Hi all,

I bought a '79 Aspen a few months ago. The driver's door lock was faulty from the start. The key had a hard time finding its way to the end, but did so with a little wiggling and lubrication. Lately the lock has been accepting only half of the key. I don't want to force it to the end, and wiggling doesn't help anymore. The key fits the passenger side lock and ignition just fine.

Before I start removing door panels and monkeying around with the lock, I thought to ask if you guys had any experience with fixing these? Thanks!

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The finest '79 Aspen in Helsinki

I had this probleem with my volare years ago - I got a new laock cylinder and took the old one out and swapped them - The thing is I re-used all of the old pins and tumblers from the original worn out lock cylinder in the new one so that I could still use the original key.



Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Hi Swede, welcome aboard.

What type of lubricant did you use on the passenger’s door lock?

Generally the passenger side lock will see much less use than the driver’s door, and suffers from lack of use, rather, it becomes corroded or just gummed up with dirt & dust. Where you said it is the same key as the ignition, chances are, both ignition & that door lock are original to the car.

When I had a lock shop many moons ago, first easy solution was to flush the tumbrels with carburetor cleaner. Run the key in and out without forcing it, alternating each entry with wiping key on a cotton cloth to remove any crud until comes out clean. This will dissolve any factory & old lube previous owners applied that may be present, and flushes away dirt & grit out the back end of the lock cylinder.

Once lock is clean, I use a squirt of WD40, repeating the running in and out and wiping of key. This will lightly lubricate, and remove any excess WD40. 90% of the time this clean & lube method will restore lock function.

For that other 10%, disassembly is required. I can’t remember if Chrysler used an external lock retention clip or not on your car, if it did, there will be a small sheet metal clip flush with the edge of the door in line with the door lock. If the is the case, insert the key into the lock as best you can to use as a handle, pull on the metal tab/clip to release the lock, and remove it from the door.

If there is no external clip, you will have to remove the inner door panel, peal back the inner plastic, reach into the door capture a sheet metal clip holding lock to door skin with a small pair of vice grips, and pull it off. Vice grips will save denting the outer door skin, and going fishing for the clip when it falls to the bottom of the door, and makes for easy replacement once the lock is repaired.…

Once the lock is out of the door, there is a little cap that retains pins & springs in their bores. Remove the key, gently pry off the cap, being carful no to dump any of the pins & springs. You may find a lot of white stuff holding the pins, this is a result of someone using “Lock Deicerâ€￾ a locksmith’s friend because it’s good for business… Depending on how well these pins & springs are stuck, you may be able to get them free, or not, at which point just drop the lock & key off at a lock shop to be repaired.

If the pins are not welded tight from the salt solution in the deicer causing pot metal to corroded, working one chamber at a time, starting with the first pin the key contacts when inserted, remove its spring, top pin (flat both ends) and bottom pin (flat one end, pointed where the it rides on the key), clean them up a bit and set aside in order of removal.

Repeat this process for all five sets of pins. You will find that the last two will be the ones stuck the hardest. If you can’t get than to freely move in their bore, just discard them using only the first three or four pins. The lock will work just fine, but because one or two sets of pins are missing more different keys will be able to operate that tumbler. This won’t be a problem as most of the cars on the road these days have a different key blank that is incompatible with these old locks.

The other alternative is to find a replacement cylinder, and have it rekeyed by a shop to match your ignition which may be harder still being from Helsinki.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Thanks for the answers, especially for your detailed repair procedure, Bill! I don't know exactly what lubricant the previous owner used. I saw some of it on the key after using the lock; it's pretty thick, vaseline-like stuff. I'll give the lock a good cleaning and lubing, hopefully that will solve the problem. It might be just that simple, I haven't had time to look into it because of bigger problems that needed fixing.

This forum was a great find for me, and is just brimming with useful information! Pretty much everyone driving Americans here in Finland is obsessed with V8's! The slant and other sixes aren't held in very high regard. It's nice to see there are other slant six hobbyists out there! Looking forward to learning and hopefully contributing!

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The finest '79 Aspen in Helsinki

Finland is obsessed with V8's! The slant and other sixes aren't held in very high regard


LOL… Swede,

Same V8 hysteria here as well, in fact I have suffered from it all my life. This Dart is my first six. I like it, because it is an oddity at the car shows sporting its performance up grades next to all those ubiquitous V8s…

I bet once you get all that goo out of your lock, it will be fine.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I was told to use only graphite to lube locks. And to flush out when it gets gummy. I was told to never use anything with grease or oil in it as it will attract dirt. Like never oil throttle (hard, not cable) linkages for the same reason.

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50 chrysler,54 Plymouth, 64 Valiant conv 4 speed, 66 Valiant V8 wagon, 70 Challenger R/T 440+6 conv 4 speed,80 Colt, 98 Neon ACR,84 Honda V45 Magna
Taking care of 57 300C conv,48 T&C conv. Missing my 67 GTX and 36 Ply coupe

4speed:
That is true for a lock in like new condition. If the pot metal has been compromised by a salt solution, graphite won’t do the job. Got to remove the white stuff somehow, and WD 40 will work most of the time using the flushing method I outlined.

Additionally once salt brine is introduced to a lock, either by road salt or lock deicer, the dissimilar metals, brass, steel & pot metal, start an electrolytic reaction with the moving parts, and soon bind them up.

The corroded pot metal has to be protected from further moisture exposure, or it will continue to rot. Also unprotected corroded pot metal traps moisture, and as soon as that lock gets below freezing, it stops working freezing solid. If the moving parts have a light coating of WD 40 on them a frozen lock will respond more favorably to a warmed key because the water is not adhering to the metal as aggressively.

I have used silicone spray in locks and found it won’t keep a lock lubricated very long, and gets on everything that the key comes in contact with. I personally don’t like the feel of silicone lubricant, and particularly don’t like its migratory tendencies’.

Spray Teflon will work as well, doesn’t attract dirt, but like silicone, it won’t address removing the pot metal oxide problem. Both of these products will work fine on a lock in like new condition.

Automotive locks have to operate reliably in hostile conditions here in the snow-belt. I have had to junk many trunk locks when in business because of the wet, salty, silted environment they exist in at the tail end of car equipped with remote trunk release devices. After a season of not using a key in them, they seize up solid, if a key was used on a regular basses, and it was lubricated on occasion, these locks would work for years. Automotive locks need to used, and lubricated, or they will just bind up after awhile unable to accept a key.

Flush & lubricate bi annually and one most likely won’t have a problem with sticking locks. This is based on 14 years of lock shop ownership, and almost 50 winters of salted Maine roads.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

By the way, when you said to use carb cleaner to clean up the lock, does that mean brake cleaner will do the job as well?

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The finest '79 Aspen in Helsinki

Use something that will cut old caked on gunk, and won’t be too hard on plastic & paint, and air dries quickly. I like carburetor cleaner with its little delivery tube that just fits into a lock’s key way. WD 40 is a water dispersant & repellent, penetrator, and lubricant.

I have found that brake cleaner eats grease and oil real well, but is often times too aggressive when used for jobs it is not intended for often destroy some finishes and plastics.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Hi Swede Savage, and welcome to the forum.

If WD-40 is hard to find, you can use 555 or any 'mekaniker på burk' (mechanic in a can) that you find. You should be careful with the handling of brake cleaner, some of that stuff is not very good for your health!

You can also edit your profile, if you look in the avatar gallery you will find a finnish flag, to use together with your location in the profile. I know there are several finns in the memberlist, some with Aspen/Volares, and there is a good chance to meet them and talk some mopar!

Olaf.

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Aspenized

Just got back from cleaning the lock. I visited a parts store last Saturday and got a can of brake cleaner and lock oil. I took those with me, moseyed down to my Aspen parked on the curb and started working on the lock. I shot a good spray of brake cleaner inside the lock and then inserted the key, jiggling it around in the cylinder as much as I could without using force. I repeated this some times, but the key didn't fit any better. A light coat of oil didn't help the problem.

Unsuccessful in my task, I went to the passenger door and looked at the functioning lock there. The metal ring around the key slot was pressed to the sheet metal of the door, and the key slid right in without effort. Returning to the driver's door I noticed the metal ring and key slot (lock cylinder?) were loose and not tightly pressed against the door. I can insert about half of the key before it hits something hard and doesn't go any further. The metal ring and lock slot both have a play of about a millimeter or two along the whole radius of the metal ring. As I mentioned, the assembly isn't pressed tightly to the door as in the passenger side, and there's a small gap between the door and metal ring of the lock.

Is the looseness of the lock the root cause of my problem? Can you advise what my next step should be based on the previous description?

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The finest '79 Aspen in Helsinki

That shouldn't really matter. Most likely means the lock cylinder wasn't seated perfectly in the door when the clip was reinstalled at some point. If I were you I'd pop the door panel off, remove the clip holding the lock cylinder with a pair of pliers and pull the cylinder out.

Pop the side deal off of it and take a look at the inside. Make sure you don't let the springs and tumblers fall out. You need to keep track of where they go. My guess is one of the cylinders that the tumbler goes up and down in could be elongated a bit and pinching the tumbler in there. That would cause your key to not be able to go in. I just had this problem with a lock a few weeks ago. If you remove the tumbler and spring from the pinched cylinder, you should be ok. It'll kind of be like having a 4 digit combination instead of a 5 digit combination.

One more possibility: there could be a chunk of key broken off and lodged in the lock, or some other object. Once you remove the cylinder from the door you will be able to see if something is stuck in it, or if the pins, or rather, tumblers are seized up.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I'll get the lock out soon as my brother clears his V8 junk from the garage so I can fit my Aspen inside...

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The finest '79 Aspen in Helsinki