Automatic Door Lock Replacement

To the OE manufacturer's chagrin, there's a host of aftermarket and small-scale parts suppliers ready and willing to ante up better hardware in place of the oft overpriced and less functional stuff the factory puts out. Door lock actuators for the Mustang are one of these parts (the factory drivers are pricey and slow). Companies like AutoLoc (800.873.4038, autoloc.com) build a solenoid that does the job more quietly, more quickly and for less cash. We ordered the whole kit for our Mustang, and it cost less than a cheap night at the pub.

The Installation
The tricky parts of this gig included figuring out just how to remove the factory lock motor from its bracket, and deciding how to locate the new door-lock solenoid. Turns out a bit of leverage and a twist popped it out of the two-sided plastic receiver, and of the two locations available for the solenoid one proved easier to make the lock operate correctly.


Getting into the door cavity is not as difficult with the Fox-body Mustangs ('79-'93) as with many other Ford or GM products, but you're still worming your way past a lot of metal. A suggestion for those of you using a Dynamat-style product to keep road noise out—installing it in smaller sections makes removal for this sort of work less complicated. Stock up on those little plastic door-panel fasteners if you plan to be doing stuff inside your car doors to parts like stereo speakers.


When you remove the old lock motor, the bracket it lived in is obvious and you can choose to mount the solenoid in that spot. A long bolt can be used to park the solenoid in between the bracket forks, but this will place more stress on the actuator rod, as it will then also function to keep the solenoid from shifting excessively. Our suggestion is to attach the AutoLoc unit to the inside of the inner door panel in line with the OEM manual lock shaft. This shaft runs through the door lock mechanism, and arranging the solenoid to operate this portion of the door lock system works just as well. Two Phillips screws through two well placed holes and the new actuator is fixed in place, allowing the Allen-head tie-block to do just that, tie the new actuator to the manual lock mechanism.


A few thoughts: make sure you've tested the wires (just two of them) so the "Unlock" on the lock switch corresponds to a similar door-lock movement. Consider that the new solenoid has a longer stroke than the OEM actuator, and take this into account when locating the unit. Be patient while aligning the piano-style wire rods so you don't wear them out (and yourself) bending and re-bending to match the factory hardware. Don't be afraid to order new window motors too, if you plan to be in the door for a while, because by the time those OEM door-lock motors wear out (100,000-ish miles), the window motors will be getting tired. And wearing a long sleeve shirt will probably help save money on bandages.