I pulled the DS door handle assembly out to repair a crack in the handle and to check the lock cylinder. I'd noticed that the lock was a bit sticky and notchy so figured I'd look into it. Once I had the cylinder housing in my hand I could see when I turned the key it took half a second to return to the center position by itself.
I'll summarize by saying IMO/IME unless you have very steady hands don't take the cylinder housing apart unless maybe it's non-functioning. But you can do a better long-term clean and lube by removing the cylinder from the door and blowing the old grease and grime out with a solvent like brake fluid via the keyhole and other openings with the cylinder in your hand. After spraying the solvent into the cylinder slap the cylinder into a paper towel open slot down, repeat a few times, and relube. IMO it would be difficult to completely clean out grit and hardened old grease from the cylinder and pins or to completely clean and lube the return spring at the back of the cylinder by spraying something into the keyhole with the cylinder still in the door.
The quicker route: with the door panel off and the vapor barrier pulled back you could hold a wad of papertowels behind and below the lock cylinder. The open slot of the cylinder housing is facing down (see photos second post) and the back end is partially open, so some high pressure solvent followed by a spray lube should splash around enough to clean and lube everything up, IMHO. Saves the time of removing the door handle.
As I had the door handle out for another repair I'll share what I learned about the lock cylinder:
To get the door handle assembly out of the door is fairly straightforward although my window glass and window regulator were already both out. All this is also assuming the inside door panel is off (buy the correct upholstery tool to pop the plastic rivets out) and that the plastic vapor barrier has been pulled down (you can cut the black urethane caulk to help it release). You need access from the access hole directly behind the door handle and the larger hole below.
Detach the two connecting links that comes up from the door latch/locking mechanism; easy to do either with your fingers or a small tool (see photo). Two 10mm bolts hold the handle to the door skin, then a small 10mm bolt holds the lock cylinder to the handle assembly and a small ~#2 Phillips head screw with a small pawl that locks the cylinder into the handle assembly. Unless you have tiny hands and some special tools you really have to remove the handle assembly to pull the lock cylinder housing; I also fixed a cracked handle using epoxy and took the opportunity to lube the door handle pivot points, glad I did that as I found the main pivot pin to be grinding into the plastic.
At this point as mentioned above the quick route (with the lock cylinder housing in your hand) is to spray/drown everything with aerosol solvent through the key hole and the other openings to blast out the old grease and grit, then relube and put everything back together. There are no plastic parts in this cylinder so you can't hurt anything with your choice of solvent, but something like a can of brake cleaner with it's high pressure will work well to blow the grime out. The choice of lube is up to you. The original lubes as best as I could tell were a graphite paste on the keys and the usually found Toyota thick yellow waxy grease on the housing and spring.
After cleaning everything up I used a PFPE/PTFE grease sold at some bike shops, Extreme Flouro, about $10 for half an ounce. It's the same as one of the Dupont Krytox GPL greases (about $50 for a 2oz tube), but a bit easier to find. It comes in a plastic syringe which allows pinpoint application to each pin, the spring, the housing, the outer cylinder surface; not much is needed. I also sprayed the cylinder housing with a dry moly lubricant, goes on wet, the solvent dries leaving a coating of Molydenum. This moly coating will be removed or released if you were to use a solvent again at this point, but it does not react to the fluoro grease.
If you decide to take the cylinder all the way apart here's what I did.
WARNING: make sure the key is inserted into the cylinder before you remove it from the cylinder housing or at least remove the cylinder slowly over a clean workspace. The key traps the (8) pins or wafers inside the cylinder; they will want to fall out as soon as you clean the cylinder if the key is not inserted. Once I had the cylinder out unless the key was inserted I held it by two fingers over the pins most of the time I was fiddling with it, but the key has to be out to remove the pins. I took the pins out one at a time to clean them, sprayed a bit of solvent, then popped the pin back in, then went down the line, four pins on each side. I could have removed all the pins at the same time and lined them up in the order they came out, but one sneeze or jiggle and you're done if they get messed up, so I did one at a time to be safe. If you get the pins out of order the key will not work and there are a ton of possible combinations.
