Key cylinder sticking

[Notifier]

When I take the key out of the ignition, the cylinder doesn't pop all the way out. Almost like it's stuck and needs to be lubricated. I usually have to tap on it to get it to pop back to normal and silence the "key in" buzzer. It gets worse in cold weather.

What is the best thing to use to lubricate it? Not a big fan of using WD-40 as a lubricate but do have some graphite powder I use around the house for the other key cylinders. And no, disconnecting the buzzer is not an option, that little squeal has grown on me!

[Ron]

LOCK-EASE (http://www.amazon.com/Panef-Corp-Powdered-Graphite-Lubricant/dp/B0016GZQ60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352294834&sr=8-1&keywords=graphite+lubricant)

[DavidProehl]

I've had this issue for as long as I've had my car, but I thought a tough ignition was just normal on these cars. I'll be picking a tube of this up as well.

[Notifier]

LOCK-EASE (http://www.amazon.com/Panef-Corp-Powdered-Graphite-Lubricant/dp/B0016GZQ60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352294834&sr=8-1&keywords=graphite+lubricant)

That's basically what I have already,"Hillman powdered graphite lubricant". Think I picked it up at my local big box hardware store. My concern with the graphite is that from what I believe graphite is a conductor of electricity. So wasn't sure if it was a good idea to dispense some into a lock that is also an electrical switch.

[cybercusp]

A friend of mine that used to work at a locksmith shop swore by TriFlow. I believe its a teflon based lubricant that can be sprayed into lock cylinders. His opposition to the graphite was that it was potentially messy and left build-up.

[Jonathan]

On a bit of a side note, what is it about WD-40 that makes people not like using it? I've used it on a variety of things over the years and don't remember coming back to that same component/part/issue and thinking 'wow, what a mess, I should have used something other than WD-40.' Is this just some 'car forum' tribal knowledge or perhaps some sort of urban legend that keeps getting passed down from generation to generation and no one can actually remember what it is that the original problem was? I know if that same sticky lock was in the door of my house or on a padlock or something I would be reaching for the WD-40, but if it is on the DeLorean, that seems to be a big no-no for some reason.

[LEVY]

WD-4O is good to get things going. The problem with WD-40 is that it will dry up very quickly.

I own a medical equipment company, WD-40 is something we never use in our industry. If you want to use something like that, then silicone based lubricant is the way to go.

LEVY


On a bit of a side note, what is it about WD-40 that makes people not like using it? I've used it on a variety of things over the years and don't remember coming back to that same component/part/issue and thinking 'wow, what a mess, I should have used something other than WD-40.' Is this just some 'car forum' tribal knowledge or perhaps some sort of urban legend that keeps getting passed down from generation to generation and no one can actually remember what it is that the original problem was? I know if that same sticky lock was in the door of my house or on a padlock or something I would be reaching for the WD-40, but if it is on the DeLorean, that seems to be a big no-no for some reason.

[Notifier]

It was my impression that using WD-40 as a lubricate was like using duct tape to seal up ducts! One of those things that will work at first but just won't hold up or cause problems in the long run.

[Jonathan]

WD-4O is good to get things going. The problem with WD-40 is that it will dry up very quickly.

I own a medical equipment company, WD-40 is something we never use in our industry. If you want to use something like that, then silicone based lubricant is the way to go.

LEVY

Now is the connection to the medical equipment company and not using WD-40 because of sanitary reasons, i.e. keeping things sterile and clean? Otherwise, I'm not sure I understand how not using it in the medical equipment industry relates to not using it on DeLorean's?

Is the "dry up quickly" thought different compared to other lubricants? Meaning, is there any data showing WD-40 drying up over XX amount of time, versus another type of lubricant drying up over YY amount of time?

I was sort of hoping someone could put some science in the explanation... to help rule out the urban myth idea.

[cybercusp]

One consideration with WD-40 is odor. You'd think being a dentist I'd be use to every odor there is, but to me WD-40 has a petroleum odor that I don't mind for outside projects but wouldn't want inside the car.

[sdg3205]

+1 for Lock Ease

[cybercusp]

One other thing with WD-40, and this is pure speculation, but I would suspect that being petroleum based it would be prohibited in an environment where pure oxygen is being used, like a medical environnent; a non-petroleum based lube would be preferred. I'm not saying WD-40 added to the fire on Apollo 1, but in a pure oxygen environment everything burns and petroleum based products may be problematic.

[LEVY]

WD-40 is just like a "band-aid".

If you do maintenance on medical equipment, you want it to last as much as possible, you don't go to the emergency room just for a band-aid.

On the medical equipment industry you can use almost any lubricant you want, but at the same time you don't want tge equipment to fail. On the food industry, you must use food grade lubricants if in direct contact with food.

Now, believe it or not people who work in the food industry (cold temperatures), have been using WD-40 for years to treat arthritis. Manufacturers of WD-40 at one point and time became aware of that and even listed this on their website . So I might use WD-40 for my hands but not for my medical equipment.

