.
I was concerned that the new actuators were to blame or my installation of them caused a wire to come loose. With that in mind I bought a 25 pack of 15 amp fuses and first tried to see if any particular switch or door position consistently caused the fuse to blow. Seven fuses later I determined the fuse only blew when I unlocked the doors and only when the driver’s side door was closed (or nearly closed). Figuring the problem was near the door hinge, I removed the left door panel and saw it was necessary to remove the speaker to be able to peel away the plastic film toward the front (not necessary when I replaced the actuators). Lo and behold the problem was obviously apparent right through the speaker hole. To illustrate:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...w.cfm?num=6182
The bundle of wires that lead through the door hinge would make contact with a horizontal piece of metal frame just as the door was about to close. Furthermore, the electrical tape wrapping the bundle was absent from this particular section. Over the years, the insulation from one wire was worn down by the action of opening and closing the door. What a coincidence the wire that rubbed was to the door lock! An adjacent wire also showed signs of wear. I wrapped these wires individually then wrapped the bundle with electrical tape. I “padded” the frame with duct tape to soften the metal edge at this point where the bundle rubbed. Problem solved. I haven’t checked the passenger door yet but you can bet I’m going to.
By the way, for those considering replacing the actuators, order them on line and get a genuine service manual. You can replace them in under an hour for under a hundred bucks. The hardest part is the fact that it's a pain to get both hands in the confined area and a bit hard to initially see just how the rods and cable detach. Using one door as a reference to reassemble the other helps. I'm kicking myself for not taking photos of the process.
I hope this helps.
I installed new door lock actuators on my 1999 F150. They worked better than new for about 2 months then all of a sudden the corresponding fuse (#8 15 amp) decided to blow every so often.
I was concerned that the new actuators were to blame or my installation of them caused a wire to come loose. With that in mind I bought a 25 pack of 15 amp fuses and first tried to see if any particular switch or door position consistently caused the fuse to blow. Seven fuses later I determined the fuse only blew when I unlocked the doors and only when the driver’s side door was closed (or nearly closed). Figuring the problem was near the door hinge, I removed the left door panel and saw it was necessary to remove the speaker to be able to peel away the plastic film toward the front (not necessary when I replaced the actuators). Lo and behold the problem was obviously apparent right through the speaker hole. To illustrate:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...w.cfm?num=6182
The bundle of wires that lead through the door hinge would make contact with a horizontal piece of metal frame just as the door was about to close. Furthermore, the electrical tape wrapping the bundle was absent from this particular section. Over the years, the insulation from one wire was worn down by the action of opening and closing the door. What a coincidence the wire that rubbed was to the door lock! An adjacent wire also showed signs of wear. I wrapped these wires individually then wrapped the bundle with electrical tape. I “padded” the frame with duct tape to soften the metal edge at this point where the bundle rubbed. Problem solved. I haven’t checked the passenger door yet but you can bet I’m going to.
By the way, for those considering replacing the actuators, order them on line and get a genuine service manual. You can replace them in under an hour for under a hundred bucks. The hardest part is the fact that it's a pain to get both hands in the confined area and a bit hard to initially see just how the rods and cable detach. Using one door as a reference to reassemble the other helps. I'm kicking myself for not taking photos of the process.
I hope this helps.
Last edited by R8rvectors; May 20, 2004 at 01:05 AM.
Member
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 11
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From: N.E.
Great Info and Holy Smokes - Bet this is
The problem I have had. I have the sluggish lock syndrome now, but I re-call thinking there must be some kind of short somewhere, since from time to time, I could hear the drivers side lock sound like it was be activitated oer and over, then it would stop. I am going to check this out !
Greta find !
Greta find !