Frozen door locks

[Palangi]

I stopped by a locksmith yesterday to get some spare house keys made. I noticed they had a display of several different solvents and lubricants. I asked the guy what he recomended to prevent automobile door locks from freezing up on cold mornings as my 123's seem to be very prone to this problem. I was expecting the "don't use anything except graphite" lecture. To my surprise, he recommended Tri-Flow which is a Teflon suspended in petroleum solvent. He specifically recommended against graphite as it "gums up the locks".

I don't like the idea of Tri-Flow. In my experience in other applications, it doesn't mix with other lubricants (turns to jello).

My 123 locks are bad about freezing on winter mornings (I'm in North Texas). Sometimes I have to heat up the key with a propane torch to free up the lock. As I look at other 123's I see the same distortion in the locks indicating difficulty in inserting or turning the key, so obviously this is a common problem, but I have never seen it discussed here.

What do you fellows in the North country use to keep your door locks working in the winter months?

[coldwar]

Originally Posted by Palangi

What do you fellows in the North country use to keep your door locks working in the winter months?

Vodka- ounce for ounce it's the cheapest solvent available up here, even with the government taxes in. Seriously- just a little squirt of methyl hydrate, gasline anti-freeze or lock de-icer does the trick to get a frozen lock unfrozen- then make sure you apply your favourite lock lubricant when the weather is above freezing to replace lube flushed out by the de-icer. My favourite lock lube by far is made by Slick-50. I wouldn't put their stuff in my engine, but their lock lube is fantastic. Keep in mind that no lubricant will keep a lock from freezing when it rains and then freezes.

Dave

1976 White 300D W115 "Pearl"

[michael cole]

ive always used atf.a few drops on your key once in awhile will save a lot of grief