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9-3 2008 doors not locking/unlocking

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Beppe Primo 
#1 ·
Hi everyone!

I've had my 9-3 2008 for about 1 & a half years now & got it all nice & fixed up and all that remains is some rust work, a new paintjob and solving the door locking problem.

So a few weeks after I got the car some of the car locks started misbehaving (sometimes they wouldn't lock/unlock so I had to pull up the little nob manually) throughout the past year the problem has only been getting worse, working less & less.
At this point the only door that works 100% of the time is the rear passenger door as that was actually fixed up before I got the car as at that point it just wouldn't open at all.
The other doors lock/unlock here & there, depending on how they're feeling I guess :p I do pretty much always hear the *click sounds of the doors trying to unlock but the nob just doesn't go up/down most days. I remember opening up all the doors about a year ago to see if there was something obvious I could see & try to fix, but I didn't really find anything.

So my question is if anyone knows what is likely to be causing this, do I need to find a new part for the motors or do I need to lubricate or take care of oxidation & such...

Would appreciate any advice & thank you for your time! 😁
 
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#5 ·
Take out the door lock actuator. Disassemble and reflow solder on the board. Remove small motor, bend the power tang/connector outside a little bit on the board so when you put the motor back the connection is solid and not lose. This is usually the common cause of door lock not working the loose connection of the small motor to the board. When you disassemble the door actuator be sure to take picture so if those tiny pieces falls off you can easily put it back together. Remember to pay close attention to those two microswitch on the board when installing. You will see it once the lock actuator is disassembled. Once your done, put it all back together and before you install it back to the car, be sure to test if it's working properly unlatching manually and plug it back to door testing with switch if it functions as intended. If all check out good reinstall back on the door. Good luck. I've repaired 4 door lock actuators with the method I mentioned. The rear door are much harder to get due to the window regulator the fronts are easy. If this is more challenging you can buy a new door actuators but it's pricey. A used one might work but won't last long. This problem is very common to this car.
 
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