continous key lock freeze

[Ameer Antar]

I think what you need to do is get all the water out...spray more lube 
before you clean it out and you could leave dirt, brass shavings, etc. only 
to cause more problems. I think using an alcohol spray, brake cleaner, or 
some good ol wd-40 would help clean it up. The WD is s'posed to be for 
water-dispersant, and alcohol and brake cleaner both are degreasers and 
evaporate any water in there. But this stuff can damage paint on the car, 
so you have to be very careful and cover up the area. Really the best way 
is to remove the door handle and clean up the lock cylinder. I did this on 
my 5kT and it was pretty straightforward. I just took off the handle, 
unscrewed the barrel, took out the lock pins, and sprayed everything down 
w/ alcohol spray. I bought a new handle and used my old lock cuz I wanted 
to keep the old keys. They used petroleum jelly on the new lock cylinder 
for lube, which is what I used. Leaving very thin weight lube on the pins 
makes them actually tougher to move b/c they tend to stick together. The 
thicker stuff helps them move smoothly. If the lock keeps giving you 
trouble, I highly recommend opening it up and cleaning everything out. On 
these old cars, there's usually a crap load of stuff in there. good luck.

-ameer