A few days ago the power door lock on the driver side of my '97 ECSB stopped working. Simultaneously, the window (manual) ceased to roll down more than a few inches. Hmmm, time to open up the door panels. I found that the rivets holding the power door lock motor to the inner door panel had popped out and allowed the motor to flop down into the door. This prevented the window from rolling down.
I removed just enough screws from the inner door panel to pry it gently open wide enough to reach the motor and remove it from the lock rod and its wiring harness.
In lieu of replacing the rivets I opted to swap them for 6mm machine screws. I used a drill to ream out the motor bracket and door panel holes to a large enough diameter to accept the 6mm screws. The lock motor bracket is probably thick enough to be tapped and screwed directly into but I lack a tap set so I chose to use epoxy to "weld" nuts onto the back of the bracket.
Attaching the nuts to the bracket made it unnecessary to try and reach a wrench back behind the inner door panel for tightening the screws. After letting the epoxy set I weaseled the motor back into position on the lock rod linkage. Then I just had to screw it into position behind the inner door panel.
I think this fix should be enough to withstand the constant rattle that finally killed the factory rivets. While what I did is nothing complex, I wanted to post because it may be a good idea to at least inspect these rivets anytime you have the door panels off. I could have saved time if I had noticed this problem developing a few months ago when I had the door apart to replace a handle.
I removed just enough screws from the inner door panel to pry it gently open wide enough to reach the motor and remove it from the lock rod and its wiring harness.
In lieu of replacing the rivets I opted to swap them for 6mm machine screws. I used a drill to ream out the motor bracket and door panel holes to a large enough diameter to accept the 6mm screws. The lock motor bracket is probably thick enough to be tapped and screwed directly into but I lack a tap set so I chose to use epoxy to "weld" nuts onto the back of the bracket.
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Attaching the nuts to the bracket made it unnecessary to try and reach a wrench back behind the inner door panel for tightening the screws. After letting the epoxy set I weaseled the motor back into position on the lock rod linkage. Then I just had to screw it into position behind the inner door panel.
You must be registered for see images attach
I think this fix should be enough to withstand the constant rattle that finally killed the factory rivets. While what I did is nothing complex, I wanted to post because it may be a good idea to at least inspect these rivets anytime you have the door panels off. I could have saved time if I had noticed this problem developing a few months ago when I had the door apart to replace a handle.
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