Running Board Motor - replacing

[R Kimbro]

WOW! Replacing the motor was VERY easy (2015 Expedition) .... BUT the key is to buy the motor with the hinge attached. Sure you can save a few $$ replacing the motor itself, but what a hassle! Believe it or not, Walmart had the part for $300. Of course, it came thru a third party, but I had the part in 3 days!

It takes less than an hour to do this repair and I am not an auto mechanic. I completed this between dinner and the evening news.

1. Running board MUST be in the down position or you will not be able to remove it.

2. Disconnect the power cable to the motor.

3. Remove four 5mm hex bolts under the running board; 2 for each hinge. The running board does not need to be supported, it is held in place with a small groove at each hinge.

4. Lift the board up and set it aside. it is very lightweight.

5. Remove four 13MM bolts holding the motor and hinge to the frame. Careful, the hinge and motor are rather heavy, especially since you are somewhat under the vehicle.

6. Mount the new motor/hinge assembly but DO NOT completely tighten the bolts.

7. Temporarily reconnect the power and make sure the hinge goes up and down as you open/close the door. Leave the hinge in the down position, remove the power connection and tighten the bolts.

8. Put the running board back in place and reinstall the four hex bolts.

YOU ARE DONE! Less than an hour!

 

[07navi]

How much less is it without the hinge? I think you can buy just the motor on Ebay. There are utube videos on how to remove the hinge, I think that is what I would do.

 

[David1]

part numbers ?????

 

[David1]

I removed the motor but I can't get a good answer if the same motor is used on both the 119" & 131" WB exp.
9L7Z16A507A is the number easily found. Some sites say only 119 WB others say the same motor fits both just the bracket is different ?

119" shows 4.75" shaft 11.5" total length which is the same as what came off my 131". Unless the electric motor itself is bigger, I think they are the same ?

 

[07navi]

I would go with the motor only, there are videos on utube that show you how to do it.

 

[David1]

I would go with the motor only, there are videos on utube that show you how to do it.

Yeah motor is removed.

Trying to determine if the same motor is used on 119" & 131" wheelbase and best place to buy. Most sites list not compatible with EL yet SOME ebay drop down list say they are ? I found the dimensions are the same & bc EL's are rare they don't know, so willing to try.

This morning most ebay answers came from china like broken english (part stocked in Ca), do not cover return shipping, limit the return period, and they don't give good answers.

Some reviews say motor not strong enough for the 131"WB, some say worked few weeks, some are great, most sites don't list the review.

Seems like pot luck and ebay sites are just cashing in on people not wasting time returning the item. Normal sites raise price cashing in on peoples doubt.

Probably go with this seller Bay item number:283933065722
Store has 2 walk in locations Arizona & Tenn, their site says it fits, and they will verify the fit with VIN which I sent. I will update

 

[07navi]

Ebay is my jo

Yeah motor is removed.

Trying to determine if the same motor is used on 119" & 131" wheelbase and best place to buy. Most sites list not compatible with EL yet SOME ebay drop down list say they are ? I found the dimensions are the same & bc EL's are rare they don't know, so willing to try.

This morning most ebay answers came from china like broken english (part stocked in Ca), do not cover return shipping, limit the return period, and they don't give good answers.

Some reviews say motor not strong enough for the 131"WB, some say worked few weeks, some are great, most sites don't list the review.

Seems like pot luck and ebay sites are just cashing in on people not wasting time returning the item. Normal sites raise price cashing in on peoples doubt.

Probably go with this seller Bay item number:283933065722
Store has 2 walk in locations Arizona & Tenn, their site says it fits, and they will verify the fit with VIN which I sent. I will update

Ebay is my job. It's all in the buyers favor now....you can't lose anything but maybe a little time.

 

[David1]

Ebay is my jo

Ebay is my job. It's all in the buyers favor now....you can't lose anything but maybe a little time.

Well they can start by changing the # sold to be of just the # sold of the item you are viewing. I thought a company sold 240 of the motors. Until I noticed the comments were of every part the company has sold

 

[07navi]

Well they can start by changing the # sold to be of just the # sold of the item you are viewing. I thought a company sold 240 of the motors. Until I noticed the comments were of every part the company has sold

Flakes are in there especially from China, they say they have warehouses all over the U.S. and then it arrives from China.

 

[David1]

Flakes are in there especially from China, they say they have warehouses all over the U.S. and then it arrives from China.

No doubt it is the same part from China. IMO, if you have a store where people can pick up, come to your desk, or throw parts through your window, you tend to stop selling bad parts. For $15 more, 3 month return, & they told me it fits, I'll risk it.
I Just wish it was 3 winter months lol

That's why when I saw 240 sold on one site, I thought it must be good part and service. Then to my surprise # sold was not just that part, Buyer beware.

I took pics of the motor, I will post later. The gears and grease looked OK. I was expecting milk and water entering from the shaft etc. The electric motor was the problem, full of foreign material.

 

[07navi]

No doubt it is the same part from China. IMO, if you have a store where people can pick up, come to your desk, or throw parts through your window, you tend to stop selling bad parts. For $15 more, 3 month return, & they told me it fits, I'll risk it.
I Just wish it was 3 winter months lol

That's why when I saw 240 sold on one site, I thought it must be good part and service. Then to my surprise # sold was not just that part, Buyer beware.

