Dorman 746-147 Door Lock Actuator Motor

I ordered this for my OBS Ford. It fit a 97 crew cab perfect and worked great. You don’t need to rivet anything in. You can use the stock bracket and just slide this one into it. I ended up using the stock rod as none of the ones it came with were the correct length.

I've been through many a lock actuator in the ~25 years I've owned Fox Body Mustangs. Many have been let downs, but not these! I ordered two Dorman actuators after wasting a lot of time and a fair amount of money on others in the past. These two actuators don't mess around, pushing or pulling the lock mechanisms crisply. All the others that I have bought from certain Mustang parts sites have been weak, sometimes locking but not unlocking... sometimes unlocking, but not locking. VERY Frustrating. After reading some other reviews here I ordered these and am not disappointed. Dorman's may cost more than the others, but they work the first time. Saving time in installs/removals, returning the bad and ordering new, hoping the latest order you'll get lucky and they'll work. Pay the bit more and put these in once so you don't have to screw around with things again and again. BTW: At least for the Fox Body Mustangs these are not a hard install. Probably a 1-1.5hr job per door tops. Removing the door handle is 4 screws (two 3/8" lag type screws and 2 Philips heads), removing the lock/windows switches is 2 Philips screws, the door panel is 3 more Philips screws, pop the panel clips with something like a "Lisle 35400" removal tool and set it aside. If you need new panel clips you can order "N807925-S". Peel back about 1 foot of the plastic sheet behind the door panel at the door latch end and peak inside. You'll see the actuator being held in place with a white plastic bracket. Spray a little WD40 on the rubber grommets that hold the actuator in the plastic bracket and push the actuator our of the bracket. Once out of the bracket, turn the actuator body parallel with the ground while lightly pulling towards the front of the car to get the actuator pin out of the lock mechanism. It can be a little finicky but it will come out easily as only the bend in the steel holds the pin in place. It's not screwed in or anything. Once out, unplug the actuator (careful as the old plastic can be brittle) and look it over so you can see which bent steel pin is needed from the kit for the new actuator. A little looking at the old actuator will show you how to put the new one together. Once together, plug the new actuator in, put a little WD40 on the new rubber grommets reverse everything you just did. Getting the grommets/holders in and out of the plastic bracket is by far the hardest part of this project. They are in there good and putting them back in requires some patience, finesse and grip strength. Just in case, once you get the new actuators in, test things a few times before you put it all together. These actuators should work great, but you just never know. Good Luck!!

installed on my 1986 Ford F250 and it fit perfect. The plug and bracket were easy direct fits. The rod needed just a little bending which is expected for a universal kit.

Although the listing says that it will not fit early 80's bullnose F-series trucks, i was able to fit this to my 1985 F-250 with little to no hassle. As others have mentioned, all that is needed is a quick bend of the longest "S" shaped rod into an "L" shape. I also cut the rod a little shorter about 1/4" so the L was not as long, but this step is not necessary. Alternatively, the locking style plastic clip can be replaced with a plastic bushing to make the "S" shaped rod attach correctly. Either way, the actuator works great!

Many thanks to "Kindle Customer" who wrote a review for this actuator - "Saved me ! and my $". He suggests reusing the old retaining bracket by pushing the actuator down, and out of the open slots on the bottom of the retainer. That worked quite well & I was able to reuse the retainer. I did shoot the rubber bushings holding the actuator into the retaining bracket with silicone, and let them soak overnight, however I do not think that was necessary. The old actuator popped out of the bracket without much difficulty. The new one back in as well. The longest control rod was correct for the 1990 F150. Also, in order to rotate the actuator up & away from the retainer I had to remove the bolt holding the window slide brace in place. Once the windows slide (felt strip) was out the way, it was clear sailing. See the picture with the blue arrow.

I bought two of these with hesitation not knowing how these would fit in my 1990 Lincoln Mark VII. The quality is pretty good and I wish I would have purchased these long ago. After installation I found out the cause of my actuators are not the actuators, it's a short in my keyless entry computer that was causing the actuators to constantly lock and unlock literally 5 times per second. I would definitely buy again.

Amazon is wrong on which door lock actuators were correct for my 1992 F350 crew cab. This Dorman 746-147 part is correct for the REAR doors. This actuator is has the compatible electrical connector shape and style, and mounting bosses. However, it's included rods do not work for the 1992 F350 rear. I had to cut off the original part's rod, drill a new hole in the rod and fit it into the provided coupling with the provided pin. NOTE that one of the two actuators I installed seems stronger than the other. I am concerned one or both will weaken too soon. I used these in place of 1Aauto's TRQ part that was essentially dead on install. The front doors use a different style (Dorman 746-156) whose plug and rods are different shapes from the rear so not compatible with the rear electrical connector and door latch mechanism. Two of both part numbers was required for a complete 4-door installation.

This actuator fit perfectly on an 89 F-350. Install was a little bit of a pain because I did not remove the rivet that holds the actuator bracket, but after a little bit of persuasion I was able to get it installed. Amazon price was at least 50% less than the local parts store and with next day shipping, it was a no brainer to wait one more day. Little did I know that replacing the actuator would fix the faulty door lock. So if are having difficulty unlocking your door with the key and you have tried powder graphite or grease, it just might be your actuator going out.

These work. I tried 2 other brands from Mustang parts stores that were half the price but they kept binding up as if they didn’t have enough power to open or lock the doors. The Dorman ones are strong enough. They operate the door latch easily. You get what you pay for..

It's good so far

great product, after installation it works perfectly was shipped promptly and I am very happy thank you

Lube it up be careful with the old bracket. Not too bad to install. If you don't want to drill out that bracket be very careful pulling the old motor out. Lube it up and use a screwdriver to twist it out. You will need to loosen the latch assembly to get at everything.

Works as expected, replaces OEM power door actuator on 1990 Ford Mustang.