In a message dated 12/20/04 7:47:05 PM, carl_hansen@IEEE.ORG writes:

<< ... I have
to yank on the door to get the door to release the seal.... and worse, the
lock mechanism freezes up and won't latch when I try shut it!

Heat loosens the mechanism temporarily, but it takes sittin in the sun for
hours to make the phenomenon truly go away!

Any ideas????  too much grease?  not enough grease?  kinda frustrating........
 >>

I expounded on this subject before; I guess there comes a point on this list
when all you can do is to repeat yourself.

Anyhoo --- door seals eventually queef out to the point that they do not seal
tightly and water will freeze in the minor gaps between the door surround and
the seal holding the door with a tenacious grip on bitter cold days.  Of
course the solution is to install new seals, but, from what I have seen, you might
as well buy a new van for what they cost.  So:

1/If you do not mind the peckering around factor, you can try to adjust the
doors to draw closed more tightly.

2/You can wax the hell out of the door surrounds and talc the door seals.

3/You can lightly coat the seals and door surrounds with LPS-1 or (I think
Martha Stewart might have come up with this one) PAM.  Don't laugh at the
thought of using PAM.  Once, I had some submersible pumps rebuilt and the rebuilder
filled them with transformer oil.  The transformer oil migrated through the SO
(rubber insulation) drop cords and they swelled until they looked like
unsmoked kielbasa's.  The solution provided by the submersible pump guys was to
drain the transformer oil and replace it with vegetable oil.

The recalcitrant locks and latches are another problem caused by age or, to
be more accurate, the accumulation of grit over a long period of time.  The
grit mixed with whatever lubricant might be present forms a thick paste which is
tougher than snot and it can cause a lock to bind even on a warm day, let
alone whenever the temps take a nose dive.  While a shot of LPS-1 or graphite
suspended in a solvent vehicle might get the mechanisms moving again, the only
lasting repair which I have found is to disassemble, clean and re-lube the
components.  A word of caution: taking apart the lock tumblers is not work for the
heavy-handed.

George