iamsuperbleeder

How it goin guys and gals.

What I've got here is a 91 PU Standard Cab, no power anything on the doors, and it has the little vents in the side windows...

For a about 2 months now, the lock on the driver's door has been progressively getting harder and harder to unlock. I've had new keys made; that doesn't help at all. As a matter of fact, the original keys AND the new key cuts work perfectly fine on the passenger door lock and the ignition with no problems at all; it's only the driver's door that's giving me issues. With a little fiddling around with the key, the door will unlock everytime, but it's quite frustrating... especially when it catches you in the rain...

What I've been wandering is is there something that maybe comes loose and causes problems? I notice it looks like the whole lock assembly jiggles around a little when you mess with the key.

Also, what would be even better is if the lock tumblers are interchangable from driver to passenger door. If that's the case, then I'll just take the pass door lock and put it on the driver side, and put the messed up driver side lock on the pass door, which I almost never use the key to unlock from outside anyway.

Any one else ever ran into issues like this? Anyone ever tried switching the locks around? With it being a 91 and having over 286k on it, I'm not the least bit surprised that little stuff like this is starting to happen, lol.

Thanks in advance everyone.


Trav

bigt

a little lube always helps

iamsuperbleeder

tryed that too...

first powdered graphite when it started to give me the problem, and then silicone spray just recently, neither helped the slightest bit...

crews462

I'm having the same problem. Pulled the driver's side apart and lost the little oh sh&* clip that holds the assembly together. Passenger side doesn't work either. Haven't been able to lock my truck for three or four months. So, I'm not too worried about being in a rural setting, I never take my keys out of the ignition, but I am curious to see what you get as responses.
Wish I could help, but.....

scope103

I have/had this same problem (driver's side much harder to unlock than passenger's side, problem worse in very cold weather).

I disassembled the door and found a lot of dirt around the locking mechanism (not the lock cylinder). With mechanism disconnected from the cylinder, the cylinder worked fine. I cleaned the bars of the locking mechanism, and that solved the problem for a long time.

It's slowly coming back. I suspect that the parts are worn, making them more susceptible to dirt (which is why the drivers side is worse than the passenger's?)

So I would leave the graphite and the spare keys alone; I don't think it's the cylinder. Take the door apart (and take your time; it's non-trivial), clean and test it.

87TurboYota

I sprayed and cleaned mine with lube and they got better on my old truck. However, after a while they started locking up (no pun intended) again so I went to a junk yard and found a Toyota van and took the locks off of it and it had multiple locks so I had many and never had use the extras.

Moonfish

I got some junkyard locks also. If you get the VIN off of the donor you can get a new key cut for it that isn't worn.

corax

does it turn hard -or- is it that it doesn't turn at all until you jiggle it just right?

if it turns but is difficult, you probably just need to pull the inside door panel and give the whole latch a good lube with penetrating oil

did you get the new keys made at the dealership from the "key code" found on the passenger side lock cylinder (or VIN) or did you just get copies of your worn keys cut? If it was just a copy, I'd go to the dealer and have them cut a new one from the key code. My first '88 had that same problem until I got a key cut by the numbers at the dealer

iamsuperbleeder

Well it's not a hard turn, it's just feels like it's hard to get the key's notches to line up with the tumblers inside so the key can turn... if that makes any since. Once you jiggle it enough and everything lines up, the key will turn no problem and up pops the lock.

What get's me is how the same key works on the pass door lock no problem! It slides in easy, and turns and unlocks the door like a brand new vehicle. So I'm pretty sure it's not the key itself, but just that one particular lock.

I'm off work tomorrow so I'll probably tear into the doors and see if I can remove both lock cylinders to compare them. If their physically the same, I'm just gunna try to switch them around so the good working one is on the driver's door, unless someone chimes in and tells me that they are completely different left and right... that would be a bummer, but would save me the unneeded work...

Thanks for al the responces guys; I hope we can get to the bottom of this; not just for my sake, but for the ones who said they had similar problems.

