Solution for frozen locks?

[JExpedition07]

First frost and ice of the season last night. Come out to the expy this morning and locks froze in place and key not strong enough to break free and open door, same with passenger side. Had to crawl through the the back seat and open my door from the inside out. Not doing this all winter...no leaks or anything anywhere on this truck yet it’s always styggled with frozen doors.

 

[LokiWolf]

First frost and ice of the season last night. Come out to the expy this morning and locks froze in place and key not strong enough to break free and open door, same with passenger side. Had to crawl through the the back seat and open my door from the inside out. It doing this all winter...no leaks or anything anywhere on this truck yet it’s always styggled with frozen doors.

There are 2 things. There is actually a spray for unfreezing and a standard silicone spray for preventing. Mobile and at work, but can look up the brands I used to use later today...


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[LokiWolf]

Wife was home, so had her look in Garage.

Hillman Brand DeIcer for that need it open now..lock. Not as much of a help on those of us that have covered key holes and fully electronic locks now.

Liquid Wrench lock lubricant for prevention. Spray in key hole and on latch assemblies. Looks like they make a combo lubricant and de icer now.

Those were my go to when I did auto glass, and for my own personal use. My old Jetta was famous for frozen locks. The liquid wrench applied 2 or so times a winter helped to almost completely eliminate it.


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[JExpedition07]

Wife was home, so had her look in Garage.

Hillman Brand DeIcer for that need it open now..lock. Not as much of a help on those of us that have covered key holes and fully electronic locks now.

Liquid Wrench lock lubricant for prevention. Spray in key hole and on latch assemblies. Looks like they make a combo lubricant and de icer now.

Those were my go to when I did auto glass, and for my own personal use. My old Jetta was famous for frozen locks. The liquid wrench applied 2 or so times a winter helped to almost completely eliminate it.


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Thanks for the advice LokiWolf, I think I’ll pick up a can of the liquid wrench and try it out.

 

[LokiWolf]

Thanks for the advice LokiWolf, I think I’ll pick up a can of the liquid wrench and try it out.

Yeah, Going to pickup a can myself. It wasn’t always a combined product...Good Luck, Hope it helps!


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[Sgt Darkness]

In a squeeze you can take a lighter and heat up the key, then insert it into the key hole. Has worked for me a few times but on older cars.

 

[LokiWolf]

In a squeeze you can take a lighter and heat up the key, then insert it into the key hole. Has worked for me a few times but on older cars.

Can also bathe the key in Hand Sanitizer or Rubbing Alcohol, but long term, a protectant is better.


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[JExpedition07]

 

[Plati]

I've always parked the Expys outside. For mornings when I needed to get in it and go, and couldn't wait for it to warm up to defrost the windshield .... I had a mix of water, alcohol, and antifreeze in a spray bottle. Have to be conservative though, you cant pour a volume of warm liquid on a mass of glass or the thermal shock can cause breakage -- so I limited it to a light misting. Similar to deicing an airplane. The joys of living in NYS

Those frozen windows on the Expy are scary. If you try to open them in that frozen state .... POP and there goes the window regulator. I never try to open a frozen side window, wait for meltage.

I always have a supply of 98.6 degree warm yellow liquid to defrost the door locks in an emergency situation.

 

[Muddy Bean]

And guys please don’t scrape the frost off your glass...any dirt buildup and you’ve scratched it. Yikes. Warm it up or use the spray deicer mentioned earlier.


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[the bus]

Lube them up... Wd40,. Or better yet fluid film from Lowe's or Napa. Silicone spray on the door seals. And also put the window down and spray the window tracks with 100 percent silcone. Do not use oil based product on door seals... They are foam and will destroy them.

 

[MrTommy]

I always have a supply of 98.6 degree warm yellow liquid to defrost the door locks in an emergency situation.

Hahahaha. Love this!

In the "old days" when I lived in Chicago and frozen door locks were the order of the day, if I was at work I'd ask the guy next to me to press in his cigarette lighter (now known as 12v power ports) and when it popped out I would press it against my door lock, which was metal in those days. In seconds I was on my way. However, that won't work when you're at home and no one is parked next to you.

Now you have me thinking. If I use my remote door opener will that eliminate the worry about frozen locks and keys?

 

[bobmbx]

Hahahaha. Love this!

In the "old days" when I lived in Chicago and frozen door locks were the order of the day, if I was at work I'd ask the guy next to me to press in his cigarette lighter (now known as 12v power ports) and when it popped out I would press it against my door lock, which was metal in those days. In seconds I was on my way. However, that won't work when you're at home and no one is parked next to you.

Now you have me thinking. If I use my remote door opener will that eliminate the worry about frozen locks and keys?

Generally, yes. It really depends on how far the "froze" is inside the door and on the mechanism. The lock motor is pretty powerful, though.

 

[BillAlex]

You could always move to Arizona. We went swimming last Christmas. We play golf every day. We once saw that funny white stuff you call snow, but it melted when it hit the ground. I once owned a jacket, but left it in a Restaurant by mistake. Not sure what long sleeve shirts are for, all of mine are short sleeve Nike golf shirts. The Women all wear shorts out here and you have far more visibility when they walk down the street. Expeditions don't fog up out here and the keys always fit right in. We do have a problem finding parking places out her for our Expy's. Seems the horses are lined up at the front door of most establishments and take our spots. So we have to park out back.

 

[BillAlex]

 

[JExpedition07]

I sprayed the lubrication jazz in there and on the latch and been good so far. When it gets down in the single digits here in NY those “tough” lock mechanisms and window regulators aren’t so tough any more lol.

On an unrelated note normally my expy used to take a few minutes to idle down if it was below 50. Over the last few months I changed the spark plugs and boots, fuel filter, and engine air filter. I’ve noticed the engine idles down a lot sooner now.

 

[Trainmaster]

The nicest thing about a remote start is that you can warm up the car and de-ice the windows before you get in it. Really appreciate that stuff in the dead of a 10-degree New York winter at the seashore.

 

[5150 pops]

I sprayed the lubrication jazz in there and on the latch and been good so far. When it gets down in the single digits here in NY those “tough” lock mechanisms and window regulators aren’t so tough any more lol.

On an unrelated note normally my expy used to take a few minutes to idle down if it was below 50. Over the last few months I changed the spark plugs and boots, fuel filter, and engine air filter. I’ve noticed the engine idles down a lot sooner now.

DuPont has this Teflon chain lubricant stuff, I think is the bees knees.
It comes in a yellow label spraycan and it's great, I mean fanfuckingtastic great. Fairly cheap too, for what it is, plus a little goes a looooooong way.
Will try and find link, and edit post.

EDIT: Oh NOOOOOOO!!!! I think they done changed the formulation, tree huggers must have had an issue with an ingredient, damn it.
The stuff I was referring to made no mention of Wax base, and now all I can find, is a yellow label item with "wax" prominently on the label.
This stuff was so awesome, it dried in no time, and didn't attract dirt, here's an old video of the stuff I'm referring to, hopefully you can still find that exact kind still, but the few places I checked, showed simply unavailable...
Warning, this video starts off LOUD!!!

 

[JExpedition07]

The nicest thing about a remote start is that you can warm up the car and de-ice the windows before you get in it. Really appreciate that stuff in the dead of a 10-degree New York winter at the seashore.

XLT here, no remote start for me. Hopefully the liquid wrench was the ticket.

 

[Plati]

XLT here, no remote start for me. Hopefully the liquid wrench was the ticket.

what about keyless entry via keypad or fob?
that doesnt open door either?