Rear drivers side lock motor v. noisey!

[GaryE]

Hi - Have just noticed on my 1992 520 when I lock the doors the rear drivers side lock motor is making a horrible noise. The lock works perfectly, yet after the pin drops down the lock motor continues to work for about 2 seconds making a rather loud "rrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" noise.

When unlocking the doors, the motor does not do this and works just as normal - anyone experienced this before?

Although not desperate, I feel this needs to be fixed before any damage is done. Don't want to end up with a dead locked door and not being able to open it like some other unlucky people have experienced!

Im planning on taking the panel off and having a proper look at whats going on, and am going to attempt a repair once I can see more ....

I have never taken any door panels off before, and have read somewhere that it is best to follow the Bentleys manual for door panel removal. Can someone help me out here as I don't have this manual. A scan of the necessary pages would be proper bo!

Hope everyone is well, and thanks in advance for your time.

Gary

[Kalevera]

Gary - the lock actuators are hard to service, and you'd probably have better luck just replacing it, assuming that the actuator itself is bad. I use a big ass pair of pliers and a few beers to get them open...works, but it takes a few minutes. I've never tried putting one back together -- on the 5 or so that I've taken apart, I did irrepairable damage to the plastic housing parts.

best, whit

[Javier]

All motors are powered together, guess the gears in this one are not holding the over-time. (Are there realy 2 secs.)

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/Body/DoorRemoval.htm

from Bruno's site, should book mark.

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main.htm

Javier

[GaryE]

Thanks for your info.

Yes it sounds for 1-2 seconds before stopping.
I do have Brunos site bookmarked yet my 520 doesn't seem to look the same as the pictures. I have no speaker above drivers side vent as seen here:
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/Body/Data/Door3.jpg

Also I am working on rear panel not front. Gonna try and locate these blasted screws! Wish me luck

Gary

[Kalevera]

Gary - on the rears: pop off the screw cover in the door handle well and remove that screw, remove the window lift switch to disconnect the harness (I usually just leave it connected until I have the panel off..but it can be done both ways), unscrew the plastic lock "button", pull the clips, lift UP and you're home free.

The tricky part (at least for me) is putting it back on...esp in the fronts....those suck.

best, whit

[GaryE]

Cheers lowell - sorted me right out. Got the panel off with a bit of elbow grease. Have managed to find all star style bolts that hold the actuator in place, one was hiding behind some of the rubber weather proof covering. Got it out and it doesn't look like its in such good condition.

Don't see how you even open the actuator, so im going to do a replacement as suggested. Anyone with the eurpopean e34's the part number for this rear door actuator is 67.118 353 011.

Thank you again. Gary

[Javier]

would like to see how does the old one look.

Javier

[Kalevera]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/suzpectx/lockacutator1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/suzpectx/lockacutator2.jpg

Javier - HTH. Note that the old ones (up until ~94?) look like submarines to me. But these are e32/e34 specific. While the e30/e2somethings may look alike, they've got different connectors.

In terms of opening them...I work along the plastic welded seam at the base of the unit....with pliers and a big screw driver :)

best, whit

[Kalevera]

BTW, gary - they often don't "look good". That seems to be okay. It's the internals that matter.

I would first check to make sure that the mechanical part of the door lock mechanism is working...the lock actuators seem to last for a long time, unless you've reversed the polarity while jumpstarting (what the idiot PO did on my car).

best, whit

[Javier]

Is this the connector view for this one? Does not look like a trunk, two motors, isn't it?

Javier

[Kalevera]

Javier - the top one is a trunk lock actuator...I think it has the drive and the lock motors, and yes - I believe the pinout diagram corresponds to that one (the doors, trunk, and gas cap actuators all have different harness connectors on my car...I assume it to be the same way on yours -- the latter two are more alike than the door ones, which have a piece of metal that is used to slide them into place).

The one in pieces is from a rear door...note the different white connector.

Also: I think I found my cooling problem! I'm going to put another post on the "cooling system problems :(" thread about it and would appreciate any insight you might have on it.

best, whit

[GaryE]

Managed to get to a breaker yard today, found a 525 actuator which looks the same as your pictures lowell. Mine however doesn't :D

As soon as I get hold of a camera will post it.

I cleaned the actuator (the outside) and sprayed it heavily with WD40, put it back in and it worked for about 10 lock and unlocks, then gradually it began to make noises and now back to the 1-2 second 'reeeeeeeeeeeeeee'.

