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  #1  
Old 10-13-2008, 03:34 PM
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How-To: Unseize a badly stuck lock

When I bought my car the passenger door and truck locks would not turn with either of the keys I had. I assumed the locks had been swapped at some point and the keys lost. I could still get in through the drivers door (most of the time) and start the car, so no big deal, just annoying. I was ready to order the $200+ lock kit from subaruparts.com when a friend told me to try taking the locks apart and see if they were just completely corroded to the point that they would not turn. That's what I did, and hey! They did match the key I had, so now I have all working locks.

Here's how:

Materials and tools needed:

-Philips Screwdriver
-Precision screwdrivers (jewelers tools type ones) - Not absolutely necessary, but will make life easier
-Penetrating oil. Buy a whole, full sized can. You may need it.
-Sandpaper (not too agressive, maybe 400 grit or so)

1. Remove the inner door panel:

There are 5 philips screws that have to be removed. Two are at the front, two are inside the armrest pocket (possibly under a piece of felt if you still have that), and one is under the handle. To get at the one under the handle you have to remove a small plastic cover, also under the handle.



There is a third screw inside the pocket, at the very front. Leave it alone, it only keeps the plastic bits of the panel together and you don't need to remove it.

To remove the panel, first pull on the lower edge to pop loose the push-pins holding it to the door frame. Once they are all loose, lift the panel upwards. It should move up fairly easily and then be free of the door. Disconnect the power window switch and door light connections and set the panel aside.

Once it's out, pull down the top rear corner of the plastic liner. It's help up by silicon that stays sticky, just leave that stuff alone.

2. Remove the lock cylinder from the door handle:

First, remove the linkage that goes from the lock to the latch. The plastic piece must first be turned to unhook from the linkage, then the linkage itself pulled out.





Once that is done there is a snap ring that goes around the lock. (See picture above) If you look through the top of the door you should be able to see it more clearly. The easiest way to get the lock out of the handle is to insert something thin under the snap ring at the top, lift it slightly, and either pull the lock out, or push it through from the outside of the door. It's a two handed job, so I wasn't able to take a picture. Leave the ring just where it is, you don't need to remove it completely, and you don't want to hurt it too badly.

3. Dissasemble the lock:

You should now have the lock out of the car:



This is where you will see how bad any corrosion is. You can see a rectangular opening in the cylinder in this picture. When I first removed my locks that opening was completely filled with aluminum corrosion and crud.

The best thing to do at this point is soak the whole thing in penetrating oil for a good, long time. (over night if you can, the longer the better). I found a good way to do this is to use the top of an aerosol can, drop the lock inside, and spray away with oil until the cap is full. (Make sure the cap doesn't have a small hole in the top, as several do).

Once it's had a good long bath, you're ready to move on to the next stage.

a) Remove the outter cap. To do this there are two corners that are folded over. They have to be bent outwards so the cap can slide off. (may take a bit of prying)

b) Remove the inner cover. This is held in by little clasps on it's sides. A small bit of prying will pop it loose. Be careful at this point, under that cover is a small door/flap and a tiny spring. Make sure they don't fly out and get lost. I don't believe this will happen, the spring is usually held in fairly well by rust, but better to be safe. When you've finished this step you should have something that looks like this:



c) Next is to remove the backside of the lock. There is a small "C" clip that holds on the backing plate. Insert a small screwdriver into one of the slots in the clip and twist to pop it loose. Those who have removed these clips before will know what to do, but for those who have not, DON'T LIFT the clip. You want it to come outward, not straight up. Don't try to pry it upwards from the lock, you'll bend or break it. Once it's off the backing plate should fall off freely-ish, and you'll have this:



d) Remove the recoil spring. The last bit to remove. It's under the backing plate. You'll have to use a tiny screwdriver or other small prying device to get under one end of it and lift it up and over the lip it's on. Take a mental note of the way it's coming off, just to help you with re-assembly.



e) Remove the inner cylinder from the outter. This can be a bit tricky. If it doesn't want to come out nicely by hand, place the lock gently in a vice and tap the little nub on the back, where the C-clip was attached. That should start it moving. The inner cylinder with the tumblers will come out towards the front of the lock.



