Locks frozen shut!!!!!!!

[Zanix]

Anybody got any tricks?

I already put some lock deicer in the keyhole, to no avail. Frozen shut! I'm afraid I'm bending the pot metal in the POS door handle. (97 cutlass supreme) Damn.... maybe I should just write my profs and get back into bed...


unless anyone knows a way to get them loosened up?


Wet Girl Action!!!!




Edit: UPDATE: I used the last of the lock deicer, and some WD40.. I can get the key in now, but turning past the point of unlocking it is make-believe.

I'm afraid that I'll shatter my windows if I pour a bucket of hot water on it... it's about 16* here, not counting the wind chill.



Edit2: So what do you guys think about emailing the profs of the 2 classes today? Good idea, unnessary? Classes are ~35, I don't think they're taking attendance...



Edit3: So LESSON LEARNED. Don't lock your doors if it's getting below zero. Who's out ripping off cars/stereos in the subarctic?

 

[Modeps]

Get a bucket of hot water and pour it on the door. No, I'm not kidding. I went to college in NY and drove a 1985 Crown Vic. Locks and doors were constantly freezing on it, and a bucket of hot water was the best and cheapest solution.

 

[Mr N8]

Blow drier?

I've never had a lock deicer not work. put some WD-40 on the key, when you do finally get it to work, and move it around in there.

 

[TwiceOver]

Rubbing Alcohol. The best stuff is dry erase board cleaner with a spray nozzle on it. Works wonders.

-TO

 

[clamum]

Gasoline and a match

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

I've had to heat my key before repeatedly to slide it in

 

[PingSpike]

I always just open the other door. But if that one got frozen I'd be fvcked.

I suppose I could crawl through the trunk. But that solution seems less than optimal.

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
I've had to heat my key before repeatedly to slide it in

:Q

 

[DnetMHZ]

Mini torch?

 

[mobobuff]

Boil some water, sounds like your best bet. Maybe let it cool slightly before dumping it on your door.

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: TwiceOver
Rubbing Alcohol. The best stuff is dry erase board cleaner with a spray nozzle on it. Works wonders.

-TO

I've got some vinigar... no rubbing alcohol... (I think) Damn

Thanks for the tip


Edit: maybe some cheap vodka?

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I always just open the other door. But if that one got frozen I'd be fvcked.

I suppose I could crawl through the trunk. But that solution seems less than optimal.

Yeah, both are frozen!!

 

[daveshel]

I used to use a 100W bulb with an aluminum reflector on a long extension cord when I lived in Pa.

 

[PingSpike]

Drink a lot of coffee and pee on the lock.






Hot water seems like the most logically solution. A blow torch would probably melt something important.

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: Zanix

I'm afraid that I'll shatter my windows if I pour a bucket of hot water on it... it's about 16* here, not counting the wind chill.

Bring a turkey baster with you.

 

[davew0670]

turning the key the right way?

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: davew0670
turning the key the right way?

Oh that was it!! THX GUY!







no jk. But I did wonder that at first and had to think about it.

 

[PatrickBateman]

break the window and go Duke style.

hot water would get you in, but if it is real cold outside you may make it worse once that water freezes.

 

[mobobuff]

Also, get some vice grips and clamp those puppies down tight on the grip of the key. 50x the torque.

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: mobobuff
Also, get some vice grips and clamp those puppies down tight on the grip of the key. 50x the torque.

Right, but what happens if ice > metal, then broken door and ?

 

[apac]

Originally posted by: mobobuff
Also, get some vice grips and clamp those puppies down tight on the grip of the key. 50x the torque.

I've broken 2 keys off in my house locks just being drunk, no vice grips needed. Bad idea.

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: apac

Originally posted by: mobobuff
Also, get some vice grips and clamp those puppies down tight on the grip of the key. 50x the torque.

I've broken 2 keys off in my house locks just being drunk, no vice grips needed. Bad idea.

Well that's the thing, you have to know when the key is reaching its limits. But numb hands can't come close to reaching the bending limits of a cold key. Vice grips can totally mutilate a key, but you just gotta have some finesse. I'm telling you, turkey baste some hot water in there, then latch on with a vice grip and just work that baby.

 

[Analog]

Heat your key with a small flame (cigarette lighter etc) then insert and turn.

 

[badmouse]

Use match or lighter to heat key. That got me through a lot of wacky below-zero Ohio mornings.

 

[flamingelephant]

you can open the door if you have some means of squirting hot water into the lock. Some kind of cheap toy or a syringe... it will let you open the door, but it will lock up again