Uh-Oh

[KevinKernaghan]

It's been pretty cold lately in Lubbock, cold enough at least to mess up my door locks. After spending a whole day at school, I came back to the parking lot Monday evening to find that I was unable to open my driver's side door. I can still get in on the passenger side, but who knows how long that cylinder will last? The door locks work fine once I'm in the car, but the whole gaining-access thing is troubling for right now. Luckily the door panels are coming off soon to install new speakers...Anyone have any idea what's going on here?

[Precise1]

First, what condition is the key in ? Are the teeth very rounded, or is it bent ? Before replacing the cylinder, try lubricating it/cleaning it out. I 'fixed' an ignition just by spraying in some WD-40, putting the key in, jiggling and turning it, pulling it out wiping it off and repeating about 50 times. About 1/2 way through the process, the lock began to work smoothly but I continued until the key came out 'clean'. That was 1 year ago and no problems yet.

Remember, that lock has old, contaminated lubricant, lint, grit, grime and gunk packed into it. When you have the door panel off, check the linkage to it to make sure it is not binding the lock. There are some plastic pieces that are known to wear out. That may not be part of the issue, but worth looking at when you are there. Good luck !

 

B

[KevinKernaghan]

Well, I guess I should rewrite the topic heading...the lock cylinder itself is definitely not seized, and still rotates. When the key is turned to either side it doesn't come up against something hard, rather something soft, as if there's a broken plastic part in there. It definitely FEELS like something in the door is broken.