LEVY


Now is the connection to the medical equipment company and not using WD-40 because of sanitary reasons, i.e. keeping things sterile and clean? Otherwise, I'm not sure I understand how not using it in the medical equipment industry relates to not using it on DeLorean's?

Is the "dry up quickly" thought different compared to other lubricants? Meaning, is there any data showing WD-40 drying up over XX amount of time, versus another type of lubricant drying up over YY amount of time?

I was sort of hoping someone could put some science in the explanation... to help rule out the urban myth idea.

[Ron]

Myths from long term lubrication to arthritis is on the WD40 website...

http://www.wd40.com/about-us/myths-legends-fun-facts/

[LEVY]

Yes, but at one time it was listed as one of uses for WD-40.

It was later removed for liability reasons.

A lot of people still use it for that purpose.

LEVY



Myths from long term lubrication to arthritis is on the WD40 website...

http://www.wd40.com/about-us/myths-legends-fun-facts/

[David T]

Using graphite powder is only recommended for the lock mechanism itself. The pins and cylinder. To lubricate for the whole cylinder sticking you need some kind of light oil. Difficult to get to without disassembling the steering column. Using spray like WD-40 will work, just not for long term. After 30 + years the whole car needs to be disassembled and lubricated if you want it to work smoothly. Another problem area is the throttle cable and spool. The door latches, hinges, and cylinders also should be lubricated. A drop of oil on the ends of all of the struts can't hurt either. None of these points get lubricated during "normal" lubrication, they are ignored.
David Teitelbaum

[Jonathan]

One other thing with WD-40, and this is pure speculation, but I would suspect that being petroleum based it would be prohibited in an environment where pure oxygen is being used, like a medical environnent; a non-petroleum based lube would be preferred. I'm not saying WD-40 added to the fire on Apollo 1, but in a pure oxygen environment everything burns and petroleum based products may be problematic.

It's interesting that you mention that, as when I saw a post a little earlier mentioning graphite, I thought of the same thing.

The Russians when they designed the nuclear reactors at Chernobyl used graphite in their shut off rods. If you can imagine these large and heavy, neutron absorbing rods perched above the reactor, and at a moment's notice, they may need to be released to fall into the reactor to shut down the fission process. The Russians decided on graphite because it is fairly soft and they felt it was a built in shock absorber as the rods came with significant force from above down into their columns going through the reactor. So by using something soft as the material, they thought they were helping the long term health of the equipment by not making it susceptible to getting banged up. What they forgot was that graphite is carbon based and it in itself is a fuel. When the core melted, the graphite shut off rods caught on fire and this made it very difficult for the firefighters to try and get the situation under control. That graphite added significantly to how hot the fires got, like they needed any more problems.

That's our trivia note for the day... back to you Alex.

[Chris4099]

I've always considered WD-40 a "Jack of All Trades, Master of Nothing". Therefore I don't have it, but instead have a shelf full of job specific different products such as:
Graphite lube for locks.
Silicone spray for contact with rubber and plastics.
Light metal lube spray for tight metal on metal areas such as hinges and latches.
White lithium spray for more heavy duty, non-tight conditions like window tracks and steering column bushing.
BP Blaster as a penetrating catalyst.

[dmc6960]

I've always considered WD-40 a "Jack of All Trades, Master of Nothing". Therefore I don't have it, but instead have a shelf full of job specific different products such as:
Graphite lube for locks.
Silicone spray for contact with rubber and plastics.
Light metal lube spray for tight metal on metal areas such as hinges and latches.
White lithium spray for more heavy duty, non-tight conditions like window tracks and steering column bushing.
BP Blaster as a penetrating catalyst.

Good list, but you forgot the Very Large Hammer for when something doesn't fit.

[john 05141]

My ignition lock was in a poor shape too. It was hard to insert the key and would also not pop back all the times when I took the key out. I have used WD-40 but was completely inaffective!

last year I was granted a ride on the formula one track in Zolder, Belgium. Some 40 cars, including mee were given the signal to start the engines and head to the gate to the pit that was opened to get onto the track. At that very moment my key broke in half as I tried to insert it into the ignition. I was SO dissapointed! The positive note is that I live only 15 minutes away from this tradk, but I missed my laps on the track.:angry:

This would never happen to me so I wanted to deal with this thing well. It is not that hard to remove the lock from the steering column at all. Took 10 minutes to take it out. I opened the lock and took it with me to work where we have ultrasolic cleaning machines to get all the dry grease out. I put grafite grease inside and closed the lock. It worked very smooth afterwards.

I did have another problem with the lock also (one of the springs was jammed) and I sent the lock to ED from DMCEU and he fixed that in a moments notice. You do not want to get stuck in the wrong place, my advice is to fix this permananertly.

Jan