Frozen doors

[Donnkirkland]

I have an 85 tercel with 316k the last couple of mornings it has been pretty cold and the doors all the way around have froze. Is there anything that i can use to help prevent this? I live about 40 miles north of Seattle. Thanks for any help.

[splatterdog]

Silicone lube applied to the rubber. Either aerosol spray or rub in some dielectric grease.

Ice has been a big problem around here this year. Seen a few broken door handles and stripped wiper shafts/broken linkage.

[Petros]

Welcome to the list!

You must not be far from me in Arlington WA. BTW, we have local Seattle area Tercel meets once or twice a year, you should join us!

There are a number of things that can be done, silicone is one, works well but the guys in the body shop will hate you since it is hard to remove later if you need to paint it. The other is to wipe the door seals with antifreeze, I have heard Vaseline wiped on it will work too, but since Vaseline is a petroleum product I do not know how it will affect the rubber.

[Donnkirkland]

Hi Petro's i bought this car from you about three years ago i think you refer to it as the grunt. anyway i bought some silicon and sprayed the drivers door. I couldn't even open the hatch! Ended up having to pour luke warm water on it i don't like doing that but i had to use the car. The inside windows were frozen as well.

[dlb]

i've always just poured hot water around the edge of the door. doesn't hurt anything, easy enough to do. i'll def try the silicone though, now that i know.

[marlinh]

I use stuff called Silicon Emulsion. It is available through GM dealerships, made by AC Delco. It works better than silicon spray which seems to last for a very short time, but it's great for windows. I would never use vaseline either. It is a petroleum product and could swell door seals.

[4doorVIP]

thanks for the good idea I broke my driver side door handle recently due to the our wet/cold weather we've been having