Car doors freeze, what should I do? How to open a frozen car door. How to lubricate doors so they don’t freeze even in the most severe frost


How open a frozen car door? Here it is winter morning– you go down to your car in the hope of getting to work or an important meeting on time, but the car doors are frozen and won’t budge. Don't despair, there are many ways to solve this problem and get into the car without any problems.

What to do if you're frozen?

  1. First, do not try to force the lock on the door. There are many known cases where drivers broke their keys and left their fragments in the lock. This all becomes another nuisance. Check all the other doors, you may be able to get into the cabin through one of them, and then use the heater to warm the driver's door lock.
  2. If you succeed in inserting the key, then try swinging the key in different directions. Along the way, you can apply light blows with your hand around the lock. If it was not possible to deal with the lock in this way, the same can be done with all the other doors.
  3. Matches and ordinary gas lighter. A preheated key will greatly simplify the task, but does not guarantee the desired effect.
  4. If you have a bottle of hot water, then you can attach it to the lock and periodically try to rotate it with the key. Thus, the lock can also be defrosted.
  5. If it is possible to run an extension cord, or the car is located in a garage where there is an electrical outlet, then you can warm up the lock using a regular women's hair dryer. Be careful not to hold the nozzle against the paintwork for too long, otherwise there is a risk of melting it.
  6. Many drivers use WD-40 as a defrost. Indeed, modern liquid allows you to easily open the lock in winter time. It can also be used as a prophylactic.
  7. Little known but effective way- These are exhaust gases. If you have a hose of sufficient length at hand, you can connect it to the exhaust pipe of a neighboring car and ask the owner to start the engine. At this time, you need to direct the flow of gases to the lock and hold it until the lock warms up.

If all the methods listed above did not help you, then a lock replacement technician will save you. You can call it by contacting the lock opening and replacement service. A specialist will help you open the car without damaging the lock or tearing off the handle.




What if the door itself is frozen?

  1. Just like in the first case, take your time and try to open the neighboring doors. Too sudden movements can tear the seal or break the door handle, which will cost you a lot of money.
  2. The only correct solution is a special product that prevents the formation of ice. By spraying it into the opening, you can quickly warm up the door and open it.
  3. Remember that in most cases it is possible to deal with the door that was least used. For example, you can enter the cabin through the rear doors or trunk.



How to prevent doors and car door locks from freezing?

Naturally, to avoid such problems, you need to prepare in advance. Long before frost, it is necessary to purchase special means to prevent icing of locks, as well as liquids that prevent freezing of doors to the seals.

The use of these products should begin after snow falls and after each winter wash. Such prevention will help you once and for all forget about what a frozen castle is. We wish you good luck on the roads!

Freezing of car doors is a fairly common occurrence during the winter season. You probably had to deal with him a large number drivers. This problem can be very annoying, because you have to drive fast, but you can’t even get inside the car. This all happens because moisture settles on the surfaces of the seal and freezes there. This provokes access restrictions.

But this problem can be prevented using a variety of methods. There are several interesting options, which allows you to get rid of freezing doors and related troubles.

Sealing rubber bands often cause problems. To eliminate this, it is necessary to use a special hydrocarbon composition to lubricate them. It is usually used to preserve certain elements of the vehicle.

Silicone polymer grease is currently considered the best option on modern market. It is characterized by reliability and ease of operation, and copes with low temperatures without much difficulty.

Read a detailed article dedicated to its application.

It can be used even in very harsh winters, when temperatures drop well below zero. But, if you don’t have a special lubricant on hand, it will be easy to use simple Vaseline, which is much easier to get. But using technical Vaseline does not give such a long-lasting effect.

Exist different variants lubricant packages, among which cans with a special sprayer are considered optimal. They are characterized by maximum ease of use and convenience. You can perform the procedure for processing door structures as quickly and simply as possible. Many modern automotive manufacturers offer such lubricants, which will allow you to choose quality option for specific financial opportunities. The composition in the form of a paste can also be applied to seals. It can be purchased in a small tube.

Silicone grease has many advantages in operation, among which it is worth noting the possibility of use in significant temperature ranges. A polymer film is formed on the door seal, which differs high level strength and durability. The basic properties of the film are maintained for several weeks. Therefore, during this period there will be no problems with freezing. Application is simple. Anyone can cope with this task. The special spray is especially easy to apply. You just need to apply it to the rubber, after wiping it.

Composition of WD-40 and its features

This composition is a very popular option with which various moving joints are processed. A thin layer of the substance is applied directly to rubber seals. This allows you to get rid of freezing for several days.

The product is produced in the form of a spray in a special bottle, which eliminates the occurrence of any problems in operation. All jars have a small tube that makes it possible to penetrate hard to reach places. The composition is applied quickly and easily to any desired place.

