Over the past week or two, I've noticed my driver and passenger door locks become increasingly hard to slip a key into. These days I enter through the passenger side since the driver side lock won't accept the key without excessive force and rattling. Once the key is finally inserted there is no trouble at all (except some slight resistance when getting the key out).

It seems the colder it is, the harder it becomes to get the key in the lock. Has anybody experienced this? Is there a locksmith in the house? Suggestions would be much appreciated!

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'66 Dodge Dart

Spray the lock cylinders with lockease comes in a small spray can parts stores and walmart should have it. Don't use other products such as white lube will gum up the locks.

Brian

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63 Plymouth Valiant Wagon

graphite-- works well also, Lawrence

yep....powedered graphite.....most hardware stores have it.

or.....do it the po-folks way....get a pencil and rub the pencil "lead" vigorously up and down the teeth of the key (doesn't get the results that the finely powdered graphite does, but it'll do in a pinch.)

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1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Have you recently had a copy made of your key, and is that the one giving problems? If so, it most likely was not copied accurately. If it was cut too high it will cause a stiff or tight feeling when turning the key, or too low in which the key will turn but first catches, and one needs to jiggle it to get it started.

Next most common problem with automotive locks is dirt build-up, both man made, and natural road dust.

Your locks need a little lubrication, and generally graphite is to be used as a lubricant. Often folks use too much graphite thinking if a little is good, the whole tube is better… result is a build-up that won’t allow the key to fully seat in the lock. Your locks may need to be flushed out as there may be dirt build-up from just being around for so long, or too much graphite was used… Dirt will make for difficult key insertion & extraction and cause the lock to become sloppy.

What I always did when I was in the “Lock Bizâ€￾ when confronted with poorly operating automotive locks, was flush out all the crud with WD-40. Working one lock at a time, give the lock a good squirt of WD-40. Then run the key in and out of the lock, wiping it on a cotton rag every few incursions. Repeat the flushing process until the key looks clean, and moves in and out freely.

Now you have a lock that is a dirt magnet because of the WD-40 film left on its moving parts. There are two ways to deal with this: one flush out the lock cylinder with brake cleaner incorporating the “in and outâ€￾ key wipe method until dry and free of lubricant, and than give the lock a small puff or two of graphite until the key slides in and out easily; or do what I do to my locks, just don’t remove the excess WD-40 residue, and give the locks a repeat shot of WD-40 whenever they start to get draggy.


If you find that the keys just aren’t turning without catching or binding after cleaning & lubricating them, it maybe time for a repining of the lock.

A lock smith can install new pins, and cut a new key to factory specs for your old problem locks which will make them feel and operate like new.

Just remove the locks from the door, and drop them off at a shop that is automotive friendly, by that, call ahead, ask if they have what is needed to service you vintage door locks, and if they can be done that day.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Thanks for all the replies! With the graphite, is there a special method or do I just get a bit in the lock? Does the lock need to be removed first or can I do it while its on the car?

Also, what is the likelihood of the dirt clogging up my locks? I'm more than willing to remove them and give them a good cleaning if needed, but only if they are known to be come dirty and clogged.

As for the questions regarding copies of the key and wear of the pins. They seem to hit the shear line nice and consistently, only issue is when inserting the key. Also, no new key is being used.

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'66 Dodge Dart

[quote]With the graphite, is there a special method or do I just get a bit in the lock? Does the lock need to be removed first or can I do it while its on the car?[/quote]
Graphite comes in a small squeezable container with a small snout that will pass by the little flapper covering the lock opening. No need to remove the cylinders from the door, just give then a good wash out & lube as I instructed.

[quote]Also, what is the likelihood of the dirt clogging up my locks? I'm more than willing to remove them and give them a good cleaning if needed, but only if they are known to be come dirty and clogged.[/quote]

Yes dirt & dust can infiltrate your door locks, as well as water. If the little trap-door on the face of the lock is not closing tightly it can enter from the outside side. The back side of the key way is open to air movement from inside the door cavity, and over the years dust can build up if there is a high pressure area in the door. Dusty dirt roads are not a lock’s friend.

One day, some guy came into my shop from North Dakota that had moved “Back Eastâ€￾, and never had to lock his old truck when living in the bad lands. He could not get his key to go into the door locks. I guess the teaming metropolis of Bangor, Maine was too urban for him to not lock up when at visiting K-Mart.

I had to remove the locks from the doors, disassemble them to dig all the packed sand out of them. Once cleaned out they worked fine.

Another thing that can happen to a lock is some one of your “Friendsâ€￾… Wink-wink… will brake off a bit of a tooth pick or something in the key way just to make your life a bit happier… So when you insert your key, foreign material gets jammed to the rear of the key way causing the key to be out of phase just enough so it won’t align the pins at the shear line. I don’t think this is your problem though.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

One more issue you may want to keep in mind- The pins in the tumblers may be just plain worn out, cocking sideways and jamming in the guide holes. Lube may help, but if it continues, it is time to disassemble. This comes from experience: the wife's Dart has 244,000 miles of in-city short trips, and she is pretty consistant at locking the driver door. We've been through 3 sets of door lock tumblers. The last time the key started jamming, even with good consistant lube, so I inspected the pins and found one really badly worn out. My cheap-o solution was to just remove the one or two worn out pins, and put the lock back in service. The same key still works, and nobody knows that that lock cylinder has only 3 of the original 5 pins in it.

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"Louise", a 1976 Dart Custom project, (now sadly reverted to being just an "organ donor" to our other project Darts.)

I have a 65 Valiant (A canadian one - from what I understand that's a Dart GT?) and the driver's side door lock no longer turns. It worked about a year ago, then all of a sudden I could no longer get the key in past about halfway. So I pulled the door lock out, and with help from a lot of WD40 and a hammer (maybe not the greatest idea I realize ) I managed to get the key all the one in, but now not surprisingly it absolutely won't turn.

So I've searched ebay, and everywhere else I could think of and can't find one that's quite the same.

I then found this thread, and started phoning automotive locksmiths all around Vancouver, and haven't successfully been able to find one that can do the repinning.

So my question is, does anyone know of a good locksmith anywhere that I could mail this thing to and get them to do the repinning?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Had the same issue on my girlfriends '72 Valiant. I took it apart, and lubed it with the 3-in-1 oil you can buy anywhere for nothing, put it back in the door, lubed the key with it, and moved it around inside the lock and it has been working perfectly since then. Graphite would work better for long term use, but the 3-in-1 oil is readily available at just about any store, and will at least get you started.


~RDE~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing