How Power Door Locks Work

­ In this car, the power-door-lock actuator is positioned below the latch. A rod con­nects the actuator to the latch, and another rod connects the latch to the knob that sticks up out of the top of the door.

When the actuator moves the latch up, it connects the outside door handle to the opening mechanism. When the latch is down, the outside door handle is disconnected from the mechanism so that it cannot be opened.

To unlock the door, the body controller supplies power to the door-lock actuator for a timed interval. Let's take a look inside the actuator.