So Im not sure what to make of the problem. If WD40 can create a temporary fix, it can't be much of a problem?

The door latch and even this actuator is working well just making a horrible off putting noise. I'll get this beast open sooner or later, then we will know a bit more. Im prepared to find (and have already begun looking for) a second hand one so even if I break it - what does it matter :) Mind you, these '92 520 actuators are a bitch ass to find!!!

Gary

[Kalevera]

Really!? Yes, please do post a pic....does it look like a small, square box instead? I thought they changed them in ~94/95....

best, whit

[Javier]

with the actuator, 1992 models have a rectangular black plastic box actuator, just like Item 14 of this picture.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HB61&mospid=47370&prod=19920400&btnr=41_0818&hg=41&fg=45

See you in chat if you are there.

Javier

[Javier]

Javier

[Kalevera]

Wow! Didn't know this! Good to know, though. Gary, if you're still looking for an actuator, do a search on the forum. Mike Rottenborn was selling a *brand new* set of them for the rear doors. Best, whit

[Javier]

I used the web cam to have very small size pictures, so quality is not very good, but suffice.

Four views are, actuator, actuator with cover removed, actuator partially disassembled (Note micro switches, rear doors only have one), and actuator plastic gear showing a missing tooth.

Javier

Edit: links to missing pictures:
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=845&stc=1
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=846&stc=1
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=847&stc=1
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=848&stc=1

[GaryE]

Wow, cheers!

Your right Javier I think I may have gotten a little confused with what is what - this diagram (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HB61&mospid=47370&prod=19920400&btnr=41_0818&hg=41&fg=45) has helped me understand a lot better.

Tomorrow I'll whip it out again, and do everything you sugegsted, also a good time to fix my sticking door handle me thinks :) Not got time to do it tonight.

You guys are the don!

Gary

[GaryE]

To follow up this thread ...
I took the actuator out, took all coverings and housings off to inspect the gears etc, to my suprise there seemed at first to be no fault. The teeth are not worn and all looked in working order, the microswitch was not sticking and is working correctly.

The actuator would work fine when seperated from the lock mechanism so it was not moving any load. So I cleaned it throughly and ensured everything was greased and lubricated properly. This fixed my problem for about a week. Then I start hearing the same noises again!!! ARGHHH!

Again off with the door panel (grrrr!) and took the actuator out.

The actuator when uncliped from the lock mechanism:

http://www.network49.com/actuator/1.jpg
http://www.network49.com/actuator/2.jpg


So removed plastic outer casing and exposed the workings:

http://www.network49.com/actuator/3.jpg
http://www.network49.com/actuator/4.jpg


Everything now disasembled:

http://www.network49.com/actuator/5.jpg
http://www.network49.com/actuator/6.jpg
http://www.network49.com/actuator/7.jpg
http://www.network49.com/actuator/8.jpg

No problem with the gears teeth or the motor, everything seems to be okay!!!

But ah wait! The motor seemed loose to the blue housing, and I believe that when the actuator was under load it would cause the teeth to slip and not connect to the motor as the motor itself could move a few mm's down ....
http://www.network49.com/actuator/10.jpg

This is how its meant to be, notice no gap:
http://www.network49.com/actuator/9.jpg

Have now applied a tiny amount of glue to keep the motor attached to the blue housing, put back in the car today and everything seems to be okay, horay!

I think that this is the problem, and only time will tell if I am correct as it seems after a good greasing and WD40 session it has tricked me into beleiving everything is normal.


Gary

(Had to post links for most images as forum generated errors .. 'You have included too many images in your signature or in your previous post. Please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.')

[Javier]

plastic housing. This will reveal the housing pins going into the motor for electrical connection.

Please let us all know how this fix develops; I'm very interested in the subject.

Javier

[Javier]

Javier

[GaryE]

I haven't heard any more reeering noises Javier! Its been 2 weeks and my fix seems to have worked. If there is any change in this, I will let you know (and be tapping you for more knowledge :D), all is fully functional.
Sorry for not updating you sooner...

There was nothing visibly wrong with the actuator except for this slight movement on the motor to the housing. I never ended up removing the motor (as I didn't know you could at that time). My front passenger side is playing up slightly (pin doesn't extend all the way up even though it unlocks the door) and if necessary might be removing the actuator on that side, will see if the motor wobbles at all in similar instance to this one.

Regards
Gary