Problem: power lock/unlock stopped working
 

Hi.

'84 245T, Odin's Goat Cart is starting to grumble about me his new owner. He misses the moderate sea level weather of the Bay Area, I think, but has been a champ tolerating the high desert triple digit highs (we'll see how he handles the single digits come winter.)

Could a ground problem be progressive? Or is this coincidence? Also I did a search for key words, and couldn't find anything that answered my questions.

First: Stereo. L said that his radio died not long before I took over guardianship of OGC. I picked up the $20 model at WalMart, it worked great then stopped. Figured it was the cheap radio, exchanged it, someone suggested I keep an ear out for an electrical problem, maybe the ground. Sure enough, the radio display pulses a bit, and isn't reliably putting sound to the speakers. I'm guessing a ground, but I can trace that at my convenience. Not too worried.

The real problem is that the power locking stopped working. I remember that being a wiring problem in my old 240 and I fixed it (don't remember how.) But in this one, there's a sound coming from inside whenever I turn the key in the lock. Driver's side door locks and unlocks by key, same with passenger side with its keyhole, but there's this sound - like a motor continuing to work - when I hold the key engaged in the lock or unlock position.

First question: Is this coincidence or related to the ground dysfunction affecting the radio?
Second question: Is there a broken wire somewhere that connects whatever's doing the actuating that I'm hearing, to the rest of the door wiring?

Thank you!

...Blanche
Fallon, NV

No relation between the two...
Radio: can't help with a cheap Walmart radio, really, who knows?
The locks, sounds like the actuator is bad, the motor keeps going but the gear is stripped--need to get another one.

Thanks! It's been a couple decades since I ordered from IPD; housemate has a full machine shop, I'll see if I can pull it and maybe he can grind me a new one. :)