Today, I'm showing you how to clean and lubricate a car door lock. I'll be giving the benefit of knowledge
I'll be using knowledge gained during 20 years as a Rover Group Door Systems Engineer.
[clapper board snap]
Car door locks tend not to get used much these days because most cars come with [clunk sound]
remote locking, so of course most people use that rather than the door lock themselves, thus door
locks tend to be a backup, so you can unlock the car using a key in the event of the remote control
running out of battery or getting accidentally damaged or something.
My SAAB, for example, only has a door lock in the front left hand door handle, there isn't one in the right hand
door and there's the mechanical key is actually hidden inside the remote control and so it's
there purely for emergency use that's also why in the early days Saab even provided a cover for it
and similarly on this mk8 Fiesta the single door lock is hidden underneath a plastic cover
on the door handle but ordinarily, you wouldn't see it. The plastic cover also protects the lock
from rain , dirt and road spray and all the rest of it. I'm going to show you how to
clean and lubricate using this Citroen C1 door lock. The reason being that I have actually quite
deliberately left this lock for a long while now without giving it any clean and lubrication
specifically so I could make this video. If you never clean and lubricate your locks,
what's the potential downside? You might argue "well I never use my locks I only ever use the remote"
[motor clunk]
Well, yes the point is that these locks are here in case your remote ever fails and believe me, they do!
I see an awful lot of posts on Saab forums about people who have lost their remote
and are struggling to get in the car. That's just one example. What might happen if you've
not used the lock for a long long time, is that it'll have dried out inside and road spray and
dirt will have got into it and will have caused it to get sticky and grungy. If I put this key into
the lock you'll see that i can put the key in but if i turn it .. well, it 'just' turns back to central...
oh, there you go it's stuck in the lock so that's telling me that this lock is dry. It's probably
dirty and it needs cleaning and lubricating. If I show you a brand new door lock .. this is a
Valeo door lock made for Rover 200 which is long out of production now.
If I put the key into it and turn it and release the key you can see how the key
snaps back and that's how it should be. So first of all cleaning. You'll see that the door lock
has a little flap at the front there which the key opens before it enters the lock. That
flap there is really just a preventative measure to stop water getting in bringing dirt with it
if you ever use a jet wash to wash your car then the jet wash is you usually capable of
pushing that open and that is one of the primary causes of why door locks get their grease just
blasted out of the back. Top tip, if you do use a jet wash to wash your car, then stick a
piece of tape over the door lock before you jet wash. So you will need a solvent cleaner
I actually use brake cleaner for this purpose. Open the flap on the lock and spray inside generously.
[spray can spraying]
We're looking to get rid of all the grease and oil that might already be in there and take the dirt
out of the back and out of the tumblers and that'll fall into the door don't worry about that.
One of the beauties of using brake cleaner is that it dries really quickly and it's a nice warm day
today as well. After three or four minutes put your key in and work it in and out a
couple of times and then start turning the lock. All I've done is spray cleaner in this lock
but straight away you can see how that spring back is much better than it was before.
I've waited about 10 minutes and I'm going to give it another blast just to make sure
that I've got rid of all the contaminants from inside. Work your key in and out again and locking
and unlocking. If you've got the means to do so and you can blow some compressed air through
the lock that'll help to dry it out but give it about 10 minutes to dry now.
Lubrication is a two-step process; because we've used a solvent degreaser, all the grease and
dirt will have gone and the tumblers are all moving metal on metal. Stage one lubrication
is something light and fluid that will get into all the tiny little spaces and gap easily and for
that I'm using this 3in1 High Performance Lubricant with PTFE. It will spread into all the
tiny little gaps and the solvents will dry away leaving behind an oil film and some PTFE.
Again, generously fill the lock with lubricant and then straight away
work your key in and out and both directions and repeat
[spraying]
now leave that again for about 10 minutes and you can give your door panel a clean
while that's drying you might have to apply some wax or your ceramic coating again but nothing
that we're using today will harm your paint work. Some OEs & some manufacturers do make a special
grease for this purpose and indeed there are greases specifically developed for door locks.
This is one such product which was a Land Rover product which was brought out specifically
for the 38A version of Range Rover when that came out in 1994. Part number STC2826.
Consists of a small 2g tube of grease and a little applicator that you can use for
squeezing it into the door lock. The door locks on that vehicle were made by a company called
Hulsbeck Und Furst in Germany. These door locks are made by Valeo in France as was that Rover 200
door lock. I know this because I Engineered the door locks into 38A Range Rover. I have seen
videos and blogs where people seem to believe that car door locks are lubricated with graphite powder
by the manufacturers and they are advising you to put graphite powder in them. Graphite powder is
entirely the wrong thing to put in a car door lock. It's a brilliant lubricant to put in door locks in
indoor applications but not severe environment applications like this. All of the European
manufacturers and definitely Honda and Toyota fill their locks with grease. There's no need to go
out getting a special product, ordinary white grease will do. The reason white grease is best
is because it comes with a carrier solvent that will take it into most of the small spaces
although it won't get into every tiny crevice which is why we put the light lubricant in first.
White grease also has the advantage that if you do find you've got to use your key and you get
your key covered in white grease and you put it in your pocket or it gets on your clothes
don't worry about it white grease is non-staining. If you're learning something today and you're
getting value from this video please give it a like down by the title. thoroughly shake up
Thoroughly shake whatever grease you have bought.
Spray into a cloth clear the lines and make
sure that the nicely mixed product is all the way through. Put your straw into the door lock and
generously apply to the interior of the door lock, wipe off the excess and straight away
put your key in and work it both ways work it in and out a little as well.
Give the grease about five minutes for the solvents to dry off and then repeat.
This ensures the grease gets well worked into the tumblers and the internal mechanism of the lock.
An alternative method to spray grease which you might find easier is if you can
get your hands on an old inkjet refill syringe or buy a 5cc syringe from a local chemist and
fill that syringe with white silicone grease and use the nozzle and the syringe to simply inject
the grease into the lock. Now if you're doing this on a classic car or on any car that has
not got central locking and you would expect to use the key regularly to lock and unlock the car,
then finish at that point - leave it. But if like most modern cars it's a car that comes with
[motorised 'clunk']
a remote and you would normally use the remote every time you go to the car and the chances of
the door lock being used are virtually nil for the next three five or even ten years,
take the additional step of putting your pipe into the lock and spraying a very generous amount.
Withdraw your pipe as you shut the spray off, wipe off the excess and just leave it at that.
The white grease that's been sprayed in there will fill up the center cavity that you would
normally put the key into and will help to protect the internals of the lock from water
and dirt ingress. This lock should now be good for another three maybe even five years of non-use,
possibly even more but I recommend you perform this action on a door lock every
three years. Particularly if you use car washes or a jet wash. if you've got value
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please consider supporting the channel and I shall see you next time.