Here are the steps to tear down the cylinder:
1) Remove the small clip on the rear of housing using a small screwdriver, it just pushes or pries off; It both holds the arm in place and the cylinder in the housing.
2) Remove the circular spring at the rear with a pick, it can be pried up and out
3) Carefully slide the cylinder from the housing
4) Remove housing face cap: it's is held in place by two dimples which can be carefully pried up without deforming the outer face (when reattaching this you will need to stake the dimples back in place using a small punch or screwdriver).
5) Remove cylinder key hole door assembly (or end cap): this is held in place by two small arms, just pry them up using a small screwdriver or pick (when reinstalling this you may have to pinch the arms a bit to provide a better grip on the cylinder).
WARNING #2: there is a small spring and the door itself on the back side of this cap. The spring will not fly away but could be lost if you're not watching for it. Note the orientation of the door and the spring for reassembly later. They can only go back together one way.
At this point you have in your hand the bare cylinder with the pins in place. Each pin (they're actually small blades) is spring loaded with a very tiny spring. The blades will not shoot out but can fall out as can the springs. I held everything two inches off the work table at all times and had two fingers over the pins/blades (top and bottom) most of the time.
6) clean and relube each part individually, pay particular attention to the rear spring, the housing internally, and the pins. The rear spring scuffs against itself as it tightens in either direction, dried grease and corrosion can slow it down. The internal cylinder housing surfaces and the pins themselves were very sticky due to dry grease and grit.
Reassemble in reverse order. Once you have the pieces in front of you it all is fairly easy except one or two steps. Getting the key hole door back on with the spring in the correct orientation was really the only part I had to fiddle with. Take photos as you tear it down, that helps later if you need to check what goes where.
Now with the serviced DS lock cylinder reinstalled it turns smoother and returns quicker than it ever has. And with the PFPE/PTFE grease I used I don't think I'll have to worry about it for another 16 years.
Here's a bunch of photos which tell the story better than words.
I'll summarize by saying IMO/IME unless you have very steady hands don't take the cylinder housing apart unless maybe it's non-functioning. But you can do a better long-term clean and lube by removing the cylinder from the door and blowing the old grease and grime out with a solvent like brake fluid via the keyhole and other openings with the cylinder in your hand. After spraying the solvent into the cylinder slap the cylinder into a paper towel open slot down, repeat a few times, and relube. IMO it would be difficult to completely clean out grit and hardened old grease from the cylinder and pins or to completely clean and lube the return spring at the back of the cylinder by spraying something into the keyhole with the cylinder still in the door.
The quicker route: with the door panel off and the vapor barrier pulled back you could hold a wad of papertowels behind and below the lock cylinder. The open slot of the cylinder housing is facing down (see photos second post) and the back end is partially open, so some high pressure solvent followed by a spray lube should splash around enough to clean and lube everything up, IMHO. Saves the time of removing the door handle.
As I had the door handle out for another repair I'll share what I learned about the lock cylinder:
To get the door handle assembly out of the door is fairly straightforward although my window glass and window regulator were already both out. All this is also assuming the inside door panel is off (buy the correct upholstery tool to pop the plastic rivets out) and that the plastic vapor barrier has been pulled down (you can cut the black urethane caulk to help it release). You need access from the access hole directly behind the door handle and the larger hole below.
Detach the two connecting links that comes up from the door latch/locking mechanism; easy to do either with your fingers or a small tool (see photo). Two 10mm bolts hold the handle to the door skin, then a small 10mm bolt holds the lock cylinder to the handle assembly and a small ~#2 Phillips head screw with a small pawl that locks the cylinder into the handle assembly. Unless you have tiny hands and some special tools you really have to remove the handle assembly to pull the lock cylinder housing; I also fixed a cracked handle using epoxy and took the opportunity to lube the door handle pivot points, glad I did that as I found the main pivot pin to be grinding into the plastic.
