Door solenoid cheap repair
Discussion
Since I bought my Chimaera 3 weeks ago, I had to sort of 'bounce' the driver's door whilst pushing the mirror button to open it. That or lean in the passenger side and twist the centre knob, so causing it to fly open.
Research on here confirmed it to be the solenoid, but I wondered if an ebay special would be as good as Maplins. The original one had a resistance of 43 ohms, and the new one 2 ohms, motor obviously on the way out. The old one sort of kissed the release lever rather than giving it a good shove. Fully extended, the new one was only a few mm longer than the original (mounting holes in the same place), but retracted about 1 cm longer, so I hacksawed the last bit off.
I even stripped, tinned and soldered the wires together properly rather than a choc block bodge. New 12 V solenoid. £3.68! (inc. p+p, from Bulgaria)
Damn fiddly job, took an hour on the morning of Christmas Eve, and resulted in a sore back for a while but the door now pops straight open.
Discount removed so it is now £4 but has worked for me:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320597126329?ssPageName=...
Research on here confirmed it to be the solenoid, but I wondered if an ebay special would be as good as Maplins. The original one had a resistance of 43 ohms, and the new one 2 ohms, motor obviously on the way out. The old one sort of kissed the release lever rather than giving it a good shove. Fully extended, the new one was only a few mm longer than the original (mounting holes in the same place), but retracted about 1 cm longer, so I hacksawed the last bit off.
I even stripped, tinned and soldered the wires together properly rather than a choc block bodge. New 12 V solenoid. £3.68! (inc. p+p, from Bulgaria)
Damn fiddly job, took an hour on the morning of Christmas Eve, and resulted in a sore back for a while but the door now pops straight open.
Discount removed so it is now £4 but has worked for me:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320597126329?ssPageName=...
Edited by ianwayne on Friday 27th December 14:51
Is there a similar alternative part for the locking solenoid?
My driver's side locking solenoid has become intermittent: sometimes it stops working for a few days, leaving the door either permanently locked or permanently unlocked. It usually rights itself and starts working after a few days, but clearly it's only going to get worse.
Is it a reasonably easy DIY job to change the locking solenoid?
I have had the passenger door opening solenoid replaced in the past by the specialist that services the car, and ISTR it costing nearly £80 by the time labour and VAT were added, so it would be nice to save some pennies and do it myself.
Would be very grateful if someone can tell me what I need to order from Maplin or eBay, or should I just order this from Clever Trevor for £18.60?
My driver's side locking solenoid has become intermittent: sometimes it stops working for a few days, leaving the door either permanently locked or permanently unlocked. It usually rights itself and starts working after a few days, but clearly it's only going to get worse.
Is it a reasonably easy DIY job to change the locking solenoid?
I have had the passenger door opening solenoid replaced in the past by the specialist that services the car, and ISTR it costing nearly £80 by the time labour and VAT were added, so it would be nice to save some pennies and do it myself.
Would be very grateful if someone can tell me what I need to order from Maplin or eBay, or should I just order this from Clever Trevor for £18.60?
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Is there a similar alternative part for the locking solenoid?
My driver's side locking solenoid has become intermittent: sometimes it stops working for a few days, leaving the door either permanently locked or permanently unlocked. It usually rights itself and starts working after a few days, but clearly it's only going to get worse.
Is it a reasonably easy DIY job to change the locking solenoid?
I have had the passenger door opening solenoid replaced in the past by the specialist that services the car, and ISTR it costing nearly £80 by the time labour and VAT were added, so it would be nice to save some pennies and do it myself.
Would be very grateful if someone can tell me what I need to order from Maplin or eBay, or should I just order this from Clever Trevor for £18.60?
It's quite a straightfoward job.My driver's side locking solenoid has become intermittent: sometimes it stops working for a few days, leaving the door either permanently locked or permanently unlocked. It usually rights itself and starts working after a few days, but clearly it's only going to get worse.
Is it a reasonably easy DIY job to change the locking solenoid?
I have had the passenger door opening solenoid replaced in the past by the specialist that services the car, and ISTR it costing nearly £80 by the time labour and VAT were added, so it would be nice to save some pennies and do it myself.
Would be very grateful if someone can tell me what I need to order from Maplin or eBay, or should I just order this from Clever Trevor for £18.60?
Link here refers:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
There's loads on the froum if you use the search facility, also in 'Chimaera pages' IIRC, link in the above post.
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Is there a similar alternative part for the locking solenoid?
My driver's side locking solenoid has become intermittent: sometimes it stops working for a few days, leaving the door either permanently locked or permanently unlocked. It usually rights itself and starts working after a few days, but clearly it's only going to get worse.
Is it a reasonably easy DIY job to change the locking solenoid?
I have had the passenger door opening solenoid replaced in the past by the specialist that services the car, and ISTR it costing nearly £80 by the time labour and VAT were added, so it would be nice to save some pennies and do it myself.
Would be very grateful if someone can tell me what I need to order from Maplin or eBay, or should I just order this from Clever Trevor for £18.60?
I believe you need a 5 wire solenoid for the locking one, so that one will work. If you want to risk it, there's a 5 wire one for £3.85 on ebay:My driver's side locking solenoid has become intermittent: sometimes it stops working for a few days, leaving the door either permanently locked or permanently unlocked. It usually rights itself and starts working after a few days, but clearly it's only going to get worse.
Is it a reasonably easy DIY job to change the locking solenoid?
I have had the passenger door opening solenoid replaced in the past by the specialist that services the car, and ISTR it costing nearly £80 by the time labour and VAT were added, so it would be nice to save some pennies and do it myself.
Would be very grateful if someone can tell me what I need to order from Maplin or eBay, or should I just order this from Clever Trevor for £18.60?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Wire-Door-Lock-Motor-S...
Worth a try at that price?
The door release one operated from the mirror button is only a 2 wire one, although you can wire it the wrong way round if you don't check first so that it pulls, instead of pushing, which is the action you need.
Edited by ianwayne on Monday 30th December 16:52
SMB said:
Don't want to worry you but I replaced mine with maplins ones when I was in a hurry to source some, worked fine for a while then the gears went, returned to oe quality spall ones since.
The old one actually had a Ford emblem and part number on it. Granted it was better quality, it was held together with 4 copper rivets (I took them out to check inside) rather than glue like the cheap one. But unless you keep pressing the mirror button for a pastime, it should last quite a time. Hope so anyway!
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff