Re: Lock De-icers, handle "improvements" for hard to open rear doors from outside

[brettd@tiac.net (Brett Dikeman)]

>>
>> Driver's side lock keeps freezing.  Sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't.
>> Pass. side always does, but it's a pain in the ass. I think there's some
>> water in there, so I'm thinking of squirting some isopyl alcohol through
>> the keyhole, but I'm worried it might affect the lock(ie clean out any
>> graphite or other lube.  Would adding more graphite help instead?
>> Sorry, dumb question, but I had to ask.  Would really suck if I had to
>> replace the lock!
>>
>> Brett
>> '87 5kCST _no_ lock de-icers.
>>
>
>I haven't tried it yet, but i heard somewhere that glycerine works well
>to keep locks from freezing, and it wouldn't gum up the lock itself.
>From my experience in the past, the liquid graphite tends to gum up over
>time, so be aware.  The dry powder is tougher to apply, but works better.
>
>Also, I've got a gap in the driver's door handle. This is causing the
>handle to travel almost all the way in order to open the door.  Any ideas
>on how to shim the gap?
>					-Noel
>					 85 5ks
Hmm-I don't quite understand what you meant there, but I did see your
earlier/later? post about problems with not being able to open the door
from inside.  I would suggest taking off the door panel on the driver's
side.  I've had to do it several times to fix the door lock, of which my
father has broken each time.  Turned out that he kept trying to unlock the
car right as or after the pump locked the car, causing the key to wrestle
with the locking mech, and a ball joint inside was popping off to keep
something from breaking.  Very easy to fix, but pain in the ass.

Here's how to take off the door panel(pardon if I miss something, the
Bently is confusing on this and you just have to do it, but it's not that
hard):
-Take off the little plastic thing that's on inside(opposite the mirror,
it's a piece of light, textured platic with one screw holding it in place)
-Use a WIDE-bladed screwdriver or any other appropriate implement to GENTLY
pry off the cover on the grab handle of the door.  If you're facing the
door from inside the car, the piece you want to take off is facing you-it
snaps into place, so you just have to carefully but firmly pry/wiggle it
out by using the screwdriver in that crack between the inner part and outer
cover.
-Once that's off, there should be two screws on the bottom and one on the
top that are recessed in the handle at the two points where it is attached
to the door.  Take all three off. Don't worry too much about the
order-they're the same and it should be obvious where to put the screws
from the rest of the door after you're done fixing the problem.
-Around the entire edge of the door panel, there are little black screws
that hold it in place.  Start at some place and work your way around the
entire perimeter of the panel.  Don't take off anything except the teenie
screws.
Before you take off the door panel, get a box or something that is a few
inches lower than the bottom seal on the door.  This is to rest the panel
on later.
-OK, now there are snaps that are holding the panel in place as well.  Just
pull the edges straight out, with a little help from a screwdriver.
-Pull the panel out, and slip it under the door and rest it on the
box/object.  There isn't enough cable on the controls+speakers to allow you
to set it on the ground.  Of course, you can just unplug all the cables.
Are your speakers made by ITT too?  What's that little box that says ITT
too?  A crossover, point-of-use-type amp, or transformer?
-Pull off the little black plastic snap-holder-things off the door to
remove the insulation.
-Bingo!  You should now see the central locking guts and window stuff.
Have a blast!

TIP FOR REAR(+FRONT) HANDLES!
Having problems with outside door handles that don't work, but inside ones
work just fine?
You can quite easily remove the rear handle screws(2 on back/inside of
door) with a phillips screwdriver.
-The tricky part is getting the metal/chrome center piece off.  I reccomend
using a small rat shack precision screwdriver or other type of jewler's
screwdriver to gently pry the rear or front tip  of the metal off first(I'm
not sure which, but if it won't budge, you've got the wrong end.

-There might be a little metal bump thing to hold that side in of the
metal, but it might be a hook.  I _think_ that it is a hook on the
frontmost edge of the peice of metal.  Start at the back first).

