Cleaning door latch

[Dan Schachner]

When I bought my Comanche, I could not open the doors without lots of pushing and shaking. It was so bad that I left the doors unlocked because you could not get the keys to actuate the lock or the handles to open the doors. While replacing the window mechanism I figured I would pull the latches to clean them. They had lots of caked on grease and were very difficult to move.

 

The first thing I did was soak them in de-greaser in milk jugs over night. This removed a fair amount of loose material, but there was still the heavy caked on material, and it didn't help that I washed it with cold water. I repeated this but with hot water to wash. I found that there was still lots of material inside the mechanism that was too tough to get with a brush. I don't have access to a hot pressure washer and none of the car washes nearby have one, so I did it on the stove top. I boiled water in a junk pot and added baking soda. After boiling for about 15 minutes I pulled them out with a pliers, brushed out any debris and put them in clean boiling water for another 10 minutes. I finished by dousing them in WD-40 to evacuate the water and then hosed them down with lithium grease.

 

Now they function like a dream and both doors work great!

[Salvagedcircuit]

Neat technique. I would have suggested using a 40khz ultrasonic machine, but you sure can't beat a pot + baking soda + boiling water. Easily accessible for anyone. Nice job.

[eaglescout526]

 

9 hours ago, Dan Schachner said:

I boiled water in a junk pot and added baking soda.

I’m gonna try this 

[eaglescout526]

My pot of water has turned brown...

[M.T.Hands]

I had to do both my doors, 30+ years of "caked" on Junk I used brake cleaner, but mine had some plastic coating that was coming apart, I used a pick and finally got all the old crap out, I may not should have done that (removing the plastic coating) but both doors and locks are functioning great now, and the doors are still closing tight for now anyway

[Dan Schachner]

On 12/30/2024 at 9:50 PM, eaglescout526 said:

My pot of water has turned brown...

Sounds like its workin!

[eaglescout526]

3 hours ago, Dan Schachner said:

Sounds like its workin!

Yeah it worked for the most part on the latches. I might need to run them

through another time or two to get them really clean. These are just spares I had laying around 

[Htchevyii]

A small engine guy recommended throwing carburators inside of a sealed  container of gasoline and then immersing it into the water bath. I've pretty much adopted that procedure for anything that will fit inside of a jar, ( I use screw on lid plastic ). It allows me to use hasher/faster cleaners, smaller amounts of them and is much easier to clean. The container doesn't seem to affect the ultrasound process. 

After I got two different driver's door latches clean, I found so much ear and damage that I just bought a NOS one. 🙄

[Pete M]

neat! 

[Salvagedcircuit]

On 1/5/2025 at 12:15 PM, Htchevyii said:

A small engine guy recommended throwing carburators inside of a sealed  container of gasoline and then immersing it into the water bath. I've pretty much adopted that procedure for anything that will fit inside of a jar, ( I use screw on lid plastic ). It allows me to use hasher/faster cleaners, smaller amounts of them and is much easier to clean. The container doesn't seem to affect the ultrasound process. 

After I got two different driver's door latches clean, I found so much ear and damage that I just bought a NOS one. 🙄

 

I use ziploc bags of IPA to clean electronics and it works wonders in an ultrasonic machine filled with tap water. However, make sure to watch the machine because IPA has a low flash point. I've never used gasoline, but it also has a low flash point and can combust.

I use simple green most of the time and it works extremely well in an ultrasonic.

[Htchevyii]

I got worried for a second, I thought that you were wasting beer. 😁 The jars that I have seem pretty secure, I haven't had any issues. I've never thought about using the alcohol in there, but it seems like a good idea. I use a lot of it for cleaning instead of more toxic alternatives.

[Salvagedcircuit]

Haha Glass jars and plastic bags work well inside ultrasonic machines. I use Isopropyl alcohol for circuit board cleaning because it's non-hazardous (Don't drink it or inhale it for a while) and there is really no issue dumping it. PCB specific cleaners such as Alconix or Branson EC work well, but they require special disposal due to unknown chemical composition, which is not economically feasible for home use. Simple green also works well diluted and can be acquired at most big-box stores. Whenever I use IPA inside my ultrasonic I watch it, leave my tank heater off and make sure the temperature reading on my tank does not get too warm. The process of ultrasonic cleaning raises tank temperature by itself. All those colliding atoms must generate heat lol.