Sticky Power locks? Use Houdini!

[Fireguy]

So my driver's side door locks on my 97 had gotten to where I thought I was going to break the key, they were that sticky. So after reading up on here, I went and got a new key from the dealership. That helped very little. Then I went to a locksmith and asked if they had any graphite spray for sticky locks. He said the worst thing you can use on a sticky auto door lock was graphite as it will just attract dirt. He sprayed my lock with a product called Houdini. He said it had no graphite or silicon in it. Well whatever it is, the difference was AMAZING. It felt like a new lock. One month later it still works awesome. Just thought I'd pass on the tip. He says some Home Depots carry it, otherwise to just find it online.

 

[CJF]

WD-40 works well too.

 

[sjpitts]

I was searching for lock lubricants and found this thread. I was wondering if anyone else had tried Houdini Lock Lube?

The claims make it sound like magic. But that just makes me skeptical. And I don't like that it claims to have been around for 40 years-- it seems like there would have been some improvements in that period. And did they even have internal cut keys (as on a Lexus) back then? Although I am not sure that makes a difference.

There are a few videos out there, but they may just be ads masquerading as reviews. Here is one:

 

[alia176]

I went to amazon to order this amazing god's gift to the planet and learned that there's a vegan hair growth oil. Well crap, now i gotta order both.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

It's made with whale cum

 

[alia176]

It's made with whale cum

ahhhh, that explains it. So it's good for locks and hair growth?

 

[sjpitts]

It's made with whale cum

I can't decide if this makes me more or less skeptical about its effectiveness as a lock lubricant.

 

[alia176]

I can't decide if this makes me more or less skeptical about its effectiveness as a lock lubricant.

Oh snap, I thought it might be great for my bald head......

 

[sjpitts]

I went to amazon to order this amazing god's gift to the planet and learned that there's a vegan hair growth oil. Well crap, now i gotta order both.

View attachment 3546836

It is available on Amazon. Most of the reviews are positive, but I did not see anything about improving hair growth on vegans.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I went to amazon to order this amazing god's gift to the planet and learned that there's a vegan hair growth oil. Well crap, now i gotta order both.

View attachment 3546836

Why do you want to grow vegan hair?

 

[alia176]

Why do you want to grow vegan hair?

damnit, you got me there.

 

[CJF]

WD-40 works well too.

Still true 14 years later.

 

[alia176]

I sent an email to the Houdini company, and the lady mentioned an alternate product:
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If your order would total $50 or more, you receive free shipping. We cannot adjust the shipping charges shown on the website. If you can find another one of our products called SuperSlickSlickStuff in a red, white and blue can locally, it will perform equal to Houdini. Same can be found at Lowe's, selected Wal-Marts, Ace, True Value and Do It Best.
On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 1:39 PM AA <alia176@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi there,

I was hoping to order a 11 oz can from you vs going through Amazon. Your system quoted me $30 shipping for one 11oz can.

Can this be made more reasonable? See the screenshot below

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Interesting that the excuse for not using graphite is that it would attract dust, as dry graphite powder absolutely does not attract or collect dust. It is why so many of us switched from using CLP to keep our rifles lubricated to graphite lube as it made for a MUCH more reliable weapon in an environment full of ultra fine crappy "moon dust" that got into everything. Any wet lubricant will collect dust and turn it into a sludge eventually. I posit to you that your locks work so well because they were likely chalk full of crud and were without any kind of lube. All Houdini did was release some of the crud and provide lubrication. WD-40 likely would have had the same effect.

 

[Timpanogos Slim]

Still true 14 years later.

My saga is, I always used the alarm fobs for entry and locking, and had discovered that the original keys only worked in the driver door and ignition.

About 8 years ago, I was working on the trailer wiring and discovered a magnetic hide-a-key containing a copy key attached to the receiver hitch stuff. I thought of a more clever hiding place, stuck it there, and promptly forgot where that was.

A couple years ago i misplaced the fob that worked better and one of the original keys.

The TVSS got progressively less stable and the fob i could find got less reliable.

Couple months ago i found that i couldn't open the driver door with the original key, After applying some WD40, i could unlock but not lock the driver door with the original key, but not the liftgate or passenger door. Figured out how to bypass the TVSS and figured that was a reasonable place to be.

Then the other night i had a moment of lucidity and remembered where i hid the spare.

Found it. It's a copy of a much less worn original key, with some more WD40 it unlocks and locks driver and passenger.

Then yesterday i realized that the thing about a liftgate lock barrel is that it's the one you can reorient so that gravity works in your favor, flipped it up and soaked it with wd40, and that's working now too.

All four barrels accepting this old copy leads me to believe that i probably have the original locks all around, so i am gonna see about getting keys cut to the code rather than copying the old copy.

 

[mudgudgeon]

My saga is, I always used the alarm fobs for entry and locking, and had discovered that the original keys only worked in the driver door and ignition.

About 8 years ago, I was working on the trailer wiring and discovered a magnetic hide-a-key containing a copy key attached to the receiver hitch stuff. I thought of a more clever hiding place, stuck it there, and promptly forgot where that was.

A couple years ago i misplaced the fob that worked better and one of the original keys.

The TVSS got progressively less stable and the fob i could find got less reliable.

Couple months ago i found that i couldn't open the driver door with the original key, After applying some WD40, i could unlock but not lock the driver door with the original key, but not the liftgate or passenger door. Figured out how to bypass the TVSS and figured that was a reasonable place to be.

Then the other night i had a moment of lucidity and remembered where i hid the spare.

Found it. It's a copy of a much less worn original key, with some more WD40 it unlocks and locks driver and passenger.

Then yesterday i realized that the thing about a liftgate lock barrel is that it's the one you can reorient so that gravity works in your favor, flipped it up and soaked it with wd40, and that's working now too.

All four barrels accepting this old copy leads me to believe that i probably have the original locks all around, so i am gonna see about getting keys cut to the code rather than copying the old copy.

It's possible a new key cut to match your VIN code may not work with a worn set of locks. The juice may not be worth the squeeze

 

[CJF]

It's possible a new key cut to match your VIN code may not work with a worn set of locks. The juice may not be worth the squeeze

The keys seem to wear *much* faster than the locks. I've never replaced any of my locks (over 25 years), but have gotten keys cut to the VIN code on both rigs; definitely worth the squeeze.