Re:Milano door lock stuck

[David Masters <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joe asks about a sticky lock....

> Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 20:11:51 -0400
> From: Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>
> 
> Thanks to all who explained how to get into a Milano door.

Joe this happened to me on the weekend, the coincidence is
amazing. The symptoms sound identical.  I could reproduce the
problem by working the snipper rod three times, and it would lock
solid.  

My solution was in the door lock cylinder.  I lubricated it with a
generous dose of graphite powder, then inserted the key about 10
times, and cleaned it each time, then gave it more graphite, and
repeated.  As it freed up, the symptoms went away.

It seems that because the electric locking has to move the rod on
the back of the lock, it obviously needs to be free to move, and
some binding in the tumblers was enough to stop it.

I also gave the lock mechanism a dose of WD40 from inside the
door lining.  This came with a dose of introspection, as I am
always wary about using WD40 as it seems to attract dirt after a
few years.  I considered Silicon spray, and oil, but settled on
WD40 for it's convenience and reliability.

As a question for the list, what would be better?
> 
> Has anyone ever experienced a problem where the lock just jams?  Not 
> like it's sticky from lack of lubrication, but something prevents the 
> mechanism from moving enough to do anything.  It was locked (removing 
> the door panel with the door closed was interesting), but enough 
> poking at it to see what the problem was made it work for a little 
> while, and now it's stuck unlocked.  I have yet to remove the latch 
> from the door--I was hoping somebody on the digest might have 
> experienced something like this.  When it does come time to remove 
> the damn thing--how do the door handles, etc, connect to the lock? 
> Is it like a GTV6 with a ball on the end of the rods that snaps into 
> a plastic socket?
> 
> Thanks,
> Joe
> 
Cheers,
david
-- 
David Masters 
1989 Alfa75 Twin Spark, 2000 Alfa 156 Twin Spark.
Newcastle, AUSTRALIA.
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided