door locks frozen

Anyone know the solution to frozen door lock latches on '96-7 Passat TDI's. Gaarvey VW in Glens Falls is useless...

Many thanks!

Same thing happened to me the other day. Thought I was being real smart by opening the trunk and crawling through to open the drivers door. Go around, jump in, try and start the car. Zip, nada. Flashing hazards clued me in to the fact that the immobilizer was still on. Duh!

Of course you can only turn this off by unlocking one of the front doors. Fortunately, by the time I figured this out, the key had warmed up enough to turn the lock. My first stop of the day was to buy some of that lock de-icer stuff. Haven't had to use it yet, so I hope it works.

Matt

Hey, dupp, you're in my neck of the woods!

The lock deicer spray works great. I used to carry it with me all winter when I had a 94 Golf.

Yesterday I stopped at a fuel stop to get coffee and left the engine running and the doors locked,but this time i left the key with the remote in the ignition. The door lock would'nt turn(I usually carry the remote and havent had a problem unlocking the door).The temp was around 5* so a quick solution was needed b4 I froze my a** off.After I dunked the key in the hot coffee a couple times...it opened. so always carry hot coffee!

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'98 Jetta TDI
'81 Rabbit S;R.I.D.,(rolled in ditch)

i had three vw's. frozen locks have always been a problem. my 92 jetta the whole handle would freeze. i had to hold the door closed while driving because it would not close.my 95 jetta, i carried lock deicer in my jacket pocket. my 98 jetta is even worse. the remote door locks don't always work even with new batteries. now the car has only the drivers side door with a key hole. that thing would freeze up on the equator in july. i'm thinking of buying stock in our lock de-icer company. i used over 4 so far this winter, aand winter is only one day old! also do not force the key in the lock. you have a good chance of breaking off that dust cover plate. i did on my 95, dealer fixed it under warranty.

One of the best way to prevent lock from freezing is to squirt some lubricant like WD-40 or Duralube. These lubricant displaces moisture without moisture its hard for a lock to freeze. I hope this helps.

You can also use a lighter to heat the key end enough to melt any ice within the lock. Found this trick out in the back country in Idaho one winter.