At this point as mentioned above the quick route (with the lock cylinder housing in your hand) is to spray/drown everything with aerosol solvent through the key hole and the other openings to blast out the old grease and grit, then relube and put everything back together. There are no plastic parts in this cylinder so you can't hurt anything with your choice of solvent, but something like a can of brake cleaner with it's high pressure will work well to blow the grime out. The choice of lube is up to you. The original lubes as best as I could tell were a graphite paste on the keys and the usually found Toyota thick yellow waxy grease on the housing and spring.
After cleaning everything up I used a PFPE/PTFE grease sold at some bike shops, Extreme Flouro, about $10 for half an ounce. It's the same as one of the Dupont Krytox GPL greases (about $50 for a 2oz tube), but a bit easier to find. It comes in a plastic syringe which allows pinpoint application to each pin, the spring, the housing, the outer cylinder surface; not much is needed. I also sprayed the cylinder housing with a dry moly lubricant, goes on wet, the solvent dries leaving a coating of Molydenum. This moly coating will be removed or released if you were to use a solvent again at this point, but it does not react to the fluoro grease.
If you decide to take the cylinder all the way apart here's what I did.
WARNING: make sure the key is inserted into the cylinder before you remove it from the cylinder housing or at least remove the cylinder slowly over a clean workspace. The key traps the (8) pins or wafers inside the cylinder; they will want to fall out as soon as you clean the cylinder if the key is not inserted. Once I had the cylinder out unless the key was inserted I held it by two fingers over the pins most of the time I was fiddling with it, but the key has to be out to remove the pins. I took the pins out one at a time to clean them, sprayed a bit of solvent, then popped the pin back in, then went down the line, four pins on each side. I could have removed all the pins at the same time and lined them up in the order they came out, but one sneeze or jiggle and you're done if they get messed up, so I did one at a time to be safe. If you get the pins out of order the key will not work and there are a ton of possible combinations.
Here are the steps to tear down the cylinder:
1) Remove the small clip on the rear of housing using a small screwdriver, it just pushes or pries off; It both holds the arm in place and the cylinder in the housing.
2) Remove the circular spring at the rear with a pick, it can be pried up and out
3) Carefully slide the cylinder from the housing
4) Remove housing face cap: it's is held in place by two dimples which can be carefully pried up without deforming the outer face (when reattaching this you will need to stake the dimples back in place using a small punch or screwdriver).
5) Remove cylinder key hole door assembly (or end cap): this is held in place by two small arms, just pry them up using a small screwdriver or pick (when reinstalling this you may have to pinch the arms a bit to provide a better grip on the cylinder).
WARNING #2: there is a small spring and the door itself on the back side of this cap. The spring will not fly away but could be lost if you're not watching for it. Note the orientation of the door and the spring for reassembly later. They can only go back together one way.
At this point you have in your hand the bare cylinder with the pins in place. Each pin (they're actually small blades) is spring loaded with a very tiny spring. The blades will not shoot out but can fall out as can the springs. I held everything two inches off the work table at all times and had two fingers over the pins/blades (top and bottom) most of the time.
6) clean and relube each part individually, pay particular attention to the rear spring, the housing internally, and the pins. The rear spring scuffs against itself as it tightens in either direction, dried grease and corrosion can slow it down. The internal cylinder housing surfaces and the pins themselves were very sticky due to dry grease and grit.
Reassemble in reverse order. Once you have the pieces in front of you it all is fairly easy except one or two steps. Getting the key hole door back on with the spring in the correct orientation was really the only part I had to fiddle with. Take photos as you tear it down, that helps later if you need to check what goes where.
Now with the serviced DS lock cylinder reinstalled it turns smoother and returns quicker than it ever has. And with the PFPE/PTFE grease I used I don't think I'll have to worry about it for another 16 years.
Here's a bunch of photos which tell the story better than words.
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