frozen door locks

[tom klein]

the door locks on my '02 legacy wagon froze up last week - the
solenoids tried, but couldn't move, and it took about an hour to get
the last one open.

is there a recommended way to lubricate them?

 

[S]

Hi Tom!

the door locks on my '02 legacy wagon froze up last week - the
solenoids tried, but couldn't move, and it took about an hour to get
the last one open.

is there a recommended way to lubricate them?

Wait for a warm day. Rinse the lock cylinders with a little methanol
(use a syringe or dispense bottle to direct the alcohol into the
lock), and allow a few minutes for it to evaporate. Repeat a couple
times.

Methanol has this _thing_ for water, and the above procedure will dry
the lock cylinders out nicely.

***DISCLAIMER*** Methanol is toxic; don't get it on your skin, don't
drink it, don't sniff the vapors. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda . . .

You might also try a hot air gun, or even a hair dryer.

Once you are convinced that any water is gone, use powdered graphite
to lubricate the assembly.

FWIW, the problem might not be limited to the lock cylinder; there is
a bunch of hardware inside of the door that could cause issues if it
were to get wet and then freeze. Probably worth the effort to pull the
door trim and have a look around. A little methanol and/or hot air
will work to dry these components as well. Everything aside from the
lock cylinder, and maybe the solenoid it's self, uses a white
lithium-based grease as a lubricant.

Hope this helps.

ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[Todd H.]

Damn Steve, now THAT's an answer.

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

the door locks on my '02 legacy wagon froze up ...
... the solenoids tried, but couldn't move ...

They don't provide keylocks anymore on the newer Subies? There is no
longer a mechanical backup in case the electrics fail? Even my 2003
Outback has key cylinders. Saying the solenoids didn't work says
nothing about whether or not the mechanical linkage from the key
cylinder worked or not. Considering the time of year and the
possibility that the OP is in a winter area where the does might ice
up, maybe the locks were working fine but the owner couldn't pry apart
the ice frozen doors (and would've damaged the seals if he did).

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

in message



They don't provide keylocks anymore on the newer Subies? There is no
longer a mechanical backup in case the electrics fail? Even my 2003
Outback has key cylinders. Saying the solenoids didn't work says
nothing about whether or not the mechanical linkage from the key
cylinder worked or not. Considering the time of year and the
possibility that the OP is in a winter area where the does might ice up,
maybe the locks were working fine but the owner couldn't pry apart the
ice frozen doors (and would've damaged the seals if he did).

One of my (few) disappointments with my WRX wagon is the lack of a lock
cyl. on the lift gate. If it fails to open sometime, gonna have to crawl
through (and remove from INSIDE the car any cargo!) to begin trying to
take the interior panels off to troubleshoot it.

Carl

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

One of my (few) disappointments with my WRX wagon is the lack of a
lock cyl. on the lift gate. If it fails to open sometime, gonna have
to crawl through (and remove from INSIDE the car any cargo!) to
begin trying to take the interior panels off to troubleshoot it.

Geez, that sucks. I bet they didn't even provide a hole through the
interior panel to use a screwdriver or tool. Often the panelling
doesn't come off unless you can get at the edge of the tailgate, and
that is against the body when the door is closed. If it ever happened
to me, I'd probably drill a tiny hole and attach a cable to the
mechanism and have a ring at the end of the cable on the outside of
the panel, looking like the pullstring on a talking doll. Then if it
happened again, I'd have a pull ring to open the tailgate from the
inside.

God forbid the designers have to figure out how a consumer is to open
a door when there is no electricity available. Oh no, batteries never
die and wires never short or break, uh huh (rolls eyes). Yeah, just
bring it to the dealer so they can charge you to "fix" the problem (of
the lack of a mechanical method to open the door).

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

in message



Geez, that sucks. I bet they didn't even provide a hole through the
interior panel to use a screwdriver or tool. Often the panelling
doesn't come off unless you can get at the edge of the tailgate, and
that is against the body when the door is closed. If it ever happened
to me, I'd probably drill a tiny hole and attach a cable to the
mechanism and have a ring at the end of the cable on the outside of the
panel, looking like the pullstring on a talking doll. Then if it
happened again, I'd have a pull ring to open the tailgate from the inside.

God forbid the designers have to figure out how a consumer is to open a
door when there is no electricity available. Oh no, batteries never die
and wires never short or break, uh huh (rolls eyes). Yeah, just bring
it to the dealer so they can charge you to "fix" the problem (of the
lack of a mechanical method to open the door).

I have mental images of myself hacking a loveseat into frozen turkey -
sized' pieces with a chainsaw - just to get interior access to the hatch!


Carl

 

[tom klein]

in message


They don't provide keylocks anymore on the newer Subies? There is no
longer a mechanical backup in case the electrics fail? Even my 2003
Outback has key cylinders. Saying the solenoids didn't work says
nothing about whether or not the mechanical linkage from the key
cylinder worked or not. Considering the time of year and the
possibility that the OP is in a winter area where the does might ice
up, maybe the locks were working fine but the owner couldn't pry apart
the ice frozen doors (and would've damaged the seals if he did).

very few cars have keylocks on the BACK DOORS any more. your 2003
outback must be a very rare model.

all the parts, the keylocks, the inside lock toggles, and the
solenoids, all move the lock mechanism - when that's frozen solid,
nothing moves. so the first step is to thaw out the locks. this is
significantly more difficult on the rear doors, where there's no
keyhole to stick warm things in. sometimes, flipping the power
doorlocks a few dozen times will work them loose, hopefully before the
solenoids burn out. and applying a hair dryer, and engine heat, and
some road vibration, will free up the last door or two.

i would guess that the culprit is ice, either as frost or water
infiltration (we had some freezing rain), and the answer is to dry it
out as much as possible, and use lubricant to displace any remaining
water vapour. (as a previous poster has pointed out.)

what i'm really after is tips on how to lubricate the locks, preferably
without stripping the whole door, and on which lubricants are
recommended or work the best.

but this newsgroup has the most astonishing information - i'll be sure
to keep my eyes out for '03 outback doors the next time i'm at the
wreckers!

 

[tom klein]

thanks bunches.

Hi Tom!



Wait for a warm day. Rinse the lock cylinders with a little methanol
(use a syringe or dispense bottle to direct the alcohol into the
lock), and allow a few minutes for it to evaporate. Repeat a couple
times.

Methanol has this _thing_ for water, and the above procedure will dry
the lock cylinders out nicely.

***DISCLAIMER*** Methanol is toxic; don't get it on your skin, don't
drink it, don't sniff the vapors. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda . . .

You might also try a hot air gun, or even a hair dryer.

Once you are convinced that any water is gone, use powdered graphite
to lubricate the assembly.

FWIW, the problem might not be limited to the lock cylinder; there is
a bunch of hardware inside of the door that could cause issues if it
were to get wet and then freeze. Probably worth the effort to pull the
door trim and have a look around. A little methanol and/or hot air
will work to dry these components as well. Everything aside from the
lock cylinder, and maybe the solenoid it's self, uses a white
lithium-based grease as a lubricant.

Hope this helps.

ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101