VW Golf Door locks keep freezing, best lubricant?

I like to spray Dura Lube Advanced All Purpose Lubricant Protector in the lock and handle areas.

I live in Chicago and it seems to work fine in the vehicles that I have used it on. ;-) Oh and BTW it seems to last too! One bad thing is that I can't seem to find it anymore in the usual local places. :-(

JMHO. later, dave (One out of many daves)

I like to squirt in ethylene glycol antifreeze. If you have a syringe, fine. Otherwise you can use a basketball inflation needle, a plastic bag, and a rubber band to insert antifreeze. I think it washes out the water, and makes any residual/new water not freeze.

Wipe off what drips out, of course.

This is a timely thread. Gotta do mine too.

A long time ago my father, the locksmith, taught me that you don't use any oil based materials in locks. Locks work best when clean and dry. Oils just help hold dirt and dry to a sticky mess. The only material he ever used was graphite and that has always worked for me.

The issue of freezing is not related to lubrication. Cold can thicken up the oils that may have been used in the locks and cause them to malfunction, but freezing is water related. In over 40 years of driving cars in the Ohio snow belt, I have never had one "freeze." Actually I have never had a car long malfunction in all those years and I have always followed my father's advice.

I suggest that most people who have freeze problems are really oil based cold problems and need to clean the locks with a good zero-residue cleaner. The rest have a special problem likely do to the design of the lock. For those I would recommend on the the special products designed just for that and consider a spring cleaning with a zero-residue solvent followed by a graphite lube.

BTW WD-40 is an oil product with light weight oils that will, in time, leave the same sticky oil mess in a lock as other oils. It will displace water, reducing the freezing problem, but it then just adds it's own problems.

Don't these locks have small flipping doors? Maybe they're not closed tight? Then put in foam insulator around the locks called "Great Stuff."

That's not funny.

"Joseph Meehan" floridly penned in news:q_ewd.983$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.columbus.rr.com:

Graphite is great if you live in an area without snow. It is death on locks if your area does have snow. Not a good idea for an automotive lock.

The very best thing I have ever found is spray cans of Rust Check or Krown, intended for auto-body rustproofing. This is the "drippy stuff".

It's light enough not to interfere with lock operation at -20F, and most importantly, it "creeps" and covers the entire inside of the lock. The creeping action means it gets to the back of the weather flap, keeping the spring from rusting and breaking. It creeps in between the plungers and their bores, making them slide more easily.

Spray it in liberally, making sure it backs out of the lock. Wipe off excess. Enjoy locks that never, ever freeze, and even last longer due to the lubrication.

Freeze problems are due to water entering the lock and freezing. Water can enter for several reasons: Condensation, snow pushed in through the weather flap by the key, or a weather flap that is open due to a broken spring.

Rust Check or Krown, the very best there is.

I have used graphite in 7 cars over 40 years. I live in the snow belt (Ohio) and I have never had a lock freeze up. I did have the front bonnet freeze shut on my Sunbeam Imp. The gas was under it so I had to chip the ice away all the way around the bonnet to free it up.

Maybe Leroy thought this would be funny, but if someone was to follow this advice it could turn real un-funny. Don't use any spray insulation. It will not help and can do damage.

Also, when you use your key in rain, it is difficult to keep it dry as you insert it.

Interesting products, but I don't think I would put that into my locks. I wonder what the corresponding products are called in the US.

But then the ethylene glycol has been good for me. I tried both the methyl and isopropyl forms of "Heet", but they did not do it for me. I think the ethylene glycol residue helps where Heet would evaporate.

You're getting all kinds of dumb advice (engine antifreeze, insulating foam, Dura-Lube oil, etc.). The correct fix is indeed spray silicone lube. The CRC brand ("Heavy Duty Silicone") in the red and white can is a good kind. The can comes with a straw; push it into the spray head, then put the other end into the door lock (past the little flap door) and give a few quick spray bursts, moving the straw to spray up, down, and straight ahead. Then insert and remove the key several times to distribute the silicone on the lock's tumblers, and operate the lock in both directions a few times. Repeat for all body locks (doors, hatchback). Then, open the doors and hatch and spray the silicone evenly onto the rubber door weatherstrips so that the doors don't freeze shut. The silicone's carrier will evaporate, leaving the weatherstrips non-greasy but frostproof.

Then, as long as you've got the can out, you can shoot the gas door hinges, the latches and hinges for the hood, doors and hatch, the rear wiper pivot, the sliding/turning dashboard and steering column controls, the antenna...

DS

One other possibility - the mechanism in the door is rusted/frozen/jammed. The lock itself may be fine, but the linkage itself gummed up. If spray lube doesn't appear to be working, you may need to pop the door panel and lube the linkages in there.

As a note, while I don't personally use it the silicone products mentioned (not all silicone products however) should work well and not cause problems unless really over done. I know some locksmiths that don't like silicone, but I believe that is because they have seen other products used. Some silicone products are mixed with other lubes that are not good.

Its pretty corrosive to the paint, so if you choose to follow this advice, be aware if you get ANY on the paint it might strip the finish...

I agree with this. A squirt of just plain old prestone once a year has served me well. On the 96 is it more likely the metal will fail and you'll need a new handle well before the oil or whatever gums it up!

Your advice was given to me years back, I took it, and the locks still froze.

The "dumb" advice of using engine anti-freeze has worked well for me.

snipped-for-privacy@mail.please(Tom's VR6) floridly penned in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I don't know that there's an equivalent. It's an extremely light viscosity "polarized oil". It's popular up here and works far better than cavity waxes or rubber/bitumen substances. WD-40 contains a similar oil, but not nearly enough of it relative to the carrier. And WD-40 stinks.

Apparently Krown is sold in spray cans in the Massachusetts area, from what I'm told.

It really is a sort of miracle lube for locks and latches. Does absolutely no harm and lots of good. What it does is to displace moisture, getting under it to the metal beneath by virtue of its thinness. It keeps the weather flaps from breaking, the pins from sticking, the barrel from seizing, all sorts of things. I also do believe it helps prolong key life because the pins can slide up more easily.

Your locks will love you.

One caveat about silicone is that it makes it damn near impossible to ever repaint the car without using a fisheye preventer, as the stuff never completely goes away. Whether that's a concern or not to most people I don't know. If you *do* use silicone and end up having any body work done, I would definitely advise the painter that you have used silicone products on the car.

I just did exactly what DS describes to the Porsche last night, FWIW - looks like it might be gasket freezin' season in a couple weeks. I also tried an experiment - I coated the squishy rubber rear spoiler in silicone as well, I am curious to see if it keeps it from attracting dust and dirt unlike my usual regimen of tire dressing.

Personally, I prefer to soak a paper towel with the silicone and then

*wipe* it onto the seals as I don't like to spray it anywhere near windows nor is it a particularly good thing to get indiscriminately all over one's paint. For the seals, a tube of silicone grease might be a better product to use, but I've never gotten around to purchasing one.

nate

"Daniel J. Stern" floridly penned in news: snipped-for-privacy@alumni.engin.umich.edu:

That does nothing for the all-important weather flap. Once that falls open due to a rusted and broken spring, no amount of silicone spray will help you.

Rust Check/Krown. Nothing else comes close.

So to sum it up, a lot of people have their own "dumb" methods that seem to work for them! :-) Some will work temporarily AKA for the short term. Some will create other problems. Some might be good for your friend's situation.

Decisions decisions decisions! lol

Let us know what you do and if it works for you! later, dave (One out of many daves)