Vanagon Auto Door Locks: Why they fail and how-to fix it

When Vanagon window seals fail water drips onto the power window actuator. This shows what happens when water and electricity meet. Water inside the actuator does weird things to it, including causing a short circuit. Check to see if the rubber boot at the top of the actuator is torn, that’s where water can creep inside. Check all the plugs for corrosion too. Brush away any bad terminals. There are only two actual actuators on the T3 at the doors, the slider and rear are slave units. Check those as well. Bad rubber window seals also cause a leak directly at the acutator.

My power doors in my ‘86 Westy suddenly stopped working. I had no clue why. Then I did a little reading and learned that the wiring in the door gets brittle from bending and finally breaks. Power door locks are a convenient feature on Vanagons. But due to the original design of the wires in the doors, there is a good likelihood that one day your wires will wear out and break. Power door locks were either factory installed, or by using an aftermarket kit.

My factory installed door locks stopped working several times, and in each instance I found a broken wire at the door. These factory wires should be replaced with a flexible, thin-walled wire set. These are often made with a silicone covering. The Vanagon doors constantly open and close, and that causes the stock wires to fail.

After months of rain this year in California, the door locks stopped working again. I figured water had intruded.

The wires looked good, but the fuse under the dash was burnt. So I pulled the door panels and looked at the actuator. The driver’s side was burnt. I mean fried with a small hole in it.

What had happened to me was rain leaked into the door through an old door seal and dripped directly on the actuator. Electricity and water are a bad combination.

So I ordered another actuator I saw on eBay and when it arrived I installed it. Actually, I tried to install it but they sent me a three-prong actuator and ‘86 to ‘91 is four-prong.

I ended up going to a Vanagon parts house and paid for the correct actuator with the wiring plugs.

I replaced the fuse that had also burnt out and crossed my fingers. Wow…. It worked. Only replaced the driver’s door so I got lucky.

If you’re having issues too first check the door wiring and the fuse. It’s a 20 amp. Check to see if you have continuity across the system. There are posts on the Samba about it. A multimeter will do the trick. If you have continuity your wiring is good.

Typically only one actuator goes out but not always. In any case, be sure water isn’t getting into the door and dripping on the actuator. Even if it looks good on the outside, open it up and see what the insides look like. If there are any signs of corrosion from water then that’s a problem and it likely needs replacing.

The water leakage issue means your window seals are shot. It’s a very easy job and you can order the seals. If you have the factory aluminum trim that runs along the channel be prepared to trim it. You could do it the cheap way and simply cover the actuator with some type of plastic baggy so water can’t destroy it, but that is not exactly the best method.