But this option is not only productive, but also quite dangerous. This is due to the fact that it can cause damage to plastic or rubber components. For this reason, experts recommend using the composition exclusively in emergency situations, when there is nothing safer and more suitable at hand.

Alternative options for preventing freezing

To prevent car doors from freezing, it is necessary to take appropriate measures. You can use water-repellent compounds that do not contain any dangerous elements. On the modern market you can easily find such a lubricant. It is produced by various manufacturers. The composition includes technical silicone, organic components, polyesters, etc.

Thanks to this, it is possible to create a reliable and durable film on the sealing surface, which is capable of maintaining its own elasticity over a long period. The composition is applied to rubber door elements in a simple form. You just need to apply the spray there and wait for it to dry.

There are also rarer means that can be used to protect doors from freezing. In very cold regions, animal fats may be used to protect the seals. This could be, for example, deer or bear fat. Such a remedy can demonstrate a good level of productivity, but its effect is short-lived, usually lasting about one day.

Doors are frozen: how to open?

If the owner of the car goes outside and cannot open the doors, there is no need to use increased effort or use something in the form of a lever. This may cause damage door design. To open the doors, they must be gradually loosened and untwisted until free movement is observed. Often, such simple actions make it possible to cope with the problem that has arisen and open the doors without causing damage to the seals.

You can try to get inside the cabin using other doors or the luggage compartment, which might not freeze so much. But, if freezing occurs after the car has been in the wash, all doors may jam equally strongly. In such cases, moisture penetrates everywhere, blocking the entrance from all sides.

If you couldn't open the doors mechanically, you will have to put it in a container warm water. The main thing is that it is not hot. It must be gradually poured into the place where the door structure freezes. It is necessary to pour carefully so as not to wet the seats. After opening the door, you need to start the engine and turn on the heater to remove ice from the remaining seals.

After defrosting the car, it is recommended to remove all moisture using simple paper napkins. Each cutter must be thoroughly wiped. After such an incident, it is recommended to lubricate the seals using a special material. This represents prevention of these types of problems.

Winter prevention

To avoid having to struggle with the doors of your own car in cold weather, it is necessary to periodically carry out preventive measures. The simplest and most productive option is to use silicone grease or a special composition about once every two weeks. This will help eliminate the possibility of the doors freezing, which will limit access to the car interior. It is important to use high-quality lubricant from a trusted manufacturer that meets modern standards.

Video: what to do if your car doors are frozen

Surely every motorist has experienced a lot discomfort when the doors in his car froze in winter. We provide effective and simple tips: what to do if the door seal on your car is frozen?

The culprit is moisture that gets on the surface of the seals - it can settle on them in the form of condensation or flow inside after washing. As a result, these rubber bands connect the door to the body, which becomes the reason for such an unpleasant restriction of access.

Let’s immediately decide what not to do if we find ourselves in such a situation!

These common mistakes can lead to sad and irreparable consequences:

Use hot water.
Use force to turn the key.
Bring the lighter to the car door.

But knowing the best way to lubricate the seals if your car doors freeze, you can survive the next winter season without such troubles.

Thrifty, economical and not in a hurry drivers should consider the following option, which will keep the rubber bands on the doors safe and sound. To do this you will need to follow the following algorithm:

  • Make sure the lock functions and is in the open position.
  • Remove the layer of ice on the hood of the car that may prevent the doors from opening. To do this, you can use a special scraper or a plastic object. suitable shape. It’s not worth demonstrating your strength capabilities in order to preserve paintwork car.
  • By lightly pressing and tapping on the corners of the door structure, try to destroy the layer of ice that has formed on the door seal. Do similar actions with each car door and even with the trunk in hatchbacks and station wagons.
  • If previous actions did not lead to a positive result, then WD-40 or its equivalent will come to the rescue. The product you choose is applied to the rubber seals, which after 10 minutes should soften and pull away from the body.


Preventing car doors from freezing in winter

To prevent all the troubles described above from upsetting you in winter, you need to prepare your car for future frosts. To do this, you will need to lubricate the lock with WD-40 or any other equivalent. This is easy to do - lubricant is applied to the key, which is then inserted into the keyhole and turned with smooth movements. It is better to carry out this procedure at positive temperatures. Lubricant is also applied to the seals. For these purposes, it is good to use silicone-based products or, again, WD-40. In extreme cases, technical Vaseline is suitable, but its application in winter will have to be repeated several times.

The best option presented on Russian market is a polymer silicone lubricant that withstands low temperatures even during the harshest winter. However, if it is not within reach, you can treat the car doors with technical Vaseline, although the duration of the effect in this case will be slightly shorter.

