Reattaching a Power Door Lock Actuator in Mom's 2011 Ford Crown Victoria

A while ago, my mother asked me what a certain noise was in her 2011 Crown Vic.  She also said the passenger door lock wasn't working.  It didn't take long for me to figure out the big rivet that holds the power door lock actuator to the door itself had broken off.  When that rivet breaks, the power lock won't function correctly as it needs to be firmly attached to the door to work.  This happened years ago to Vic 1.0, and my old mechanic used a nut & bolt to fix it.  

I decided I wanted to do the job right, so I sourced the correct rivets, and FINALLY forced myself to do the job recently on a hot summer day, borrowing a capable riveter and a few tools from Bob at Belmont Seat Cover.  

If you need to do this repair, some of the tools you'll need are a T25 torx, a 7mm socket, panel remover tool, patience.  The rivets I went with are Auto Body Master part number PM49930, purchased at Checkered Flag in Ayer MA.  There are others out there that will work, but I didn't need 100 of them!  Make sure they have a dome-like appearance like the originals.  

I didn't take photos when I started the project as I was just plain too distracted.  But taking the door panel off is a bit easier with this panel than the 1998 style ones, other than needing something other than a Phillips screw driver.  The most important thing to remember is, if someone hasn't already, DO NOT break the plastic tab off the switch panel!    This is very easy to do if you don't know about the problem.  Once you break it, the panel will never sit snug again without "persuasion".  And unless you have a black interior, finding a replacement will no longer be a simple task.  

Below are some "maps" to help you with this job.  Again, I didn't think to take pics until it was too late, but something's better than nothing!

Once you remove all hardware, simply lift the door panel up and off the door itself.  Feel around and you will find the lock actuator is just sort of hanging, thus banging around in the door, driving you nuts, and also making it so your power lock won't function correctly.  You will see the cad-plated bracket with a hole in it, perhaps even the remnant of broken rivet like in Mom's door.  You can clearly see the hole in the bracket, and how it should line up with the hole in the door.  I used some sticky black goo to help hold the two together while we prepped the riveter.  Then, POP went the rivet and the repair was all done!

Next, I taped up the black shield thingy and slipped the door panel back on... forgetting to line the lock knob up properly with the hole in the panel like I do every single time!!  Plug the switch panel back in, carefully pop it back on, and you're good to go.  

Door Switch Panel Repair PART 2

Wellp, it looks like the Gorilla glue might have worked... the bad news is the tabs that I seem to really need are not those that I repaired!  I may have to get a black panel from a junk yard and do a little Dr. Frankenstein work...  The images below tell the whole story.

Tabs seemed pretty secure

Wiring...

... connected...

As you can see, the panel still didn't sit flat...

... in fact, I swear it is worse than before!

176,000 MILES and Door Switch Panel Repair PART 1

Today Vic 2.0 hit 176,000 miles.  It is amazing how few problems this car has had in it's life.  But it is now 11 years old, and is starting to show/feel it.

Many of you who own these cars are aware of a very annoying issue they have with the driver side switch panel mounting tabs breaking off and thus making the panel pop up.  This has annoyed me as well, and I tried adding small pieces of Velcro to the panel and door to keep the thing down.  Didn't work.  The self-adhesive didn't adhesive as well as I had hoped, and the thickness of the hook & loop halves added too much thickness, so even when the panel DID stay down, there was a "padded" effect.  In other words, the panel didn't sit flush like it is supposed to.

So today I was sitting in 2.0 in a parking lot, and used a screwdriver to fully remove the switch panel so I could peel off the Velcro.  And what did I find inside the door?  Two of the broken mounting tabs.   That made me start thinking about repair options.  In the past, I have used a plastic repair product that really worked well on a couple of broken Javelin grills, as well as the power/volume knob on Mystery Mechanic's Uniden scanner, which is still in 2.0.  

I headed on over to a local auto parts store to see what they had in stock for plastic glue/repair products, knowing they stock some hard to find items.  They didn't have anything of the proper quantity and/or price.  On my way out, the boss suggested Gorilla Glue.  I have never used it, and it didn't cost too much, so I said "ok, but if it doesn't work I'll be back to yell at you!".

Below are some photos I snapped during the "repair".  I put that in quotes because I am skeptical, and because the glue takes 24 hours to set up.  So stay tuned to see if the repair did or did not work!

Some of the supplies used

Some of the Velcro that didn't work out.  You can see where the tab has broken off.

One of the broken tabs I found inside the door.

Where the break and glue is.

Where the other break and glue is.