Central Locking- doors won`t open in v cold weather

[shesgotone]

Got a problem on 5dr 98 model, but only in very cold weather.
Unlock the car either with the key or remote, all the door buttons come up but can only open the back doors. Have to get in, start the car and when its warmed up inside, the front doors will open.
Could it be condensation in the cl vac pump/ pipes freezing?
Can I disconnect the central locking pump to stop it happening?
Is there another way of opening the doors if it happens again (without using semtex)?

 

[markarse]

I would have thought that if the lock pins come up that the CL system is probably working as it should.

Is it possible that the doors are actually frozen shut? On my old Peugeot the driver's door didn't fit so well, so if there was any moisture between the door and the seal it would freeze when cold and make it impossible to open.

When you pull on the door handle does it actually feel as if it's operating the door-opening mechanism? If so, my guess is that the doors are frozen as above. If not then there's a problem with the mechanism which may or may not be down to the cl.

It's easy enough to disconnect the cl pump if you think it'll help - it's in the boot on the driver's side near the fuel filler in a foam cube. On mine, the connector can be removed by squeeaing it. If you have a look you'll see what I mean.

 

[Steve]

If you have tried opening the door with the key, then surely you are bypassing the central locking on that door, which means the problem must be somewhere else?

 

[shesgotone]

Will check with the missus later to make sure I`ve got the story right, but as far as I can recall from last time it happened, when she tries opening the doors the handle moves ok, no additional resistance, but nothing in the lock mechanism is moving, if the door was frozen due to moisture, lock would open but the door wouldn`t.
Will disconnect the vacuum pump overnight and see what happens.

 

[Steve_B]

Had exactly this problem on mrs steve_b's car this winter, hers is a mk3 ibiza so I'd guess would be a similar locking mechanism, the problem was the lock freezes.

The way I fixed it was to get some de icer and carefully spray some onto the key and then put the key in the lock. If any gets on the paint wipe it off so that it doesn't damage the paint. Do this a couple of times and the lock should free off, and the door opens.

The weekend after this happened I put some 3 in 1 oil into the lock and not had any problems since.

If it's the door seals that are freezing to the door, then get some new engine oil and smear some all round the door rubbers, wipe off any excess otherwise it'll get dirt on it and rub off on your clothes. Had this one a couple of winters ago and since oiling the rubbers not had a problem with the doors freezing, just the locks now

 

[shesgotone]

Ok thanks, will try that.

 

[WeeC]

Had this problem but it was merely the doors freezing shut because of moisture, the actual locking mechanism was fine

 

[golden]

Me too had it with my previous cordy, not happened on this one but the doors actual freeze shut put warm water round the seals along roof and down door gap to unfreeze the lock the doors are actualy open just very tight.

Golden