Its that time of year for freezing door locks

[fdcg27]

This won't necessarily help.
In the case of our '97 Accord, the driver's door lock loves to freeze.
If you try to use the remote, since both doors will not unlock, both doors relock, and the alarm is turned on.
The soloution for this car is to open the pax side door with the key, climb over (so that you can depress the clutch pedal, Honda having decided at some point between our '86 Civics and this car that owners were too stupid to avoid starting the car in gear), and fire her up.
Enough heat is generated in maybe ten minutes of idleing to allow the driver's side door to be unlocked and opened.
WRT remote start, if you have a stick, you would obviously have to defeat the clutch safety switch.
How does the remote start system ensure that the car is not started in gear, or does it?

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
This won't necessarily help.
In the case of our '97 Accord, the driver's door lock loves to freeze.
If you try to use the remote, since both doors will not unlock, both doors relock, and the alarm is turned on.
The soloution for this car is to open the pax side door with the key, climb over (so that you can depress the clutch pedal, Honda having decided at some point between our '86 Civics and this car that owners were too stupid to avoid starting the car in gear), and fire her up.
Enough heat is generated in maybe ten minutes of idleing to allow the driver's side door to be unlocked and opened.
WRT remote start, if you have a stick, you would obviously have to defeat the clutch safety switch.
How does the remote start system ensure that the car is not started in gear, or does it?


Sounds like a bit of a hassle!

On a manual transmission vehicle, I believe the standard procedure is to set the parking brake and then remove the key, and the engine will keep running. Once you close the doors and lock them using the remote, the engine shuts off. If you don't follow that procedure, the remote start won't work on the next try.

 

[fdcg27]

Thanks!
I had always wondered what might happen if you looked out the window, hit the remote start, and saw the car merily start off on its way.
Wouldn't happen on a cold morning with a carb, but with modern FI?

 

[JohnBrowning]

Dip your key in M1 viscosity of your choice but thinneris better here and stick key into door and ignition withit coated with oil and work it until the key has transfered most of the M1 to the lock! Works great!

 

[johnd]

My father was a locksmith and he didn't believe in oil type lubricants in a lock. He said it always gave problems in the long run and would only use graphite. If he needed to disperse it in a lock, he would use an eyedropper full of alcohol with the graphite suspended it it. The alcohol will thaw out a frozen lock as well. It is a common practice to thaw out frozen brakes on tractor trailers by squirting methanol in them.

 

[firemachine69]

Graphite lube for locks/hinges. Silicon lube for rubber weather-stripping. This combo has not let me down once.

 

[bigmike]

I concur with the graphite spray. However, many people don't know what the heck you are talking about. I went into AAP and asked for graphite spray and nobody knew what it was. I actually had to stand there and explain to them that it is a lubricant for locks and keeps mechanisms freed from sticking, etc. ::Blank Stares:: "You mean WD40??"

 

[ChiTDI]

I use the liquid graphite with good results, available at the hardware store. AAP and AutoZone maybe, never looked.