02 Door Lock Hissing Sound/Vacuum Actuator Problem
My driver's side rear door lock often doesn't unlock, so I guess it's a vacuum problem of some sort. I pulled the rear seat and everything is clean, dry, and all yellow lines are connected tight and all fuses are fine.
On both back doors, both yellow lines are tightly connected to their actuators, but I was surprised to hear loud hissing and I can feel air escaping the accuators. Is this normal? There's a tiny hole where the air is escaping from. I can see the hole and feel the air. Is this by design, maybe for pressure release purposes?
I think you raise a good question, members got their actuators fixed, but I doubt how many would notice there is air leaking from the actuator, let alone commenting on whether this is normal. If no other reply, may I suggest you to do the followings:
Swap the yellow tubes (on PSE side) with the one on the working door and see if there is a difference, OR, you can take off the panel of the opposite door and compare. Good luck.
You said there is air escaping the actuators (plural) then you mention a hole (singular). When you compared the 2 rear door lock assemblies vacuum-wize, do they appear and behave identically? If so, I'd compare the force required to open/close the door lock buttons manually. It sounds like the non-working side might be bent or require some sort of lubrication.
If you temporarily plug that little hole somehow, does the door lock work? I have a 98 e300 and had a bad actuator, was actually broken. I could never hear any air leaking out of it however. Maybe a bad actuator.
When I removed the left rear panel and tried to see why the lock would intermittently not unlock, that's when I discovered air escaping the accuator. I thought wow, this doesn't seem normal. Now, I'm beginning to think it might be normal, since the same hissing sound comes from the right rear door, which is not having any problems. Or, being the same age, both might be going bad at the same time, with the left side being worse... Swapping out the accuator sure doesn't look easy.
Please take a look at the attached picture and place your ear on the panel near the screw and activate the lock/unlock on your key. Do you guys hear the hissing? This is where I hear the sound once the panel has been put back on.
If the hissing/air escaping is normal, perhaps something is bent or needs to be lubed, as Musikmann mentions, and I'll investigate that.
(Picture Credit: Lifted from the great window regulator thread, thanks)
No, absolutely not. No air can be heard from that area when I lock and unlock my door. I went out to the car and recycled the door locks. That is part of your actuator. It must be cracked and have air leaking from it. Replace your actuator and the problem should be resolved. Actuators are not cheap, $100 plus, but cheaper to DIY than taking to the shop. It is tough to get up in there to remove it, but not impossible. Not rocket science. You are going to have to pop your door panel off. The only things that are up in there is your door lock actuator, the yellow vacuum line going to the actuator and the door glass bracket,s thing a ma jig. There is a sticky on removing the door panel.
Ok, great, sounds like I need to swap out the actuator. For reference, this picture (driver's side rear door) shows the spot on the actuator from where the air is escaping.
Hopefully the swap out goes smooth, I just don't want stuff crashing down when I start disconnecting stuff from the actuator.
Hi cool_breeze,
I have exactly the same problem on my front passenger door. Did you manage to replace the actuator? How did you unplug the yellow vacuum line? Where did you buy the actuator?
Thanks
Buy the new part 1st and then you can visualize what's going on and it'll help you plan things out. I think the grey thing disconnects from the actuator, so I didn't have to remove the yellow line. It's been a long time and I truly don't remember 100%. Buy it from Autohausaz:
It wasn't that hard and it fixed my problem. I had to replace both my rear actuators.
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