And I'll never use Dry Graphite lube again - a cherished belief Crushed!

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There was a thread about six weeks ago on the best lock lube. Most of us said Dry Graphite. It's what I've always used, had professional locksmiths tell me to use, etc. Some smarter folks than I bucked the cw and suggested axle grease. Now that I have IN DEPTH experience with what the dry graphite really does in car doors, I'll never use it again. Pics and details below. It might be suitable for indoor use, but not at all on a car exposed to weather.

Summary: What I found was that after just a few weeks with a clean cylinder lubed with dry graphite, and steady early-winter PNW rains, it had turned to a sticky glue and was not lubricating and actively increasing cylinder wear. There were no contaminants in the cylinder. Tonight I rebuilt the cylinder after stripping it again and lubricating with SuperLube. Massive improvement.

Full Story: I have been reconditioning a 2003 Honda Civic for a new driver to use as his first car (step-son). The car is in good shape, 182k miles. Our close friends bought the car from a mechanic friend of theirs, and it showed lots of good repairs done properly - VCGs, axles, shocks, etc. I didn't have to do any heavy work with it, but clean up some common Honda problems like failing locks (very common), rocking drivers seats (very common), leaking cheap plastic cylinder head plugs (re-occurring problem), in-op airbag system (constant problem). If GM made this, people would scream. But hey, it's Honda, so they get a pass. I don't exactly know how that works...

The lock issues were a real treat. I had to pull all of the cylinders as none worked well. I figured out the coding sequences (there are three - trunk pattern for valet key, side doors, and ignition (added security). I re-tumbled/pinned all the cylinders tossing out any questionable at all tumbler and using a new one. The ignition got all new pins just because. I also had a new transponder key made at Ace Hardware, which was a real chore but not obscene like at the local incompetent dealership (Honda of Bellevue - truly a cast of incompetents). At Ace it was $88 with tax. Some (not all) Aces can do transponder keys, as can many other hardware stores and some Walmarts.

After getting everything working well, my step-son complained the driver's door lock was not "breaking in" like I told him it would (new key, new pins). I checked and he was right, something was off as it was getting worse, not better. Tonight I finally pulled the cylinder out and found that I had mis-keyed the last double-width tumbler, which differentiates the valet key (trunk) and door/ignition key. My bad. Fortunately I made detailed keying sequence notes so I could figure out the mistake really quickly.

BUT - what shocked me was how hard the other, good tumblers were to turn, and sticky they were. I had cleaned out the cylinder body and any springs or tumblers I re-used with solvent. I then dried them and cleaned again with soap and water. I dried them all and re-assembled the whole thing with only clean materials and dry graphite. The 1st pic below is the tumblers AFTER soaking in solvent. I couldn't even get the tacky graphite off with very fine sandpaper, I had to get out a wire wheel.

I re-assembled the cylinders with SuperLube and what a difference. Also, it made assembly much easier as it held the springs and tumblers in place during re-assembly. I stuffed the cylinder full of SuperLube to let the key drive it everywhere and seal out the rain/water that might try to work in. On the other cylinders, I'm going to get a small syringe with a tube and inject a healthy amount in each and let it work through vs. pulling them all and flushing again. Will repeat on our other cars as I had added some dry graphite lube to all their cylinders, also.








Civic pins with graphite.jpg


cylinder greased.JPG
 
Originally Posted by dishdude
No locksmith uses graphite, you want something like Houdini.

Lots of locksmiths use it, and recommend it. Just go talk to some or google it.

Not sure what's in the Houdini (PTFE?), but it sounds good...
 
Originally Posted by Oro_O
Originally Posted by dishdude
No locksmith uses graphite, you want something like Houdini.

Lots of locksmiths use it, and recommend it. Just go talk to some or google it.

Not sure what's in the Houdini (PTFE?), but it sounds good.

I do everyday, I'm in the business.
 
Originally Posted by dishdude
I do everyday, I'm in the business.

Thanks.

Is this a common occurrence? Or did I get some bad batch of dry graphite? (AGS brand from Ace).

I find it hard to believe something so widely used, did this in six/seven weeks of wet weather.
 
In over 40 years of driving I have hardly ever used a lube. When I did I applied it to the key and worked it in that way. In my opinion, overuse of lubes causes more problems. My 85 Ford Ranger has sticky locks. One drop of whatever I had on hand on the key did the trick.

I never had the problem with the Japanese assembled vehicles I've own since then.

I would use the lube of your choice sparingly.
 
I have used graphite a few times & no problems . Around here dust is more the issue than wain / water . Always hold that grease / oil would " attract " / hold the dust .

I have used WD-40 on truck tool box locks , because that is what I had available . Not a long term solution .
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
In over 40 years of driving I have hardly ever used a lube. When I did I applied it to the key and worked it in that way. In my opinion, overuse of lubes causes more problems. My 85 Ford Ranger has sticky locks. One drop of whatever I had on hand on the key did the trick.

I never had the problem with the Japanese assembled vehicles I've own since then.

I would use the lube of your choice sparingly.


Guess I missed the memo, too. I've never lubed a lock. Never had a problem.
 
When I was a locksmith, our shop didn't recommend graphite. Grease tends to attract dust and tends to harden over time so we never used that either. At the time, we only used WD-40 mainly for cleaning the moving parts. A clean lock in good working condition doesn't need lubrication.
 
Medeco recommends Fluid Film on their website. I was recommended Lab Lube by Slot machine lock providers with 10's of 1000's of lock installs.
LabLube is a dry white PTFE and not cheap but it goes a long way.
 
I don't think I've ever lubed a lock. I think the wife did have a lock act up once, go figure, it was on her Civic...

I wonder if this problem is on its way out, what with RKE. Then again, for all us luddites still running around with old cars, maybe we should start thinking more seriously about this problem...
 
Many greases will get too hard in cold weather. Best is a lightweight spray oil, not WD-40 except that WD-40 is good for recovering from gummed up or hardened grease applied previously, to flush it out before a spray oil. If it has a *special* additive you might not need to reapply it as often but it's not a big enough difference for me to justify buying a special lube for every other thing.
 
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