Factory best selling TU-1C90 thermal wax actuator for thermostatic automatic water drain valve for United States Manufacturers

Here is the original tutorial I watched to learn how to replace the actuator. Their video is better for tutorial purposes–my video is more of an encouragement to non-fix-it type ladies who are feeling intimidated about working on their vehicle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqbJtTmkYfM

Okay, I’m just a housewife and homeschool mom. I’ve never done any work on cars pretty much ever. Before I was married, I checked the cars fluids on my own and make sure everything stayed at the proper levels, but that was it. My husband and I recently purchased a used 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. It had a handful of problems but I knew if we tackled it ourselves, we could fix the van up pretty well without spending much more. The driver side window worked intermittently (a default in the switch) and that same switch would stick when pressed downward for the automatic lowering of the driver side window. The other two major problems were the lock actuators in the sliding doors didn’t work. Hence, you couldn’t automatically lock and unlock the doors with a button or key fob. You had to reach around. Normally it’s not a big deal, but with three kids in a busy parking lot and the fact that van sliding doors aren’t designed to be easily unlocked manually from the driver side or passenger side door, it was a real nuisance. So I put together some VERY choppy footage (my camera doesn’t have a pause option while recording), but I didn’t have a tripod to set the camera on, so there are some weird shots where I’m trying to hold the camera and put things together as if I had three hands.
Regardless, the point of this, as exasperating as the process was, is that, if you’re a single mom, a woman on her own, a widow, or a wife whose husband is away on deployment or some other kind of work trip, you can do this! If you have plenty of money, go ahead and spend it–pay the mechanic $65 to do the work for you. However, if you don’t have a lot of expendable money and it’s a fix that isn’t deep in the recesses of the engine, take a chance! Look up the parts, search for tutorials on how to fix the thing (that’s how I learned how to do this! My husband searched for a tutorial and I jumped at the opportunity to try it). Now, as you’ll see in the videos, I did seek out my husband’s help on occasions. He is as mechanically minded as me–which is not much at all! So, I’m at no advantage having my husband help me except I got a break. On my end though, I’m in the middle of a nasty cold and we’re moving so time is scant and pressing, so I was eager to get a break if I could since I was so exhausted and could hardly breathe. Regardless of everything, I enjoyed most of the process. I hope you enjoy yours as well and you don’t get discouraged when things don’t go as smoothly for you as they seemed in the tutorial. I know they didn’t go smoothly for me! But I saved at least $130 in labor and I know I saved a lot in parts by ordering them online for well below the manufacturer’s suggested retail.

In this last video, I don’t know the final steps simply because I’m not a professional videographer and I was tuckered out. I had a lot of trouble getting the door to “pop” back on. Some of the little green and/or yellow pegs had been pulled out when I took the door panel off and fell, some got stuck in the holes. In other places the ‘female’ receiving end pulled out of the door and was stuck attached to the green peg on the panel. I discovered if you used a hammer to remove the pegs like you do a nail, it works great and you can put the pieces back where they belong. Furthermore, I pressed the auto close button on the side expecting it to close because it was almost closed. Instead, it opened and caught the upper window panel (like the door panel but narrow and goes up the sides and at the top of the window). So, some pegs were dislocated from that as well! I had to use a little finesse and just put them where they seemed they should be and hit the panel back in place before the could slide down. Nothing a professional told me, just something when you see it, you know what needs to be done. I hope that doesn’t happen to you because it was plain irritating when I was so close to being done. Well, God Bless and hope you’ve been encouraged!