The best option is lubricant packaged in cans with a spray bottle - it allows you to complete all the necessary procedures in a matter of seconds. Liqui Moly, XADO, Forsters and other manufacturers offer their options for quickly saving a car from freezing. However, a paste-like composition can also be applied to the rubber seals, which is sold in small tubes - most often this is how Russian-made PMS-200 lubricant is packaged. The main advantage that silicone grease has is the ability to work in the temperature range of -50...+250 degrees.

In addition, it forms a fairly stable surface on the surface of door seals. polymer film, which retains its properties for 2-3 weeks, which allows you to get rid of the freezing problem for a long time. It is very easy to apply - especially if we are talking about a specialized lubricant for cars supplied in the form of a spray. However, before using it, it is better to wipe the rubber bands dry to prevent the formation of small drops that, if frozen, could damage the seals.

To prevent car doors from freezing, you can use special water-repellent compounds that do not contain hazardous components. This lubricant is produced by several companies - for example, TurtleWax, Wynn’s and others. It contains a small amount of technical silicone, as well as polyesters and other organic components, which are included in the composition to create a durable film on the surface of the seal that retains its elasticity for a long time.

Applying the composition to car door rubber bands is very simple, since it comes in the form of a spray. There are also exotic products that also help combat door freezing. For example, in the Far North and other cold regions, bear or deer fat is used to prevent restriction of access to the car interior. Such products effectively cope with freezing, but are rarely found on sale and allow you to get the effect for only 1-2 days.

These products should be applied carefully to prevent them from getting on seats and clothing. Silicone has the property of displacing liquid from any surface to which it is applied. The product in question forms a water-repellent film. Silicone grease can be applied to the rubber bands even immediately after washing.

If you come across good remedy, then just one lubricant can protect your car for a month or even until the end of the cold weather.

Since water is the cause of freezing car doors, it must be constantly eliminated. After each wash, thoroughly wipe the seals. Condensation can be avoided by leaving the car open for 5 minutes before parking. During this time, the temperature in the cabin and outside will become the same.

What to do if the car door is still frozen?

If the car doors are frozen, you should never try to tear them off by force or use an oblong object as a lever. To open them, first try to shake them, rocking them in and out within the limits of free play - in most cases this helps to cope with the situation without damaging the seals. You can also try entering through other doors or through the trunk if your car is a hatchback, station wagon, or SUV.

However, after washing, access to the car can be completely blocked, since water gets under the seals of all doors at the same time.

As a last resort, you can pour warm water over the door cracks, but not HOT! If all else fails, fill a two-liter bottle with warm (but not hot!) water, and then begin to slowly pour it into the gap between the door and the body, being careful not to wet the seat.

After pouring out about a fifth of the bottle, try shaking the door again and check if the seal is coming off. When the door is open and you gain access to the interior of the car, immediately start the engine and turn on the heater to get rid of ice on the seals.

When the car thaws, immediately take paper napkins and thoroughly wipe all the rubber bands on the car doors. In addition, it would be advisable to lubricate them before the next long stay, so as not to encounter such an unpleasant problem.

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With the arrival of winter, car owners begin to face continuous problems. Either the car gets stuck in a snowdrift, or it won’t start due to a frozen engine, or even you won’t be able to get into it at all, since opening a frozen door becomes very difficult. Often, when we are in a hurry to go to work or on important matters, the “dancing ritual” near the frozen car door becomes mandatory procedure. Opening the door in severe frost is quite difficult, and sometimes even impossible. Most often the problem is in the lock.

The lock or doors freeze because the heat source is inside, and the source of cold is accordingly external.

And due to the fact that high temperature differences occur, condensation forms on them, and when arriving in prolonged frost, it freezes. The lock is blocked. How to open a frozen door if you need to do everything quickly and wait until everything gradually thaws; there is no time or desire. Read on.

You will need:

Get to the salon

In unusual situations, think more broadly. Please note that your car has at least two doors, usually four, and in station wagons or SUVs, together with the trunk, there are even five of them. If the door on the driver's side does not open, try opening the others one by one, perhaps one will give way. Consider that everything worked out and you have solved this problem. To defrost the remaining doors, just turn on the stove or heating.

Put in a little effort

Ice is a fragile substance.

If it has covered a small surface of the door, you can simply try to break it and break it. To do this, knock on the door and pull it harder, especially near the lock. But do not overdo it, so as not to break the handle and damage your car. The same manipulation can be repeated with the remaining doors, as in the previous method.

Use a screwdriver

From available means, the best option would be a wooden or plastic lever in the form of a crowbar, a metal spatula, a small knife and other means that can be used to pry off the ice between the door and the car body.

To do this, you need to insert this object into the door gap and gradually, with little effort, chip away the ice from the door. This is a fairly effective method, but do not forget that it is also easy to damage the door itself or the coating of the car body.

Use electrical appliances

Of course, this is the simplest and quick way to quickly defrost the doors. But its downside is that it is not very practical. If you have an outlet on hand or an extension cord of suitable length, you can use a hairdryer and try to melt the ice-covered areas of the door.

