Probably you are going to have to clean out all the 20 year old congealed
grease in the mechanism, and re-lube it with modern white grease (called
brake grease or lithium grease in many brands). This is pretty thin, but
won't run. The fact that the locks work better when the voltage is higher
is a dead give away that the mechanism is just too loaded up with goop to
snap to attention like they did when they were new. These are just simple
solenoids, with no internal moving parts other than the armature itself, so
there is no reason to replace the electrical parts, just clean them up and
lube everything.
This is a very common situation with these cars - all 4 of mine exhibited
this symptom at one time or another. They are also quite a bit less likely
to work in cold weather or if the car isn't driven for a while - it's just
congealed grease.
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: <Imp1983@xxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 6:38 AM
Subject: IML: power (?) locks
> Hi all,
>
> The power locks in my 83 Imp are barely strong enough to lock/unlock. I
have
> to hit the button three or four times for them to work. I've lubed
> everything that I can see with white grease and it didn't help.
>
> Do I need new lock motors, or is there something else I can do? I do
notice
> that if the car is running, they seem to work a LITTLE better.
>
> Oh, and it's SNOWING here in Marcy NY. AAAAAGGHHHHHHH!
>
> Dan Wing
> Imp1983@xxxxxxx
> 1983 Imp, beige, wire wheels,
> factory/dealer carb conversion
>
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