Frozen locks

[RedJettaTDI]

I'm so excited. This my first post here. I live up in central Canada where it gets pretty darn cold up here. Night time lows have been -35 to -40 farenheit. I have had my 1998 Jetta 4 door for 1 year and everytime that I wash the car, the door locks freeze. I thought if I used a lock de-icer that it would help. The problem seems to be coming inside the door with the latch. I can lock and unlock the doors with my key and can pull the handle but the darn doors don't open. How do I get in you ask? Through one of the back doors. i usually have to drive for about 2 hours with the heat on high and the vents pointed at the doors. Even doing that seems to be a task these days. I know that this is a problem since I have heard it from 2 other peoplea friend at work who has one and from a gentleman at the dealer who ask the service man not to wash his car. The only solution that I could think of was to open the door panel and see what can be done. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[dzcad90]

Welcome to the club. My 97 does this. It's horrible that it does this, and it's obviously a poor design. When I install my power window kit this weekend, I'm going to look at what can be done to improve on this design.

[ February 10, 2003, 20:36: Message edited by: dzcad90 ]

 

[Birdman]

Are you sure the rubber door seals are not frizzing up and holding the door closed. I have had that happen? using a good rubber dressing and making sure they are dry helped me.

 

[RedJettaTDI]

Birdman, the rubber is not frozen and holding the door locks. I wish it was and then I could give the door a good kick. I only try to wash my car once a month in the winter and when I do, I gotta make sure that I get the interior really hot and vents pointed at the doors. I'm thinking of opening the door panel and checking. But that is about 3 - 4 months away until it warms up. Otherwise I'll see what dzcad90 can see when he looks at his. Thank god I have a 4 door Jetta. My friend from work has a 2 door Golf and has to go through the hatchback. I'm thinking I may have to pull the back seats down in case i have to get in through the trunk. lol

 

[MITBeta]

There are numerous door problems with the A3/B4 line...

I'm not sure if what you've described is what is outlined below, but at the very least the pictures should give you a good starting point:

http://tdi.natescape.com/doorfix.asp

 

[Captain_Chaos]

You can laugh all you like but when my doors are frozen shut i just go back inside, fill a pitcher with hot water then pour it over the top of the door and down the sides......usually then it opens with no trouble.

 

[jason a.]

A little dab of chapstick in the keyhole before washes will keep it moisture free. Might also be worth opening the inside of the door and spraying the whole setup with wd40 a couple of times a year...say every other time you replace the clips.