1999 S70 Door Lock Actuator?

volvooh · Post by **volvooh** » 24 Nov 2014, 12:22

My son's 1999 S70 driver side door lock only works intermittently. Most of the time it will lock, very rarely does it unlock, and sometimes neither when using the FOB. The other doors lock and unlock just fine. My thinking is there is potentially a capacitor in the lock that has worn out as it seems to become more unreliable the more you use it. I have seen several door lock actuators (which includes the interior handle) on ebay. Would this be the best course of action?

Post by **kahl** » 24 Nov 2014, 15:11

for me I would change out the actuator for a serviceable unit.

s70_Joe_Tx · Post by **s70_Joe_Tx** » 25 Nov 2014, 07:50

The problem with a used unit is that it may be in no better condition than the one you currently have. Or may soon fail in the same fashion, snce this is such a common problem.

The 2 schools of thought, both involve "rebuilding" the lock. Both techniques might be able to be applied together.

1st thought is: worn thermal limiting device. Degrades over time to the point it does not allow sufficient current flow. People remove the device and replace with solid conductor.

2nd thought is: worn brushes. For this, someone sourced unrevealed brush end caps and offers rebuilt motor assemblies for $25+$5 refundable core+$2 s/h. Or they will install the rebuilt motor into an actuator for extra $25+more shipping+more core. http://spinlocks.bigcartel.com/

I personally prefer not to install used oe high failure rate parts, unless no alternative or mod exists.

volvooh · Post by **volvooh** » 25 Nov 2014, 07:58

Thanks for the reply. He did not have any locks available on spin locks, so I may order a motor and tackle this myself. For the cost of one of his locks and the inconvenience of returning a core, you can get a rebuilt motor for the same cost, or less, than a pull-off.

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 25 Nov 2014, 09:53

I replaced three of mine with junkyard ones, tried to find the newest s70 I could. That was about 3 years ago and all are still good. They do fail often but sometimes you get lucky.

Post by **cn90** » 25 Nov 2014, 09:57

New actuator is about $125 from Volvo dealer.

The other option is to open it up and find out what is wrong.
The tiny electrical motor is made by either Mabuchi or Johnson Controls, about $5 on ebay.

erez321 · Post by **erez321** » 25 Apr 2015, 13:10

Anyone tried to fix this yet ? I do not think my problem is with the motor or the mechanism but I tend to agree with the capacitor notion as it looks like when I close and open few times without waiting in between so it like the mechanism is tired to move them button (and this is only on hot days) but if I let it rest for a while (1 or few minutes) so then it works. is there any capacitor on the way to that actuator ? according to a instructional video how to replace the motor I am not sure capacitor is art of the actuator but maybe I am wrong.