Door lock frozen

[Mr Pig]

My daughter is having a problem with her car. It's a Toledo but I reckon it'll be the same across the cars and more people read this.

The door freezes shut, the usual, but when she gets it open it then won't latch closed again. I've not seen it myself, I'm at work by the time she's up. I plan on having a look at the weekend but if someone knows what it will be it would help?

Thank you :0)

 

[black_sheep]

Silicon spray around the rubber door seals and door lock mechanism. Have a look at the specs to ensure lowest operating temp ie -35 or -50 deg C.

ie WD-40 have a specialist range to -35 deg C.

WD-40 Silicone Lubricant 400ml - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. WD-40 specialist high performance silicone lubricant that prevents parts from sticking. With integral smart straw system for ease of use. Use on wood, metal, rubber and plastic. Can be used on high pressure equipment. Withstands temperatures of -35°C to 200°C...

www.screwfix.com

 

[Mr Pig]

Thank you.

I was going to run Vaseline round the door seals and spray silicone grease on the locks. Just wondered if there was a specific point that would stick and cause the door to not latch. I reckon it will be the latch rocker itself but it's not a problem I've seen before I don't think. Usually once they open they work.

 

[Damo H]

Silicon spray around the rubber door seals and door lock mechanism. Have a look at the specs to ensure lowest operating temp ie -35 or -50 deg C.

ie WD-40 have a specialist range to -35 deg C.

WD-40 Silicone Lubricant 400ml - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. WD-40 specialist high performance silicone lubricant that prevents parts from sticking. With integral smart straw system for ease of use. Use on wood, metal, rubber and plastic. Can be used on high pressure equipment. Withstands temperatures of -35°C to 200°C...

www.screwfix.com

This ^

 

[Fishbowlhead]

Just encountered this as we’ve finally had some cold weather. All the doors sticking and also the boot latch as well. Bought some of the above to alleviate. Never had this on a car before.

 

[Mr Pig]

Just encountered this as we’ve finally had some cold weather. All the doors sticking and also the boot latch as well. Bought some of the above to alleviate. Never had this on a car before.

Some cars are worse for the doors freezing shut than others. The Seats seem to be quite bad. I guess it's just down to the design of the seals. In the past I've ran Vaseline over the door seals and that worked.

The boot latch is easy. Some spray grease into the sides where the pivots are will keep it free for quite a while. I removed the handle on our last Leon and worked thick grease into the holes in the sides, where the pivot pin is. Then I put some tape over the holes to keep water out. It never stuck again.

 

[stu_m]

Thank you.

I was going to run Vaseline round the door seals

Try something with ptfe or silicone in it as some vaselines contain petroleum that can eat away at the rubbers

 

[Walone]

I can't recommend this enough! WD-40 Specialist Anti Friction Dry PTFE Lubricant 250ml | Halfords UK excellent product and it's 'Dry'.

 

[moriarty]

I've had frozen door seals on every car I can remember (it's cold in Scotland) and I bought Gummi Pflege years ago. I applied it the other week to the rubber door seals but the doors were frozen solid again earlier this week and I noticed it's not the rubber but the outer brush seal that gets wet and freezes. I applied it to the brushes and 3 out of 4 doors opened easily early this morning (-4 C)
If the door has been opened from the inside, after first trying the outer handle, sometimes the mechanism is left part open and does not want to latch again. Hopefully start the car and idle it until everything defrosts and should free up the mechanism.
My friend's daughter destroyed a frozen door handle on his Tiguan by pulling on it too hard and that required a new handle.

 

[Mr Pig]

My friend's daughter destroyed a frozen door handle on his Tiguan by pulling on it too hard and that required a new handle.

I had a look at my daughter's car today and I warned her about this. I told her she could damage the handle or door if she pulled it too hard.

The rocker is free and working fine. It's the latch that locks it in place that's sticking, which is a pain as it's inside the door. I blasted some spray grease in there to see if any of it finds the right spot. If that doesn't work I'll need to take the door card off.

 

[chrisRibiza]

My old Ibiza driver door would have not closed at times. I just sprayed loads of lithium grease into the latch anytime it happened which cured it each time for a while.

Super annoying tho!

 

[RUM4MO]

I've had frozen door seals on every car I can remember (it's cold in Scotland) and I bought Gummi Pflege years ago. I applied it the other week to the rubber door seals but the doors were frozen solid again earlier this week and I noticed it's not the rubber but the outer brush seal that gets wet and freezes. I applied it to the brushes and 3 out of 4 doors opened easily early this morning (-4 C)
If the door has been opened from the inside, after first trying the outer handle, sometimes the mechanism is left part open and does not want to latch again. Hopefully start the car and idle it until everything defrosts and should free up the mechanism.
My friend's daughter destroyed a frozen door handle on his Tiguan by pulling on it too hard and that required a new handle.

Due to lockdown movement restrictions, I advised my daughter to buy that as her Leon started having that issue, I have a bottle/container of the stuff that Gummi Pflege uses - it is used in fridge systems as a seal lubricant.

This seems to be more a Skoda and SEAT door seal issue in as much as their supplier of the closed cell foam seals not providing quite the best product for this job, freezing up of the felt type section will happen on all VW Group cars but that in its self normally is not enough to make you give up - well not so far!

 

[black_sheep]

This seems to be more a Skoda and SEAT door seal issue in as much as their supplier of the closed cell foam seals not providing quite the best product for this job, freezing up of the felt type section will happen on all VW Group cars but that in its self normally is not enough to make you give up - well not so far!

Not seen a Mk7/7.5 Golf door to confirm your theory, but on our A3 and BMW 3 Series both cars have a full double door seal around the door and the door aperture and the rubber/brush seal across the top of the door, and neither have suffered with this issue. There was also much less road dirt/dust around the door/door aperture so I assume that this is also preventing moisture ingress into the cavity, which then freezes causing the frozen lock issue.

The Leon only has the rubber/brush seal across the top of the door and a strip of rubber seal across the bottom edge of the door and a full seal around the door aperture, but nothing on the leading or trailing edges of the door.