Getting ready to bed down for the night I proceeded to lock door from switch near the door. I heard the coach carriage doors lock w/ usual sound but the front door's sound changed to a continuous high pitch clicking. Tried to lock w/ drivers door lock switches @ drivers seat ... same noise (continuous clicking). Locked door by hand. Next AM worked lock by key. The dead bolt is not stuck.
Any suggestions before I tear this door and lock apart?
Are the trim buttons (covered w/ leatherette) on door screwed on or pushed on?
Will I need to remove the trim aluminum for the window to get at the bad switch?
What caused this ... don't know but just before it quit there was a strong wind from the front of the coach, so strong that it took a real effort to open the door. Consequently when closing it we had to push on it to disengage the open door locking mechanism.
The trim buttons are snapped on.
Lots of repeated clicking sounds like the actuator was acting up. Maybe not able to lock on its own due to an alignment problem? Any chance of a low (chassis) battery situation? We had that fluttering once in a previous pickup - it was low battery. Could also be the actuator going bad (maybe?)
Michelle
I recently did some lock adjustments on the door of our 1997 U295. I gained sufficient access to tweak a linkage rod on the lock without having to remove any part of the window frame.
I would check the wiring to the actuator as it goes into the door as it could be pinched. It should have a little slack to at least give you a quick look without tearing the door apart.
My actuator actually stuck in the locked position and it took quite a bit of force to get the dead bolt unlocked. Not a good feeling to be stuck inside your home, but better than being stuck outside the home. I found it was a fairly easy job to remove the door panel with a powered screw driver and replace the actuator. I really only removed the actuator from the water compartment and put it into door. I then removed the one from the drivers front compartment to replace the one I removed from the water compartment. I thought the water compartment actuator was in better condition since that front compartment gets quite a bit of road grime. On my 2000 U320 the original actuator is not made anymore and the after market ones do not fit into the door cavity. I still need to manufacture a bracket for the after market actuator and then will have one for my drivers front compartment again since room is not an issue in that compartment. One word of caution from James T., be sure the actuators are in the same position as the rest of the coach's actuators. Since you could hit lock and the new actuator could really unlock.
Good luck,
I just replaced my passenger door actuator when it exhibited the same symptoms. A post mortem on the old actuator revealed a plastic (nylon) gear broken in two.
The actuator I was able to get was quite different from the original and required a bit of re-engineering to make it fit. However, once I figured out how to mount it, it made a very neat installation.
I had to remove the door panel completely to get decent access to the area. The upholstered buttons are snaps which have screws beneath. You will have to remove the trim around the inner part of the door window.
Removing and replacing the door panel and window trim ring is really not a difficult job once you commit to actually doing it.
All in all, it was not a difficult job. Good luck!
What actuator did you end up with? My door actuator failed a year ago and I replaced it with one from a basement compartment (and replaced that one with the one referenced on BarryBeam's site,) but I expect more failures eventually.