Date:         Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:00:42 -0500
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Re: gummy locks
Comments: To: Matthew Snook <matt@SNOOKSBAND.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <1AB25536F0994DA08185475ACF91BA0F@Bohemian>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

The front door locks aren't that bad to service. They can be removed,
disassembled, cleaned and reinstalled. If they are gummy it's because
of various crud getting stuck in them after someone has used oil or
somesuch in the mechanism. The oil tends to accumulate the dirt, and
then as the volatiles in the oil disappear, it gets gummy.

I've not done the rear hatch or sliding door, but the front doors
really are fairly straight forward. Just be very very careful to keep
the cylinder wafers in the right order and orientation, and to not
loose the springs as things are getting cleaned up.

Brake cleaner is good for getting rid of the gunk after you've pulled
the cylinder out of the handle.

The Bentley manual covers how to remove the handles from the front
doors.

On Jan 21, 2009, at 11:17 PM, Matthew Snook wrote:

> My door locks seem to be gumming up after all this cold weather.
> What do
> folks recommend to get them working easier again?
>
> Matt