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Car Forum / Subaru Cars / December 2007frozen door locks
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?  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com 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 Damn Steve, now THAT's an answer. -- Todd H. 2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA thanks bunches. > Hi Tom! > [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > University of Colorado > (719) 262-3101 SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com > 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). >> the door locks on my '02 legacy wagon froze up ... >> ... the solenoids tried, but couldn't move ... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > 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 Signatureto reply, change ( .not) to ( .net) >> They don't provide keylocks anymore on the newer Subies? There is >> no longer a mechanical backup in case the electrics fail? ... [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > 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). >>> They don't provide keylocks anymore on the newer Subies? There is no >>> longer a mechanical backup in case the electrics fail? ... [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > 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 Signatureto reply, change ( .not) to ( .net) >> the door locks on my '02 legacy wagon froze up ... >> ... the solenoids tried, but couldn't move ... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > 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! SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
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