Unfreezing locks?

answer: find SOMEONE in FAR north Alaska, OR Canada.. and see what they use there.. the problem I see is with the US locks.. I am PURELY guessing, that they will NOT work at the extreme cold temperatures that they have 'up north' due to the grease that is used here.. Ford switched out the keyway in 96 and that winter was eating repair bills like mad when the grease they stuck in set up SOLID and would not thaw out or could be washed out.

so..

to clean? maybe??

or pull the locks out and wash out..

HERE in my area, we got more damp and not real cold, so I use WD40.. cause nobody sells Triflow..

--Shiva--

In the tundra of New York, I usually use PB Blaster in the door locks of my vehicles. That, and WD-40 is also OK. LOng as I use one or the other at least three times a year.

As for frozen locks, I use a propane torch at about 6 inches away, and keep the flame moving around at all times. I've also used a butane cigarette lighter. Heat the key, partial insert, and put the flame on the key. The heat soaks into the keyhole.

1. flick your bic
2. warm your key
3. insert key into lock
4. wait ten seconds
5. remove key
6. re-insert key and try lock
7. repeat as necessary...

g'day

More water probably gets right back in and the alcohol evaporates fast anyway. I hardly ever run into this anymore. Most cars on the road around here have keyless entry. People rarely open the car with a key at all.

Heat your key with a lighter, or if it won't go in at all heat the lock shutter a little bit assuming there is no plastic in the bezel. You're probably wearing gloves already........

That, and WD-40 is also OK.

No surprise there you've probably been using both as compressor oil in the Air conditioners you trash...um...I mean 'fix' for years.

Good Post.

I use graphite in my door locks-I'm in Northern Indiana-not too far away. My door lock froze once the other day.I use graphite and ONLY a puff of it will do.The graphite will not however,prevent freezing in the kind of temps you had the other day. I simply took out a cig lighter and heated up the extra BRASS blank(not a cut key) that fits my door-put it in for 6 seconds-open.I put 1 puff in.Next night it was even colder-no freezup.

Another thing to do is keep your heater in the car turned down some-If it is 80 degrees in your car and 12 degrees outside-there will be some condensation. If you do like I do you drive in your coat so 40-50 degrees would be comfortable.

If you park your car in sunlight during the winter it will heat up-when sun goes down and cold spell hits-there you go again.I sometimes crack the window just a bit.

Your window and door seals should be clean and in good shape.Dust and cracks will hold moisture, then it will freeze.

Even if you use a remote, and if the door has keyed locks, you should operate them with the key occasionally.I've seen some seized up-then the remote quits working-Clusterf**k.

Move to L.A.!!!! Just kidding.

goma.

Ooops-forgot I should tell you that I took my locks apart and cleaned off all the old ford grease first......

LOLOL, had a car here to unlock one winter.. they HAD the key.. the day was sunny, after being VERY cold the night before.. temp got to a nice 33 and melted all the ice/snow off the cars, then it went to 15 again by 5pm.. all 4 doors were totally frozen.. the mechanisms inside the door..I took a light and saw ice everywhere in the door.. finally got the right rear open, after trying for 30 minutes, and took another 15 to get the front open.. same day guy stuck his key in his Ford and twisted both door lock linkages off-the lock turned but the latch didnt..

have to carry a pry bar for my Ranger, the rubber 'freezes' to the metal and you cant pull it open

here I see MORE Chrysler AND Ford trunk locks corroded solid, for that very reason.. then the remote dies... WUUPS..

--Shiva--

In the Chicagoland area or, for that matter, anywhere you NEED to operate a lock cylinder that is frozen or filled with water - even a LOW temps:

-- Get a syringe and fill it with 70% (or greater) rubbing alcohol and inject this, carefully, into the keyway.

-- Work a key blank, or the operating key in and out of the keyway.

-- Inject more rubbing alcohol into the keyway; wait, and then try the key. It should turn.

--- Get a can of Tri-Flow lubricant with Teflon and inject this into the keyway. Operate the cylinder with the operating key and it should work just fine! The Tri-Flow should also keep this lock cylinder from being a 'repeat offender''. THIS WORKS!

n.b. - I also keep a Coleman catalytic heater with me and can use it tto perform some serious melting (like on narrow stile aluminum store door locks, etc) as the need arises. Only an idiot would court disaster by using an open flame or torch on a lock cylinder.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com

************************************************************************************************ clifto wrote:

I took a small tip propane torch to a Kwikset one time..

1. it WAS ouside
2. the wind was blowing about 20 mph at 20 degrees, totally exposed
3. was mounted spring cap DOWN and was full of water..frozen solid..

4, had another lock on hand 'just in case'... but got it thawed out enough the key would turn, then removed from door, cleaned the water out and put cylinder in cap UP.

--Shiva--

"Shellie Mooney" snipped-for-privacy@strings.gov trolled in message

---snip---

<plonk again>

This and dirt is why is does matter how the lock is oriented. Pins down: brass dust, water, dirt, super glue, whatever runs right down into the pin chambers.

don't forget the benefit of gravity :-)

OK if the locks are in a weightless environment it's Ok to mount 'em pins down.

Obvious or not they are frequently mounted pins down especially on end user installs.