Siezed lock barrel, Drivers door.

[amazingdave]

Hiya, Over about a week all my locks on the van siezed... so I oiled and heated and fiddled about and got all of them working apart from the drivers door....

Must be road salt I guess?

I can use the pip to lock and unlock, the key just won't turn.

Any suggestions?

Dave

[VWCamperfan]

Without taking apart I would suggest a long squirt of WD40 with the straw in the lock and try to run the end of the straw along the barrels as you are squirting to get them moving. Shove the key in and out a few times, again trying to aim the tip of the key along the top and bottom of the lock to free things up a bit. If it works then spray more WD40 in untill easy to lock/unlock.
Really locks should only be 'oiled' with graphite as normal oils tend to collect dirt and dust and clog it again but at the moment this is the only option.

[amazingdave]

Well I've tried every kind of wiggleing and oiling and tweaking and I'm not getting anywhere....

The barrel turns a small amount (1mm) and you can see the pip moving a tiny bit but that's it.

I presume that one of the pins is stuck in the out position and the tiny spring can't push it back against the key to let it turn?

Can I get the barrel out for fiddleing? How?

I don't want to end up with mixed keys....

[caveman]

Open the door, remove the door handle from the door . With the key in the lock cylinder, remove the screw at the inside end of the cylinder and remove the lever. Again with the key in it, carefully tap the end of the cylinder with something light [no hammer, just a piece of wood will work] . The cylinder should come out. Once out hold the cylinder with the key in it to see which one is seized. some penetrating oil and a bit patience will help to slowly take each tumbler and spring out. KEEP THEM IN ORDER. If the tumblers are very dirty and don't slide easily, pass them on some light sandpaper, until you can see the shiny brass. Put them back in one at a time as you slide the key in. Don't forget the small springs that push the tumbler out . Lube with some anti-seize grease and or ATF. You will be able to see if the cylinder is too worn by when you put key in all the way and it moves too much . If so when the tumblers are in the key won't center well enough to let the tumblers move completely out of the way so it can be turned.

[Aidan]

most locks are secured with a 1.5mm roll pin rather than the screw mentioned above. I find a snapped 1.5mm drill bit does the job as a drift after careful soaking with plusgas or rostoff.
WD40 is a water dispersing spray, better than nothing but it isn't a penatrating oil.
The reason that locks gum up is the plethora of lubes used by different people. original vw lube is special red grease, but then peeps add white grease, graphite, wd40, pen oil, engine oil and deicer etc....and eventually the tumblers just become stuck in gunk - but because the brass tumblers are no longer moving inserting the key will damage some of them, so even stripped and reassembled they may still not be totally secure, ie one key only.
Dave I've a tumbler kit here if you need any springs or tumblers when you've stripped it down.

[amazingdave]

Cheers for the info chaps...

I'll have a do over the weekend.

I'll be in touch if I need any bits Aidan

[amazingdave]

Right,

Finally got round to sorting all of my locks out today.... Quite entertaining and nowhere near as nightmareish as I imagined.

Nearly all of the tumblers were seized and full of gunk. I freed them all up then brightened them with a fine wet and dry. Reassembled with dry graphite. All work perfectly now.

All of the seals were knackered (the ones around the barrel at the key end), does anyone know where I can get some new ones?

As a point of interest, with the exception of the drivers lock, which had one tumbler siezed locked, All of the tumblers seized in the unlocked position. This meant that only 1 or at most 2 tumblers were stopping the barrels turning, which would make the lock much easier to force or pick.

I would recommend that you follow the instructions above and sort your locks out....