1974 Eldorado Convertible Drivers Door actuator/solenoid

[Seachange01]

Hi guys,
A while back someone I had taken for a ride wanted to grab something out of my Caddy and at the time the top was down. They grabbed the lock and just pulled it up rather than pushing the unlock button on the inside of the drivers door. Ever since that time, when you click the electric door lock to open the door, the door lock doesn't rise, it just kind of jiggles around. To unlock it from inside the car I have to manually pull it up. Outside, the key still unlocks the door obviously.

My question is... Has anyone had this problem? Does it mean I need to replace the actuator, or does it sound like something that can be repaired relatively simply?

Thanks,
Alan

[MaR]

It sounds to me like the actuator rod slipped off either the actuator or latch.

[TJ Hopland]

You will likely just have to get in there and see what got bent or came off.     Getting into these isn't too bad, you may even be able to see what you need to see just taking the upper off.    There is a horizontal trim strip just above the armrest that has one screw.  Take that screw off and the trim will slide and unhook.   That exposes the screws that hold the upper on.   Remove those screws and the top of the panel just basically hooks around the top of the door so it can be wiggled off.    The pull handle has screws in it too that have to be removed before you can lift the panel up. 

The common failure on these as they age is water gets past the wiper on the outside of the glass and runs down one of the rods and past the boot into the actual electrical actuator and seizes it.  If yours was moving till this happened that isn't likely what happened.