Trav

Jay351

You could just get a junkyard lock cylinder and get it re-keyed to your original key. I did that after some jerkoff punched out mine trying to break in...

iamsuperbleeder

That's a good thought, if a junk yard within a 50 mile radius of me had a Toyota with parts still on it... About the only thing left of most of the Toyota's around here are the frames, and even those are starting to dissapear, lol. I can't find any PUs or Runners my body style to get some off of; about the only thing I can find are 2nd gen PUs and 1st gen Runners, but even those look rusted to hell...

I have seen at my old job that door lock kits can be ordered for I think 92 or 93 Runners. They come with both cylinders and two keys, and the kit runs about $50. Do you think they would fit on a 91 PU? Apparently they don't list them in the computer for the PU, just the Runner

SLOWBOOST

its a problem alot of toyotas have. everything just wears out. i have a locksmith friend who told me what to do with the lock cylinder, but i forgot and was a little impatient one day with the door and just snapped the key off in the drivers side so I no longer have that problem. passenger side works good with the new key because the lock wasnt worn and the key was new too.

iamsuperbleeder

well, nothing got done today...



good ol Florida weather...

maybe tomorrow I'll get to it; I should have some spare time...

abecedarian

graphite? what type of graphite? dry? wet? what carrier medium?
silicone? (great for attracting dust)

iamsuperbleeder

I picked the stuff up from Advance Auto Parts; it's a little tube of the stuff in a really fine powder form. Just pop the top off, point in a direction, and squeeze the tube, and the stuff puffs out.

And the silicone was just in an aresol can. I just went out on a limb gave it a shot... it didn't help at all though.

iamsuperbleeder

Well, for those of you who were wandering, you can swap the lock cylinders around!!!

I dove into it this morning, and after about 30 minutes, the driver's door unlocks like brand new now, and the pass side is a pain now, lol. But hey, doesn't bother me...

Here's some pics of the lock cylinders for comparison; sorry for the bluryness... use my cell phone...







Here's what I was worried about. I thought maybe they would have a different keyway on the end of the lock for left and right, but I was thankfully mistaken!


The keyway was different on the arm that attached to the lock cylinder, and those can be swaped over but just remocving the E clip that holds them on...


And vualla; switched up lock cylinders ready to install!



If I would have know it was this easy, I would have done this a LONG time ago...

just a 22re

is your key worn down and when you got it cut was it a vin cut or just a copy? and yes the drives door is worn just like the key is so its not going to work that good try to open mine it wont even turn with the key for it!!!

iamsuperbleeder

Ok, so now the lock cylinder I put on the driver's side starting doing the same thing after about 2 weeks, so I said screw it, I'll buy new lock cylinders, lol...

So I took a trip up to my old job Advance Auto parts and got the use-to-be-employed-there discount... through old friends, lol, got the set ordered for $20!



Good quality stuff too after inspecting them!









Good and greased up; they turn so nice and even spring back like their suppose to...



and the keys having the plastic on the end will be nice; I'll be able to tell the difference between my door keys and the old key for my gas lid... which it still works flawlessly in...



These probably wont last as long as the originals did, but I may be wrong; these may outlast the truck, but it'll just be nice to be able open the door without having to cus at it every time, lol. We just had that tropical storm pass through here in Fl and it rained here every day for about 5 days straight, and these friggin locks held me up in the rain evey time I went to get in my truck...

I should get them installed this weekend, maybe even here Thur of Fri afternoon if weather permits.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

get em installed yet? oh, and why didnt you just opt for an elcheapo alarm that has the unlock/lock button on the key fob?

iamsuperbleeder

not yet; tomorrow I'm changing my diff gasker and axle seals, and I'll throw em in when I finish; the locks take maybe 20 minutes to install both, but the diff leak is a little more important, lol

I may install some electric locks later on, but it's standard manual locks on the doors and I'd have to install the acuators and everything... wich is a PITA... did it on my ol Isuzu...