It's Frozen - The key in the ignition!

[krhall]

Ignition barrel was frozen this morning and I couldn't get the key in so after about 3 or 4 mins of breathing warm air into it I managed to get the key in and turn it, pulled up at work 20 mins later and can't get the key out.

Any ideas, I'm sure my warm breath has made the lock wet and now it's re-frozen.

Anything also to prevent it?

Thanks.

Kev

[krhall]

Would WD40 do it?

[454697819]

should do, yes.

[rossinio]

I had to use white spirit, the wd40 didnt seem to do enough when it was totally frozen..

[Dicky Ticker]

give it a good blast with a hair dryer when you get home and then WD40 IN THE BARREL
Sounds silly but keep a lighter in your pocket and heat the key up if your ignition is frozen.
As for getting it out if frozen in there????? Hot water

[Dicky Ticker]

I know it doesn't help,but as a preventative measure I use the brake additive used on the air braking system of a truck. Little drop in a cheapy plastic oiler squirted into the barrel works every time.

[Ch00]

Small can of De Icer?

[Grinch]

I owned a can of lock de-icer for those really cold days, as its worse when you go to get fuel and find the key won't open the petrol cap.

[Alpinestarhero]

I couldnt get my fuel filler cap open this morning, i assume because of ice! anyway, once opened, I got a load of WD40 in there.

WD40, followed by oil in your ignition lock will do the trick

[maviczap]

H'mm seeing as the root cause is water getting into the lock, then during these cold days, then perhaps a solid rubber grommet or cap over the top of the ignition at night is going to prevent water getting in there.

The finger off a rubber glove would stretch over and give some protection. This would work for the ignition, but not the tank lock.

[lee67]

very unlike me, i havnt touched my bike for the last 4 weeks due to weather here'...dug the snow away so i could get bike out garage'....ign barrel frozen solid and fuel cap lol...mind u it has been -10 here of late:shock:

[SUPERSTARDJ01]

Lock de-icer

[Holdup]

Sounds silly but keep a lighter in your pocket and heat the key up if your ignition is frozen.

Im not too sure about that what with the HISS system, i maybe wrong though, but other than that i agree with what others are saying, use a bit of wd40 or get hold of some lock de icer

[krhall]

Used WD40 and it has freed up, will stop at Halfords later and get a can of Lock De-icer to put in my bag. Thanks all.

Holdup - Just the person I am looking for! Are you still at Chambers?

[jambo]

I drop a little engine oil in the lock barrels every now and then. If water gets in it then doesn't get into every little crevice and freeze as it's repelled by the oil. Plus it makes the mechanism smoother to use :)

I tend to think if it's cold enough to freeze the oil I probably won't be starting the engine...

Jambo

[Holdup]

yep, every saturday still

[LK-SV]

As for getting it out if frozen in there????? Hot water

Any sort of oil will help, or de-icer ?? :smt101

As for water ... personally I wouldn't .... short term solution ..... long term concequences ....

[krhall]

my cover was pretty solid too - the elastic bit at the bottom had shrunk so it was a nightmare unwrapping the bike!

[thefallenangel]

Don't use WD40 on locks! It will work but strip the lock of the minimal grease inside it and it will eventually seize up. Put your key into some grease or oil to stop it from stripping if you need to use WD40.

[maviczap]

Don't use WD40 on locks! It will work but strip the lock of the minimal grease inside it and it will eventually seize up. Put your key into some grease or oil to stop it from stripping if you need to use WD40.

Grease is not good for locks, it'll make the tumblers stick once dirt gets inside.

Locksmiths use graphite powder to lubricate locks.

[thefallenangel]

Grease is not good for locks, it'll make the tumblers stick once dirt gets inside.

Locksmiths use graphite powder to lubricate locks.

in work we had special grease (well it wasnt normal grease and the lock wouldnt budge) for it as electrical panels wouldnt open. Multi-purpose grease will stick but WD does strip the internals out if you use it to de-ice locks every time it freezes.

[maviczap]

in work we had special grease for it as electrical panels wouldnt open. Multi-purpose grease will stick but WD does strip the internals out if you use it to de-ice locks every time it freezes.

Agreed about WD40, but you didn't specifiy what kind of grease, and as you know most folk are going to have a multi purpose grease in the garage :rolleyes: Which isn't going to do their locks any good.

At least WD will evaporate, leaving no lubricant behind, but better than using sticky multi purpose grease.

[thefallenangel]

Agreed about WD40, but you didn't specifiy what kind of grease, and as you know most folk are going to have a multi purpose grease in the garage :rolleyes: Which isn't going to do their locks any good.

At least WD will evaporate, leaving no lubricant behind, but better than using sticky multi purpose grease.

true and agreed. Can't remember exactly what type of grease it was but it wasn't multi-purpose stuff. Will find out now.

[JediGoat]

I went to start the bike this morning...and couldn't get the key more than half way into the ignition :eek:

10 minutes of wiggling, followed by a lightbulb moment when I remembered an old bottle on de-icer in the boot of the car. A quick squirt on the key, and a minute or so later, it turned :smt026

So, now added to my essential things to carry on the bike in this weather (waterproofs, disc lock, oyster card, flask of hot coffee) is a bottle of de-icer :shock:

Jo

[Dicky Ticker]

Silicone grease----elect friendly and waterproof

[Grinch]

Or heat the key a little with a lighter, or if you out and about on the bike use the engine. Don't melt the grip though by giving it to much heat.

[Sally]

Was frozen today, and I heated the key up with a lighter.

Worked fine :)

[carternd]

Lighter on the key works - except in the blinkin wind!

[Sally]

Open youre jacket and shield it in the wind..

Or put the lighter inbetween youre jacket and next layer. :)

[RandyO]

Lock de-icer

+1 contains graphite and isopropyl, works great

[Skybaba]

Waking this from the dead in case there are any newbies like me that might not know :-)

This happened to me yesterday and I couldn't be bothered to think of a way out, so went back in, took my kit off and worked from home.

By the time I checked yesterday evening, I was able to turn the key, so I assumed it must have been because of all the rain over the weekend and the cold temperatures cos I've ridden through winter and never had any issues.

However, the same thing happened again this morning. This time I went back in, put the kettle on and doused the ignition with some hot water.......that worked.

From reading this thread, it appears there are quite a few ways of dealing with this:

- breathing warm air into the ignition (hilarious but seems to work)

- WD40 (looks like a very useful thing to have for the bike in general)

- de-icer

- drop of engine oil (preventive)

- special grease

- burn your key with a lighter and insert the hot key into the ignition

It appears the de-icer is the consensus and the hot key.
Any more methods?

[mikerj]

Don't use WD40 on locks! It will work but strip the lock of the minimal grease inside it and it will eventually seize up. Put your key into some grease or oil to stop it from stripping if you need to use WD40.

Plenty of locksmiths use WD40 on locks. It doesn't completely evaporate since it has a light mineral oil in it which provide sufficient lubrication, and it displaces water which is exactly what you need on exposed external locks like a bike ignition or fuel cap lock.

Grease has no business being anywhere near a lock barrel; not only does it attract dirt and grime, it also gives you a lovely greasy key to put in your pocket.

[yorkie_chris]

Lock de icer is just more expensive de icer.

Which in itself is more expensive isopropanol in a squirty bottle. This WILL strip the lubricant out of your lock most definitely.

Im not too sure about that what with the HISS system, i maybe wrong though, but other than that i agree with what others are saying, use a bit of wd40 or get hold of some lock de icer

The hiss is a coil around the lock... shouldn't hurt it.

[Skybaba]

Plenty of locksmiths use WD40 on locks. It doesn't completely evaporate since it has a light mineral oil in it which provide sufficient lubrication, and it displaces water which is exactly what you need on exposed external locks like a bike ignition or fuel cap lock.

Good to know.

[gt900uk]

I used ACF50 in there repels water really well and never did it again.