Advice on buying used V70 door latches?

1337 · Post by **1337** » 15 Apr 2016, 23:41

I recently picked up a 1998 V70 T5 Manual. The body, interior, and engine are in great condition. Now, I am working on sorting out more minor issues... and today's issue is the door locks.

My car has two problems with the locks:
1. Especially in hot weather, the power locks on all 4 doors can be stubborn to go up and down. Also, if I lock/unlock the car a few times in a row, the locks get more lazy to go up and down. The symptoms are just like those described a RobertDIY video on fixing locks, and the typical cause is that the heat sensors in the locks goes bad. A workaround is to replace the heat sensor with a bit of flattened copper wire, or any other good conductor.

2. On the front passenger door, pushing the locking knob down doesn't actually lock the door. Today, I took the door apart for some exploratory surgery. (Yay, no broken clips in the door!) I had suspected that the locking knob had simply become disconnected from the lock. No such luck. The knob going up and down moves some white plastic parts on the outside of the lock. But there is a white plastic part that is supposed to slide horizontally but doesn't. I think I need to replace this lock.

I think I have several options for each lock:

1. Buy a new lock on Amazon for $140. (At least I think these locks are new.)

2. Buy a used lock on eBay for $30-40.

3. The local pick-n-pull junkyard has 2 98-00 V70s and 2 S70s right now. I could go forage for some locks. Not sure what pick-n-pull charges for these.

4. Replace the heat sensor with a bit of copper wire. (but the front passenger lock probably does need to be replaced)

5. I like fixing things the "right way" whenever I can. Can I buy the heat sensor individually?

My concerns:
- If I get used replacement locks, I am somewhat worried that the heat sensors in those are also on their last legs and will fail soon.
- The actuator handle is color keyed to the interior. I have a tan interior, so finding the right color part might be a little harder.

Advice?

Post by **kahl** » 16 Apr 2016, 07:55

I have replace the heat sensor with excellent results. I would get the passenger lock from a bone yard and as a preventative step replace the heat sensor.

1337 · Post by **1337** » 16 Apr 2016, 11:07

kahl wrote:I have replace the heat sensor with excellent results. I would get the passenger lock from a bone yard and as a preventative step replace the heat sensor.

Thanks! I googled 'Volvo door lock heat sensor for sale,' and I haven't found anything yet.
Do you know where I can buy the heat sensor individually?

Perhaps someone knows the name of the supplier that originally manufactured the sensors for Volvo?

Post by **kahl** » 16 Apr 2016, 12:57

Just use a piece of copper wire to jump the terminals.

1337 · Post by **1337** » 17 Apr 2016, 13:31

This afternoon, I'm heading to the hardware store to buy copper wire. What gauge of copper wire should I get?

Should I plan to flatten the wire with a hammer as in RobertDIY's video?

1337 · Post by **1337** » 17 Apr 2016, 19:55

kahl wrote:Just use a piece of copper wire to jump the terminals.

kahl -- thanks for all of your advice. I bought some 8-gauge copper wire and went to town on this...

Now we're done with the Stage 1 (getting advice on buying door latches) and into Stage 2 (debugging why the doors are misbehaving more). I started a new thread on this:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=75357