VW Golf Door locks keep freezing, best lubricant?

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled dave AKA vwdoc1 wrote: : 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)

I think Dave and I are in the same town... I've never had the GTI freezeup yet, but I have suffered lots of freezeups on the Porsche. Often it rains and then turns freezing and that nearly always does that car in.

WD-40 sprayed in a frozen lock will get me in, but have never been sure it's the best thing (but it beats the constant warming of the key in your hand, wiggle and and repeat until you can get in the car while it's -5 outside).

I put graphite lube in the house locks recently but they don't seem to be any easier to use...

Chicago Paddling-Fishing floridly penned in news:cpuj1u$lsq$ snipped-for-privacy@e250.ripco.com:

What's happening there is that the barrel is frozen to its outer housing and can't turn. The clearances are pretty tight and it's a sliding action, so it doesn't take much water to stick it up. WD-40 doesn't contain enough oil for this purpose, but the spray cans I suggest do.

We have one of those "super mailboxes" that the government put in when they decided they didn't want the mailmen to walk all the way to your house to give you your mail. The locks on those stick all the time. But not ours!

You could be using something a lot worse. I don't know exactly what the special spays made for locks have in them, but if they use the right stuff they should work even better.

This is likely because they need to be cleaned, not lubed. It does not take much to gum up a lock. Good locks really don't need any lube as long as they are kept clean. Shot of disassembly, I suggest a zero residue cleaner (electronic supply house will have it) that should help clean out all the old thick oil and other gunk that has gotten into the lock. Then after it has had a few hours to dry out, then use the graphite. Even enough of the liquid graphite will work. The liquid is just a carrier to help you get the graphite (a solid) into the lock The liquid should evaporate completely.

wd-40 to displace the water, then break-free clp for a lubricant that won't freeze or absorb water.

Good to know. No need to buy that expensive stuff in tiny cans made especially for locks then...

Umm, yeah right...

Ulf

"Joseph Meehan" floridly penned in news:e2Bwd.1182$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.columbus.rr.com:

The problem with automotive locks is that they are subject to water in a way house locks aren't. It's the water that kills the lock, and not much else.

Every night your car has condensation on the outside, it also has it on the INSIDE of the body panels. That condensation can drip into the lock mechanism. Each time you use the key on a rainy or snowy day, you push a bit of water into the lock with the key.

All that water settles in the barrel, freezing and preventing the cylinder from rotating. It also causes a thin skin of corrosion to occur on all sliding surfaces inside the lock, impairing their movement as well.

If you use the correct (extremely thin) oils, the locks will not "gum up", and water will not be able to cause corrosion or freeze inside the lock so it prevents movement.

Graphite (and silicone), unfortunately, does nothing to counter the effects of water. Silicone is ideal for indoor locks, however.