Car doors freezing shut?

What's freezing? Hinges? Locks? Door opening mechanism? Was there water around the door and it froze?



I remember I was in Gallup, NM many years ago and it was 40 below and lots of stuff froze on our car, including the locks. We just had to wait until it unfroze. Thank goodness we were only there for a night or two. When it's not frozen, you can try some graphite inside the lock.
 
To keep your locks from freezing, you can inject some WD-40 into the locks and insert the key a bunch of times and turn it back and forth for several minutes.



If you mean the actual doors won't open because they're frozen shut, just make sure that the door jambs are free of any water when it's going to be below freezing. Make sure you get any water out of / off of the hinges too.
 
Next time make sure your door seals are dry and use 303 or Gummipflege on them. That will help. Also use a small square of electrical tape over the keyhole when you wash to prevent any water from entering. And never use WD-40 on any lock. It may unstick the lock but will collect dust and you'll have another problem to deal with later. Try heating the key with a lighter and thawing out the lock. Thats always worked for me before they made keyless entry.
 
I don't have a problem with the key holes (keyless entry).



I'm going to put some dressing on the seals next time it thaws, clean the door jambs, and put some wax on the painted part of the door jamb where the seal makes contact.
 
As much as we don't seem to like them this is where the silicone products shine ( Hahaha a pun .. oh well ) Use the high silicone content tire dressing on the rubber .. GM made a dressing for the rubber that was a silicone emulsion and it works great in the cold also.. I wash my car a lot at anything above 32F and it drops below that after and I don't have issues.



A graphite spray on the rubber will also help.
 
BTW make sure you turn your locks every now and then. I seen a woman that couldn't get in her Jeep because the battery went in her key fob so the keyless entry wouldn't work and the locks wouldn't turn because she never uses them.



James
 
I would also recommend applying Gummipflege to the weatherstripping. That stuff is great. (I ordered a second bottle from David even though I've only used the first bottle twice and have almost a full bottle left!)
 
My dad always taught me for ice...



With a glove on, clench your fist, and like your banging on a home door, bang around the perimeter of the door. It has always worked for me.
 
Flexin said:
BTW make sure you turn your locks every now and then. I seen a woman that couldn't get in her Jeep because the battery went in her key fob so the keyless entry wouldn't work and the locks wouldn't turn because she never uses them.



James
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Good point! :up
 
Flexin said:
BTW make sure you turn your locks every now and then. I seen a woman that couldn't get in her Jeep because the battery went in her key fob so the keyless entry wouldn't work and the locks wouldn't turn because she never uses them.



James
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This happens often because I lose my keys and use another set quite often. :o
 
GSRstilez said:
My dad always taught me for ice...



With a glove on, clench your fist, and like your banging on a home door, bang around the perimeter of the door. It has always worked for me.
Click to expand...



That didn't work :( It is really really cold. :mad:
 
I used to have this problem sometimes too. Take a bucket with HOT water in it and pour it over the door. You might have to do it a few times but trust me it will always work. Just make sure that you wipe down the door after so its not wet, or you might have to sleep in the car lol.



:edit: Also, where ever the water hits the driveway, put some salt down. Ya don't wanna be like this guy :bounce though you might be a bit more po'ed then him.
 
Anytime I've had a problem with freezing it's been the lock and not the weather-stripping. I do detail my weather-stripping every week though. For a lock that's frozen there are deicers available but I've used a lighter and the key with success too. Heat up the key and the lock will thaw. Lube the lock with powdered graphite and not WD40 which will become gummy and attract dirt.
 
q_tip98444 said:
I used to have this problem sometimes too. Take a bucket with HOT water in it and pour it over the door. You might have to do it a few times but trust me it will always work. Just make sure that you wipe down the door after so its not wet, or you might have to sleep in the car lol.



:edit: Also, where ever the water hits the driveway, put some salt down. Ya don't wanna be like this guy :bounce though you might be a bit more po'ed then him.
Click to expand...



I would be very careful if you use HOT water to unfreeze the doors, when hot water hits the glass the thermal shock may cause the glass to crack/shatter.



JonM
 
TOGWT said:
I would be very careful if you use HOT water to unfreeze the doors, when hot water hits the glass the thermal shock may cause the glass to crack/shatter.



JonM
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Never mind the glass...how about the paintwork?
 
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