So I only just turned 18 and I'm still trying to work on my truck by myself, without my dad's help! Hahaha well, just recently, the driver side door lock quit working. When I press the unlock button, I can hear the motor spinning, but it doesn't move the lock and it takes multiple tries to get it to move. What's broken and how do I fix it?

 

The electric actuator in the door latch sounds like its going bad. Right after I purchased my used truck, I noticed the same problem. I picked up a couple of used door latch mechanisms from my local pick+pay junk yard and swapped actuators. That took care of my issue. Be sure to download the factory service and parts manual for your year truck from this site, so that you can have a pictorial view of the parts you need.

 

Or if you're adventurous you can take those actuators apart and replace the brushes in the motors. All that powers them is a standard size toy DC motor. I found a Mabuchi door lock motor at my local hardware surplus store and repaired both motors to new for $10 and time. There is some info on this in the FAQ section.

 

I recently replaced the passenger door lock actuator on my 97 Ram, and it was $130 for the OEM replacement. It took about 20 minutes to replace.

You can find generic actuators for much less that you can make work, but they take a little fabrication to install.

 

Oh geez haha my dad has a subscription to AllData so I have the maintenance manuals for anything all online, but if those manuals are free and decent, maybe I'll use those. I've also been enrolled in an Electronics class at school so I'm kinda leaning towards replacing the brushes myself, and it's much cheaper than some $130 OEM replacement. I would much rather put that towards something else. Speaking of which, I have a $20 Amazon gift card....anything decent I can get for my truck? Hahaha

 

HAhahaha. Ur post mad me ROFL.

 

I meant as far as decent floor mats or something to that extent..

 

Get some new clips that hold inner door panel so it fits tight after doing repair.