4. Cleaning and getting things working again:

Use a bit of sandpaper to scrub in inside of the outter cylinder and get any corrosion out of there. Get it as smooth and nice as you can inside (Don't go getting your Dremel and going crazy, you don't want to remove any material, just clean it).

Once that's done it's time for the inner cylinder and tumblers. This is where the problem usually is. Get your key out and insert it. If everything is working fine, the tumblers (the little brass bits) will all be pulled in when the key is fully inserted. If things are stuck, some will stay sticking out. That's what stops the key from turning the lock in the car. Soak it in penetrating oil again. With the key in, gently tap the tumblers that are sticking up, either against something or using light taps from a tool. Once things start freeing up, insert and remove the key a whole bunch of times to get the oil into all the joints. Idealy the tumblers should all move easily, retracting all the way instantly when the key is in, extending when the key is out. (some will extend fully, some won't, that's normal). With the key in it should look like this:



Once the tumblers are working well again, put the inner cylinder back into the outter. Insert your key and try to turn it. You should be able to see the tumblers closing, and then be able to turn it. If it is very stiff to turn, spray it down with penetrating oil and turn it for a while. Go watch TV and keep working the lock. You want it to turn smoothly all the way around, in both directions.

5. Re-assembly: This is reasonably easy, most of the parts will only go on one way, and those that have different possible ways to install will be fine in either orientation.

When everything moves well it's time to put it back together. The first thing is to re-install the recoil spring. You want to make sure it will return the lock to straight when you let go, so try this several times. Spray the spring as you move it to get oil into all the coils.

From here on it's pretty easy:

-backing plate
-C-clip
-small front spring (there's a little extension in the middle that fits into a hole, you'll understand)
-door
-inner cover
-outter cap (Bend those two corners back in to hold it down. If there's a little play in it don't worry, it'll be held tight when it's back in the car)

And you'll have something like this:



6. Put it back in the car:

Easy. Just slide it back in from the inside. You will see it engage the snap ring that you left there. Give it a little tug to make sure it's secure, then re-connect the linkage. Shut the door, and give it a try! You should now have a working, freely moving lock.

After that just stick the plastic liner back up, put the interior panel back on and you're ready to go.

Hope this helps anyone with a similar problem to mine.
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Last edited by Crazy_pilot; 10-17-2008 at 09:33 PM.
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  #2  
Old 10-13-2008, 04:24 PM
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Mike621 Mike621 is offline
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Re: How-To: Unseize a badly stuck lock

Great write-up Chris!
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  #3  
Old 10-13-2008, 11:59 PM
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Re: How-To: Unseize a badly stuck lock

Must have said missed the U and typed an I cuz "shut" should pass the swear filter :P
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Old 10-17-2008, 08:14 PM
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Re: How-To: Unseize a badly stuck lock

Nice write up! This should definitely go in the how to section. I'm off to rip my drivers door apart now!
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  #5  
Old 11-16-2009, 02:30 PM
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Re: How-To: Unseize a badly stuck lock

Chris,

Great pic's & write up. I have not been able to insert the key in the passenger door lock since early 2006. I have lived with it due to no passengers. Your write up gave me the info to move me to try to fix the lock. The lock came out of the door much easier than expected. This is an Oregon SVX (92-02), it's been in the So Cal desert since 02. I had zero corrosion, there was some 18 year old lube still on the lock, the only bad stuff was dust/dirt accumulated on the top surfaces. I found 2 pieces of white plastic in the key slot, one fell out when the lock 'door' was removed, the other was stuck mid tumblers, removed it with a dental tool & a forceps. Lock is back in the door & working like it should. Wonder how the plastic got in there.
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  #6  
Old 11-16-2009, 03:51 PM
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michael michael is offline
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Re: How-To: Unseize a badly stuck lock

I did the same thing with mine a few years ago and did a half ass write-up. Thanks for the whole deal, mine felt like new after. Def a how-to candidate.
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