Anti-ice remedy

Buy effective remedy from freezing. It is intended specifically for defrosting icy areas on a car. A special thin nozzle will allow you to reach inaccessible places, for example, door lock or narrow gaps. And the sprayer will quickly melt layers of ice over large areas.

Melt with hot water

When defrosting doors with hot water, it is important to consider that it will subsequently cool down and freeze. But if you urgently need to open the car in this moment, then pour hot water over the frozen areas, knocking on the door in this place. It will quickly melt the ice on the surface and you will open the door. On small areas freezing, you can attach a bottle with warm water, but in extreme cold this is ineffective.

Even residents of regions with less severe winters sometimes cannot open their car. This is due to temperature changes: the moisture accumulated during the thaw freezes, tightly gripping the lock mechanisms and door seals. As a rule, this happens when we are in a hurry.

How to open a frozen lock

On equipped burglar alarm You can open the car lock using the key fob. However, when low temperatures The battery often runs out and it becomes useless. Then you have to open the door with the key. And there are three ways.

Don't forget to check all the doors, not just the driver's door. Hatchbacks and SUVs can also be accessed through the trunk.

Method 1. Crumble

If the lock is slightly frozen and you managed to insert the key into the hole, try to crumble the ice inside by rotating the key from side to side. Proceed carefully and do not use too much force. Overdo it, and the remnants of a broken key will be added to the ice jam.

If the driver's door does not budge, try the same procedure with the passenger door.

Method 2. Gray

If turning the key in the lock does not work, you can try to melt the ice. The simplest thing is to heat the key itself with a lighter.

A more effective option is to insert a thin metal object into the lock and heat it, transferring the heat inside the mechanism. A hairpin, a piece of wire or an unbent key ring can be used as a conductor. If there are other cars nearby, try heating the lock with hot water.

What you shouldn’t do is pour hot water: in the cold it will immediately cool down and freeze, further aggravating the problem.

Another bad tip is to blow into the keyhole. The heat of your breath is still not enough to melt the ice, but the resulting condensation will immediately freeze. Moreover, if you are careless, you can even stick your lips to the lock.

Method 3. Defrost

It is best to use a special defrosting spray, the so-called liquid key. You just need to attach a small can to the lock and press the sprayer a couple of times. The alcohol-based liquid will melt the ice, and the lubricant included will prevent corrosion and protect against subsequent freezing.

If you don’t have a liquid key at hand, but there is a pharmacy nearby, you can buy alcohol and a syringe and inject the lock: the effect will be the same.

But you shouldn’t spray WD-40 and other kerosene-based liquids into the lock. They will help little against ice, but at the same time they will wash away all the lubricant from the mechanism.

How to open a frozen door

Unlocking the lock is only half the battle, because to get into the car, you still need to open the door. Due to the larger area, it, or rather the rubber seals, freeze to the body much more strongly.

Under no circumstances should you pull the handle with all your might: the door is unlikely to budge, but the handle may fall off. To open a frozen door, you need to tap it with your fist around the entire perimeter and press on it. This way you will crumple the seal, the ice on it will crumble and free the door from captivity.

You can also try rocking the car from side to side.

On hatchbacks and station wagons, try slamming the trunk sharply several times, if you can open it, of course. The air flow will push the door from the inside.

How to open frozen windows

There is no particular need to open the windows, unless you are going to wipe the side mirrors directly from the cabin. However, in order not to inadvertently damage the window lift mechanisms, it is better not to try to lower the icy windows before the interior has warmed up.

When the ice melts, the windows can be opened and also treated with silicone grease where the seal is adjacent.

And you should not clean mirrors with a scraper: it leaves scratches and can damage the anti-reflective coating.

If your car is not equipped with electrically heated mirrors, try removing ice from them. warm air. When the car warms up, point it through open window a stream of air from the heater,

How to keep your car from freezing

  1. Wipe door seals dry and treat them with silicone lubricant or spray.
  2. Allow the car to cool before parking it. Ventilate the interior by opening all doors and trunk to allow moisture to evaporate or freeze.
  3. Be sure to treat all locks with a silicone-based water-repellent lubricant.
  4. If the locks are constantly freezing, dry them thoroughly by placing the car in a warm garage or underground parking. The car will warm up and then all the moisture will evaporate.
  5. When leaving your car overnight, remove snow from the top and bottom of the doors.
  6. And don't forget to throw newspapers on the floor. They will absorb melted snow and the humidity in the cabin will decrease.
  7. Always make sure that you dry the car properly after cleaning. The washer must blow compressed air glass seals, windshield wiper blades, washer nozzles, as well as locks, door handles and the gas tank flap.

How do you get into a frozen car in winter? Share your tips in the comments!