Un-freezing locks...
- Thread starter EatSleepFly
- Start date
any chance your windows are manual? then you could try to pry the window down and open it from the inside....
I like the WD40 trick but warming it up might blow up the can and if the hot water froze, i couldn't imagine what WD40 would be like frozen!
and if Celine Dion doesn't work - maybe the car is suseptible to clay aiken breaking the ice?? haha
I like the WD40 trick but warming it up might blow up the can and if the hot water froze, i couldn't imagine what WD40 would be like frozen!
and if Celine Dion doesn't work - maybe the car is suseptible to clay aiken breaking the ice?? haha
EatSleepFly
Well-Known Member
Well, hot tap water wasn't working so I boiled a sponge and carried it out with an oven mitt. That worked, now I just gotta squirt all kinds of de-icer in there. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
pilot602
If specified, this will replace the title that
Yes, car locks freeze (and if you're really unluck the entire door freezes to the frame of the car) in very cold weather. One of two things happens - the most common is water (from melted snow/ice/drizzle/etc) finds its way into the lock and then freezes causing havoc with the moving parts of the lock. The second (and kind of rare) is the metal actually contracts enough to cause the lock to not operate properly. The end result is the same - the lock can not be moved.
The really sucky thing is when the door (actually the door seal) freezes to the frame. Usually happens with freezing rain or sleet. Water/ice gets in around the door gap and into the area that is very hard to access (i.e. break/get rid of). Ever tried pulling a door open thats frozen (on all four sides) to the car frame? It SUCKS.
Usually this only hapens if a car is left outside (not running) for a period of hours (like over night).
The really sucky thing is when the door (actually the door seal) freezes to the frame. Usually happens with freezing rain or sleet. Water/ice gets in around the door gap and into the area that is very hard to access (i.e. break/get rid of). Ever tried pulling a door open thats frozen (on all four sides) to the car frame? It SUCKS.
Usually this only hapens if a car is left outside (not running) for a period of hours (like over night).
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
My door was frozen shut this morning. And it was only like -8c out. I guess when I shut it last night there must have been some water on the seal. Anyhow, I had to climb in from the back (it's a jeep cherokee, so no big deal) and kick the door open from the inside. I'm going to miss the snow and all, but I really can't wait to move to somplace that doesn't get below freezing.
Ethan
Ethan
it gets sooo cold sometimes (like i remember up in the UP or wisconsin) that we'd have to take the battery out of the car for fear of the battery freezing and not being able to start the car... and i remember in my younger years when it would be somewhere between 2-4am and the horn on the car would just start going off... the water/ice in the car and or engine can put the horn in contant honk mode! now THAT was annoying & scary....
I don't miss those nose freezing days! at all....
I don't miss those nose freezing days! at all....
tonyw
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Tony, just look in the "J. Crew" catalog we all know you have and order another one!
Or are you an "Orvis" type of metrosexual?
How are those slippers, by the way? haha!
[/ QUOTE ]
I love the slippers! They are very comfy and they keep my feet warm.
But no Orvis or J. Crew catalogs for me! I think that Lands End keeps on sending me their catalog but I never order from it.
Wait a minute, though. I do order out of the REI catalog. Oh, man. You got me.
Tony, just look in the "J. Crew" catalog we all know you have and order another one!
Or are you an "Orvis" type of metrosexual?
How are those slippers, by the way? haha!
[/ QUOTE ]
I love the slippers! They are very comfy and they keep my feet warm.
But no Orvis or J. Crew catalogs for me! I think that Lands End keeps on sending me their catalog but I never order from it.
Wait a minute, though. I do order out of the REI catalog. Oh, man. You got me.
TheShortOne
Well-Known Member
what you mean like yesterday...our first day of class - the high was 6 degrees. windchill was like -5. today it's mildly warmer at 19 degrees with a windchill at 11. i started wearing my longjohns under my jeans because jeans freeze when its so cold out and it sucks to walk in them. it should be down right steamy this weekend at a blistering 25 degrees.
oh car locks freeze my friend...actually i think that might be what has permenantly damaged my passanger door lock. it no longer is a power lock, i have to manually open it for people, even though the rest of them are power locks. it started out in the freezing cold not working and just progressed to not working at all. ever.
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EatSleepFly
Well-Known Member
It must be warmer in DC than here in Ohio. Dumping liquid water all over my door is the very last thing that I'm going to do when it is less than 10 deg. outside!
It was freezing out here today. Up around 8000' or so
Antifreeze should do the trick for you though. Fun to watch it work, just don't eat the green snow if you test it out. Watched some guys at the airport at the folks lake house in the winter once pour it on the wings. Said his paint is still holding up, for the once or twice a year he may do it. I was glad to be driving the Jeep (power door locks are cool, though it only gets down around 15-20F there on the coldest nights). Always have antifreeze around to winterize the place when leaving, so poured a little in the snow, and the stuff melts away fast. Fun to watch. Oh, and helps to get it warm too.
Antifreeze should do the trick for you though. Fun to watch it work, just don't eat the green snow if you test it out. Watched some guys at the airport at the folks lake house in the winter once pour it on the wings. Said his paint is still holding up, for the once or twice a year he may do it. I was glad to be driving the Jeep (power door locks are cool, though it only gets down around 15-20F there on the coldest nights). Always have antifreeze around to winterize the place when leaving, so poured a little in the snow, and the stuff melts away fast. Fun to watch. Oh, and helps to get it warm too.
