Door Lock Binding

[ClayW]

My front driver's side door lock is binding. Has anyone else had this problem?

I searched and found nothing this specific. Also, I just replaced my lock cylinder, but the problem persists. The pin seems to have trouble going up and down. The actuator isn't strong enough to handle the pressure. I've been spraying a lot of WD-40 in there and moving it up and down, but it doesn't seem to be getting any smoother.

Also, I'm doing this in a sedan, so I need thinner and longer arms to reach everything.

[dnguyen1963]

WD-40 will not do much. I would use a small syringe and long needle to squirt some motor oil inside the lock to give you better lubrication if you are too lazy to disassemble the lock and properly lubricate the thing.

[Nick_S]

I use PB Blaster when mine get sticky.

[Irish1]

Pedro's Bike Lube

There's a graphite-based solution to lubricate bicycle cables and derailleurs that works great in cold weather, but I can't remember the name. It does NOT dissolve the grease that door locks need to work properly like WD40 does. Great stuff. OK, found it in my tool box: Pedro's SY11 Road Lube. The bottle I've got has to be 15 years old: you only need a tiny bit.

[ClayW]

Update

WD-40 will not do much. I would use a small syringe and long needle to squirt some motor oil inside the lock to give you better lubrication if you are too lazy to disassemble the lock and properly lubricate the thing.

To be clear, I replaced the entire lock cylinder, and I greased that thing up with the supplied grease before installing it. The lock mechanism itself seems a bit difficult (or maybe I'm just lazy) to remove from the sedan front door.

Anyway, I removed the actuator and everything worked much more smoothly. Looks like my actuator was dragging/not working properly. Luckily, my ESP told me to buy a used one from a forum member earlier this week. It should be here tomorrow.

I also sprayed the inside of the door with PB Blaster.

I'll report back.