I own a 1997 zj Laredo in very good condition. One of the only issues it has is the driver side power lock. When the unlock button is pressed on the key the door makes a whirring sound and the lock will neither lock nor unlock. All the the other doors work fine. I checked the fuse panel and everything is in order. I opened the door up and found all the wiring to be good. Does anyone else have this issue and if so how did you fix it? I suspect the motor has gone bad but it still make a whirring sound. Ive actually got it to unlock once or twice before but that's it.

 

Most likely it's gummed up. Get busy with a full can of a decent penetrating oil. Use it to flush out the lock mechanism. All of it. Work the parts while you are flushing. Yes, it will be messy. Obviously, you'll take the inside door panel off first.

Once you are done, it will probably work fine. If not, you probably need to replace the whole actuator mechanism.

 

Alright thank you will do. I figured it might be the actuator but wasn't quite sure. I'll definitely flush everything out. Like I said it worked once or twice and I can hear it trying to go so I might just need a clean. Thanks for the help

 

It's the actuator. Go to the u-pull and get a cheap replacement. I just replaced mine that was doing the same thing. When you pull the replacement, get a couple of strands of wire and you can test it on a battery before you buy it. The whirring is the motor in the actuator being bad. Cleaning it does not help and they are a pain to take apart.

 

No need to take apart the actuator. Clean the lock mechanism. If it's gunked up even a new actuator doesn't have the power to operate it. If that doesn't solve the problem, then replace the actuator.

 

I took the thing out and cleaned inside and out. It was in great mechanical condition actually. All the parts moved freely and there was no gunk in it. I gave it a clean and lube anyway and tested it afterwards to no avail. I ordered a new one and got it installed and it worked perfect. The install time took about 30 min but was a little tricky because access inside the door panel was tight. Thanks again for the advice.