Frozen Door

Lance Allison

Requiesce In Pace October 20th, 2019
Joined
Jul 28, 1999
Location
Central Illinois
TDI
98 Jetta, Classic Green
I pressure washed my 98 Jetta the other day when it was about 20 degrees outside. After driving home (about 30 min), I found myself "locked" in the car. The door handle on the driver's side seemed as if it were locked. I cycled the power locks several times to no avail. The result was the same for both the inside and outside door handles. I assumed the door was unlocking, as the lock plunger was moving its full travel, but when the handle was pulled, it acted just like it was still locked.

I'm on crutches right now, so getting out the passenger side or the back would have been difficult. I finally closed all the vents except for the one to the left of the driver and cranked the heat. After about 45 minutes, it finally opened.

Anyone else have this type of problem? Short of not washing the car when its cold, is there anything I can do to prevent this?
 

Paul

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 1999
Location
LaGrangeville, NY, USA
Unfortunately, I believe this problem afflicts every VW that has ever been manufactured. I NEVER wash my 98 Jetta in the winter for exactly that reason. I have also had this trouble when it rained during the day and went down to freezing overnight.

A good lock lubricant with graphite helps, use plenty and don't be afraid if it runs down the outside of the door. If anyone else has found something better than the graphite stuff, please post ! From my experience, the older VWs were even worse, the door handle designs were really bad. I was hoping the new "pull" design would have been more frost proof, but it is almost as bad as the previous design.
 

Peter Cheuk

Gasser :P
Joined
Aug 31, 1998
Location
Daly City, Calif., USA
TDI
'06 Jetta GLI
You guys are writing about different related things.

Lance washed his car and the water froze his doors shut.

Paul is writing about frozen door locks.

I don't live in the snowbelt but I have heard about not washing my car with the temperature below freezing.
 

HowardZ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 5, 1999
Location
m
Maybe next time you wash your car in such cold weather you should use a hairdryer on the lock afterwards???
 

BeetleGo

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 21, 1998
Location
Cambridge, MA
TDI
5-door, 5-speed Golf GLS replaced BeetleGo.
I suspect this is not ALL that uncommon regardless of the car you drive.

I try to time car washings in the winter by doing it as early as possible on the milder days. And wipe the door seals dry.

Squirting lock lube into the keyhole periodically is a good, common sense thing to do.

Good luck.

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BeetleGo, crazy

Hey. Why don't you go for a nice, long drive or somethin'.
 

ThinkDiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1999
Location
Northern Virginia USA
I've heard that frozen door locks have been a problem on VW's for quite a while.. Allegedly, the A4 VW's have some improvements to correct this problem.

The graphite lock lubricant might help.. I am not too keen on the idea of leaving corrosive road salt on my car all winter, just because my lock might freeze up. Id rather try to cover the lock, or buy one of those heated key things that thaws the lock out.


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Ryan

1999.5 Jetta/Bora GL TDI
Atlantic Blue/Gray Studio
 

Dezl Don

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 21, 1999
Location
Cleveland, OH
Follow BeetleGo's suggestions. I have used aerosol WD-40 in past winters on other cars. WD-40 has a water dispersant agent in it -- it is real good for car door locks. But this winter, knock on wood, the doors or locks haven't frozen up. But, like BettleGo, I only get the car washed when it is at least a sunny day.

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Dezl Don
 
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