Re: MISC. PROBLEMS! RANT EDITION!

[Stewart MacLund <sundie@lunaticfringe.org>]

Mark A Williams wrote:

> > theres any moisture in the air, and then the other day, the frigin
> > passengers door wouldn't open. It would unlock but not open, not even
> > pushing it from the inside-out. The car has 14K and at this rate, will be
>     Well, you're in Boston, right?  I'm in Pittsburgh, and my doors
> freeze shut all the time...I'm told it comes with the territory on a VW.
>  Could that be it?
>
>     Actually, that's a good question.  Anybody have a mod/fix that'll
> keep the doors/locks from freezing so much?

Yup.  Here in the great white north, i take the small precaution of squirting
some lock de-icer right into the locking mechanism on the door latch, and on the
post.  Get the good stuff, with the lubricant built in.  I do this little
maneuver when a: it's been raining, and it's freezing, or going to freeze b: i
was just at the car wash.  Haven't had a single problem since i started doing
this.  Oh, i do squirt a little bit in the locks as well.  As well, when it's
warm ,you can try squirting liquid carbon into the mechanism.  Liquid carbon will
get right into every nook and cranny, and force the moisture out.

My mechanic tgells me this problem has to do with VW havening open ended
cylinders for locks. Advantage: crap pushes right out to the inside of your
door.  Disadvantage: crap pushes right out to the inside of your door.
apparently, you can break your key off in the lock, and just push it through with
your spare.  I haven't actually tried this, but it sounds neat.

The problem with the dors freezing shut is that the latch freezes lightly to the
post.  When you try to open the dor via the handle, it actually just release the
laqtch,  The latch has a small spring on it.  The guarantees that youdon't put
too much pressure on the latching mechanism, making it wow, which makes your door
close badly.  Unfortunately, it also guarantees that the least little freeze, and
the latch won't release properly.


Sundie....