-Now, with your orignal screwdriver holding the strip away from the handle,
slide another small screwdriver from the bottom->up between the handle and
chrome piece, and slowly pull the second screwdriver backwards, forcing the
metal away from the handle.  Some black rubber-putty type stuff keeps it in
place-LEAVE IT ON THE HANDLE PART, AND DO NOT GET IT WET!  It will not be
sticky anymore if you get it wet.
-Now, you can get to an additional screw on the handle.  That removed, the
handle slides towards the back(maybe front, can't remember), and will come
out(you will see the little hook that holds the front in place)
-Disconnect the handle from the rod by using a knife to pop the little
plastic top on the ball-type joint that links the handle to the door latch.
Open on the joint(it's a kind of catch/latch type deal, don't try to pull
the two apart.  You can barely see the tiny latch at the top, but look
carefully), and TIE A STRING AROUND THE ROD IN THE DOOR!  Tie the string to
something on the outside of the car or tape it down.  This will keep you
from losing the rod in the door and having to take off the rear door panel.
You can quite easily remove the little levers and handle from the handle
itself.  All you have to do is take out one screw at the rear-facing part
of the handle.  The guts may not seem to budge, but all you have to do is
use a screwdriver to pry/pull it out of its press fit(I don't know what the
kind of catch is, but it looks sort of like this:
  _/
_/
But you'll see when you get it out.
Now, part of the mechanism that slides between a bracket/U shaped channel
can be removed by using a small rat shack precision screwdriver or whatever
else is small enough to knock out the pin holding the thing together.  It's
a tight fit, but don't worry-once you've gotten the pin otu a little you
can use a pair of vise grips to pull it out the rest of the way-don't worry
about the deformations in the pin from the vise grip teeth.

Now, before you pull it all apart, take a quick look at how it goes
together so you remember-it's pretty simple, but you'll save a little time
putting it together.

Disassemble the thing, and use steel wool(low budget, works OK though),
synthetic steel wool(much better, 3M, great stuff), or a dremel moto-tool
with steel-wire brush or plastic brush(rod, not wheel type)(BEST!
Definately does the job the best) to clean off all of the gunk and
oxidized/rusted/whatever stuff from all the parts.  You can even polish the
black handle piece if it looks crucky.  Now, clean all the parts with
isopropyl-alchohol and q-tips/paper towles/cloth.  Make sure they're nice
and spiffy clean-you can even run the whole thing under hot water, but be
sure to use only HOT water and hold the handle under the water long enough
to get it hot so that the water evaporates completely.
-There are two rubber/plastic boots that go between the handle and the body
to keep the paint from scratching and to make the generic handle fit
against the body panel, which happens to be bent right there horizontally,
so make SURE you get the boot on the right part of the handle, and in the
right orientation vertically so that it is flush with the panel's bend.
-It there's a lot of white powdery type stuff, one possible cause might be
that one of those little boots is dirty or broken.  Clean them with the
alcohol too thoroughly and run 'em under hot water.  You can use a
moto-tool fibre-brush(NOT wire brush) to clean off any wax that has built
up if you're the picky type like me, and you can even armor-all 'em to make
'em look pretty.  I would also suggest clearcoat polishing the edges where
the door seal covers the paint-should be obvious.  This will give you a
good look at what your paint job looked like when you bought the car :)
Polishing and then waxing this little area will get rid of the dirt that
hides away from your carwashing efforts, and improve the seal between the
rubber/plastic seal and body panel.

-After you've cleaned out the levers and things, I recommend using some
white lithium spray grease, because it's a great lubricant and is kind of
gel-like, so it stays put forever.  I would not recommend silicone or
teflon, as this stuff wears off or washes off(there is, however, stuff
called "Super Lube multi-purpose synthetic lubricant with teflon" that
seems to go from a liquidy type stuff to more of an oil-like/gel-type gunk
after some evaporation, and it seems to stay put OK, but the white lithium
is much better.  Don't be afraid to use the stuff on the parts of the
handle mechanism, but you may want to wipe off some ofthe excess stuff.
Squirting stuff onto the part that slides in the U shaped bracket,
especially in the side holes of the bracket, will help out there the most.
Make sure that all the sliding points are oiled/lubricated.  Reassemble the
lever(s), press back into handle, install screw into handle, and replace
the handle on the car in the same order you took it off(be sure that you
remember the plastic/rubber seals+verify their fit against the body panel.

This should make the rear doors open MUCH more easily, and I haven't had a
problem since I did this.  You may also want to use some white lithium
spray or teflon spray on the door posts and on the clamp/lock part that
holds this post.  This will also improve the door's opening.

Hope some of you find this useful-it's fairly quick and reasonably easy,
and really improves the door's opening from outside.  I have yet to work on
the front doors, so maybe sometime I'll get around to it and write up a
description for that too.  Note that this may only apply to the 5k series-I
think the 4k is roughly the same-there might be a few minor
differences-could a 4k person confirm this?  Thanks!

Brett