I got tired of not being able to lock the car with the key without worrying I'd break off the key in the lock. Cleaned it up and lubed it and now it locks and un-locks "like butta". Does anyone actually use carb cleaner to clean carbs with? I'll do the other side tomorrow.

Geez, that was a mess. how did it get that bad??? What is the source of the gunk??

Love carb cleaner. that and mineral spirits and can pretty much clean anything.

Looks like some sort of undercoating. I had this time problem with two of my cars that were Zebarted when new. Had to remove the latch and soak it in solvent overnight to get all of it off. Ray

I just went through this on mine, nice to have working door locks!

Mine was so gunky the previous owner snapped off the square cam in the lock cyliner !

Fixed that too.

Thanks so much for the post. Was able to get to the root of my sticky door lock with this post. Before it took brute strength just to lift the door lock from the inside, forget about the key lock. I used the suggested carb cleaner and now both inside door and key lock work like a champ. 914world really rocks!!!

What the Hell is a "dey"? And is it pronounced "dee" or "day"?

The "dey" is used to unlock the "koor" ya dope.

Good one.