I have a 2002 Grand Caravan with power sliding doors. 2-3 years back, the drivers side power door lock quit working. It would twitch, and ocassionally work. I removed the actuator and it seems that the actuator motor will not operate the mechanism far enough for it to complete a lock/unlock cycle. I decided to just live with it. Recently I came across an actuator from a salvage yard. I installed it, but it does the exact same thing - it won't fully complete a cycle. So now I'm wondering if this is a coincidence that two actuators (albeit neither one is new) act the same way, or is there possibly a different issue, such as maybe the HAL9000 computer (joking) not supplying enough voltage, or not providing voltage long enough... I tried cleaning the contacts inside the actuator, everything looks normal enough (considering I don't have a new one to compare it with). Any thoughts or fixes? Others having the same issue? Thanks.

 

Welcome to DF
The problem maybe the latch assy itself.

 

The door latch works fine, and the door lock can be operated fine manually. Both of the actuators act the same whether installed, or just laying in my hand.

 

the chances that you have 2 bad actuators is pretty good. Try another one.

 

Funny you should mention that... I returned the one I purchased from the salvage yard, and turns out they did have one other, still installed in a door they removed from a caravan. I removed the actuator, and they tested it (by connecting it to a battery), and it also wouldn't work. It completed one cycle, but from then on it just sorta twitched each time power was supplied, even switching polarity. I assume that is a good way to test - just connect the 2 wires to + and -.
Be nice if someone knew a fix for this. With so many failed, don't suppose there's a recall.

 

no recall, but sure do install alot of em.

 

I'm guessing you probably haven't attempted to repair one.
I haven't been able to find any new ones on the internet - I suppose that's a "dealer only" item?

 

I don't know about aftermarket. I work at a dealer so that's where I get em

 

I am having a similar problem, i.e. the left sliding door lock works fine manually, but will not open with the FOB or driver's lock switch. Could this be the actuator as well?

 

The motors are what usually fail on the actuators. The motor is inexpesive and faily easy to replace. There are a few write ups on this forum about the fix and where to get the motor, do a search.

I did a short search.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-c...caravan-2.html