Seized door lock cylinders
 

I have a 2001 Ranger with all manual controls. A couple of years ago the drivers door lock stopped working. The key goes in but will not turn. Now the passenger door is doing the same. The local Ford dealership quoted $500 to replace the locks over the phone. That is with the locks keyed to match the ignition key. I can buy a set of locks with their own key for $45 on line. I talked to a local body shop about changing them out and they suggest it might be the door lock mechanism and not the key cylinder. Money is very tight and I am not knowledgeable about disassembling the doors myself. Has anyone had this problem? Can you tell me what inside the door might have failed to stop the cylinder from turning?

This is a stupid question, but have you tried to spray some anti seize in the locks? Mine get sticky every once in a while and that does the trick.

First, that is not a stupid question. The first step in any trouble shooting is to eliminate the obvious. (My light won't turn on. Is it plugged in?) As it turned out, I had tried dry graphite with no luck. Somewhere in my upbringing someone told me to only use dry graphite in locks, as oil would gather dust and dirt and eventually clog. In searching this forum I saw more than one discussion of PB Blaster, which I had never used. I used WD40 for everything, but no Blaster. So I bought a can on the way home today, The lock that seized last month started working immediately. The one that has been seized over a year had to sit for a few minutes before it started working. So this forum and a $4 can of PB Blaster saved me from spending a lot of money I didn't need (or have) to spend. Will this cause a problem down the road? Time will tell but at 100,000 miles, I feel like it was worth it. Thanks for your comments.

Glad it worked out for ya!