Wild Nite In MI

[William]

Chris, it's kind of like old oil and grease in record changers. Your door locking mechanism kind of works the same way, then add to it very cold and stiff plastic and metal parts.

Bill

[electra225]

If locks freeze, moisture is getting into the lock. They make sauce you can shoot into the locks to prevent that.

The frost must have nipped the wife's cucumber plants. They were fine Saturday, deader than a hammer this evening when I got home from work. We had them covered. Everything else but the bouganvillas look good.

[TC Chris]

The problem in my locks seems not to be the pin tumblers, which are lubed to a fare-thee-well, but with the unseen mechanism that they move (or don't move). I will sit there making 5 degree rotations back and forth and if I'm lucky it will suddenly pop the little push-button up. Or I will get desperate and start squirting in WD40 and rotating until something gives. This seems to happen both above and below freezing.

On this Ford, it looks like the lock cylinder is held in by a sliding clip that is accessible on the door when it is open. Seems to me I pulled the clip once and tried to extract the cylinder and gave up before I really messed something up. Most of us know that one-step-too-far feeling.

Right now I'm just leaving it unlocked.

Chris Campbell

[19&41]

A few years ago I owned a Bronco II and there were more circumstances of frozen doors and door locks than I see now. I would get an extension cord and get my heat gun and start running it around the edge of the door and over the door lock/latch area and it would usually get the door open. I keep the locks oiled on the truck and explorer and wax the door sills. When it gets wet before a freeze I'll drive the vehicle til it gets warm, then run the heater full blast for a while to dry the door innards. My Mustang had remote start. that was great for icy mornings and not much else.

[electra225]

The Mini has remote start. That works okay if you are about ten feet away. If you walk away when you have pushed remote start, the English lady starts screeching in the radio speakers, warning me that somebody might steal my unattended, running car. When they got out of the range of the remote control, the engine would die anyway unless they had the key fob.

Remember when Ford put those push buttons on doors so you could open the door without a key? They made a plastic cover for the lock mechanism so it wouldn't freeze. Wonder if something like that would work on Chris' locks? Assuming, of course, you could still find such a device....

[19&41]

My Explorer had that feature. The pushbutton feature was a fixed combination actuated keyfob type transmitter powered by the vehicle power supply. I reckon they have a finite lifespan. Mine is part of a plastic trim panel.

[electra225]

Those systems had plastic covers that kept the locks from being so susceptible to freezing. I wonder if those covers were still available and if they would work on regular locks. Those remote entry systems didn't give much trouble as I remember.

[TC Chris]

My problem isn't the lock cylinder freezing. Key goes in; cylinder rotates (but not enough). It won't turn enough to unlock the door mechanism and raise the lock push-down. I can't see inside to figure out what's the issue. What's the price of Harbor Freight borescopes?

Chris Campbell

[William]

Again, I say, all of the linkages, both metal and plastic, inside of your door are like gummed up record changers. They need to be cleaned and freshly lubed.

Bill

[TC Chris]

I've been driving to work this week. Rode the bike to the downtown theater for an MLK Day movie Monday night, but that's < 2 miles. When it's cold and really snowy, I'll abandon the bike for the truck on the longer trip. Y'all know that I have an irrational fondness for the old Ranger, my favorite vehicle ever after driving it 18 years. It's interesting how temps affect it. Everything is noisier--lots of vibrations and rattles all over. The shocks are stiffer so the ride is even truckier. The front disc brakes must have some dimensional change in the cold because I can hear either the pads or the calipers rattling. Touch the brakes ever so slightly and the rattle goes away.

But remember, this is the truck that went 15 years on the original battery, so starting in the single digits or below poses no challenge. Turn the key, it starts. Yay for reliable vehicles. Yay for 5W-20 synthetic oil.

Chris Campbell

[19&41]

It shouldn't be very difficult to remove the interior trim on your door, then you would be able to use some spray grease on the linkages, although I know that wouldn't be easy outdoors. I did it on my Bronco II and that ended that portion of any freezing problems. It was easy to do the power window regulator too.

[TC Chris]

What's the drill on removing Ford window cranks?

Chris Campbell

[tasar]

We need an "auto" section , just sayin'

[electra225]

We have an "auto" section. We also have a tendency to "drift" off-topic. There is a long legacy of doing that. I reckon that, technically, frozen Ford locks are congruent with a change in the weather that brings frigid temps. Nobody means any harm, and I apologize for any concern this may have caused. "Our Other Toys" would be the proper board to discuss automotive topics.

This is a small forum where people feel welcome and free to share whatever is going on. Sometimes, we get into conversations like you would experience hanging around the Standard Oil station on Saturday morning, or the feed room down at the Co-op elevator or the back room of Dixon's Barber Shop. Conversations get started then travel off in a different direction. We have the "we need to try and stay on topic" conversation about every six months.

[19&41]

I opened a thread in the "our other toys' section to continue the automotive portion of this discussion. I'll try to do this for discussions the run off the tracks, because each discussion is important here. Each of you feel free to also open and link threads to forums that might be more appropriate for whatever tangent we start upon.

Here is a link to the new thread. Please use it.

viewtopic.php?t=2376

[electra225]

Thanks, Rex. Somebody better at it than I am should take the lead on this. I have often admitted, rightly so, that I am the worst offender on the forum about running a topic off the rails....