I took pics of the motor, I will post later. The gears and grease looked OK. I was expecting milk and water entering from the shaft etc. The electric motor was the problem, full of foreign material.

They lie whenever they can get away with it. If from China they often send another item free to avoid return shipping. If you select "not as described" or "defective" ebay will automatically send a return label to you and you won plus you will get ALL your money back. Buyer saying no returns means nothing. It's all in favor of the buyer now.

 

[trexinaz]

HI all,

I just finished the repair and it was pretty easy to re-install.

I bought this motor off of amazon and it appears to be of equal or better build quality than the fomoco one. The metal is about about the same thickness.
Description of the motor i bought was "GELUOXI Right Power Running Board Motor for Lincoln Navigator Ford Expedition 2007-2014 9L7Z-16A506-A 9L7Z16A506A 747-900 FSM1P6"
Link as of today: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07447BDQP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Disclaimer: I'm not any sort of actual mechanic, so take this info as merely what worked for me. It might not work for you.
To Recap:


The symptom:
The motor went bad (started making a whale sound and wouldn't raise lower fully. It might have been a gear problem, because there are two screw gears inside the motor housing. Not sure what stripped or what because I couldn't fully dissasemble the old part and didnt'really care that much.


Uninstall:
Put the running board into the down position if you can somehow. Place a sleeping bag or backpack under the running board towards the back wheel, so it can be supported when the bolts come off. Un-clip the power connection to the motor. Remove the entire running board including its hinges and the motor. There are 4 bolts near each hinge that mount it to the frame of the car. 2 up underneath the edge and 2 down low that can be accessed with the running board in down position. I used a ratchet with metric, forget the mm.

Once off, remove the 2 bolt / studs that connect the motor to the hinges. You need a screw driver for one side and alan wrench for the other. Then, remove the hex-head screw that you see on the hinge, it holds a wedge shaped bolt to the inside of the hinge near the motors axle that is not visible when put together. I just jiggled the running board a bit after taking out the screw and the wedge bolt fell out. Then the axle was free and I was able to pull the motor off off the hinge and detach it.

Installation:
Installation was pretty much the reverse of removal, but it was sort of hard to get that wedge bolt in and start the screw for it. Remember that you want the motor turned so that the running board is in the "extended" down position again. One video I watched suggested removing the motor shield cover and that allows you to manually rotate the motor axle by spinning the motor. It is slow, but worked. Recognize that there is a little washer that must go down into the end of the cap and lie flat. Don't lose it or let it float around inside the motor loose. Once I did all that and then got the wedge bolt on and screw to hold it tight, I put on all the other alan bolts and screws to mount the motor back to the hinge frame of the running board.


Removal honestly takes 15 minutes
Install took about an hour because of that wedge bolt deal, but that really is the only reason.


The motor I bought of amazon is very quiet running and appears to be solid construction.

Good Luck and thanks to the forum.

I

Weird that there are no posts since 2019 when this is such a common problem. Currently struggling with the motor...I think the wedge is holding me up from sliding the motor out(mine is making that hideous grinding sound also. Thank you for your write-up.

 

[jerry32]

Hi All,

One of my running board motors stopped working well a few weeks back. It just moans and sounds like it is stripped out or something.

I took it to the deal (who has been jacking prices recently) and they told me it would be $2100@ to replace... just the motor! hahaha, these guys have gone crazy with their prices.

Anyway, I took the running board off and pulled the motor in 15 minutes yesterday.

I wouldn't mind spending money on a new motor if there is one available somewhere.

Does anyone know if the replacement motors on amazon for $110 are any good?

Thanks

Got these on Amazon

Fexhull Driver Side Running Board... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQXFXGBS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I first got this for passenger side (also had broken bracket) and a motor only for driver side. I was not able to get old motor off on drover side so just returned and bought full assembly. Cost a bit more but way below dealer and local shop. This was the motor.i returned. Looked very well built and came with bracket.

 

[Cire3]

Ok, just did one on my 2017 Expedition EL Limited. Two things to consider. First off I wrenched for GM as a drivability tech for 20 yrs, and 5 years before that at an aftermarket shop. I has part of the reason my dealer started working on every make (Pissed the world off) Anyway....

Can you remove the motor from the hinge. Yes, kinda. I have removed thousands of rusted parts over the years, but let me tell you this will be seized. Not a matter of if, it will be considering what it's exposed to. Unless maybe it's in Arizona ? Anyway, consider it seized.

The amount of heat I had to apply was crazy. Ended up cutting the motor shaft just to be able to start moving the shaft back and forth to work it out. We are talking candy apple red on the motor shaft. So do yourself a favor and just remove the assembly from the truck to start to get it on the bench. You wont get it from under the truck. This heat slowly melted the rubber bushings in the pins. When hot, the pins would knock right out. This melts the plastic bushings. They will never twist free. Next the rubber motor mounts that don't remove.

So between bushings in the pins, and rubber motor bushings melting... Do yourself a favor and just get the hinge. Seriously, IMHO it's not worth it. It will still continue to stick after a few days like mine did.

I have since then just ordered the complete assembly. I love saving cash, but the motor alone is not a solution for any long term fix.

Now we move on to the connector. You may have to remove and splice in the round / square one. With two purchases, they mix these all the time. Just expect it to be wrong. Either de-pin it (I have the tools) or splice the old one in.

Yes, wheel base matters. The 119" is not the same as the 131". Something with the rod that connects the two hinges together.

Just My2Cents....