frozen lock/door seals!

mattcymru

Active Member
Jan 31, 2007
184
0
Morning all :)

not sure if this is a common problem with older leon's (i have a yr 2000 one) but in this recent cold weather, in the mornings the door seals seem to freeze together and the doors wont open, no matter how much warm water you chuck at um!! also if ive been lucky enough to open the door, the lock seems to open but will not close, meaning the door latch wont close!!

can anyone please enlighten me or offer a resolution please!!!!

thanks :)
 

Fl@pper

Back older greyer and less oilier but always hope
Jun 19, 2001
12,370
26
Gloucester
mine have been freezing shut and got progressively worse all week but yesterday i went round all the seals and rubbers with a rag soaked in duckoil just to clean em up and give em some help

all doors opened sweet this am so looks good so far
 

Gordz

Caught The Mod Bug Again!
May 31, 2007
1,325
1
North East
I can open my doors fine (even at -18°C this morning), but the problem I have is shuting them again! Especially the drivers one.

But after sitting the car in the drive for a good 10mins to de-ice etc. the door magically seems to be able to want to close again, and I can't see what's stopping it from shutting though. Latch works fine, seals fine. Very odd!
 

LEE69

Stage 2 Revo'd
Dec 10, 2004
21,262
74
C\UK\Devon\Torquay
I can open my doors fine (even at -18°C this morning), but the problem I have is shuting them again! Especially the drivers one.

But after sitting the car in the drive for a good 10mins to de-ice etc. the door magically seems to be able to want to close again, and I can't see what's stopping it from shutting though. Latch works fine, seals fine. Very odd!

It's the exterior handle not returning properly and sitting flush, i have had that this week.
 

Alexis27

Active Member
Dec 20, 2009
2,104
455
Manchester
I've got the same issue with door just sealing shut. I think it's the hinge icing up - you need to put WD40 on it.

I can defrost the door with hot water, but it ices up later and I haven't got any WD to hand. I'm getting in and out on the passenger side atm.
 

Gordz

Caught The Mod Bug Again!
May 31, 2007
1,325
1
North East
I've got the same issue with door just sealing shut. I think it's the hinge icing up - you need to put WD40 on it.

I can defrost the door with hot water, but it ices up later and I haven't got any WD to hand. I'm getting in and out on the passenger side atm.

DON'T POUR HOT WATER ONTO THE DOOR HANDLE!!!!!!

I did this a couple years back with my Ibiza and it completely bust the lock mechanism as it expanded quickly and broke!
 

curryholic

Active Member
Mar 5, 2009
169
0
In zomerzet
I had the driver's door not staying shut (had visions of driving down motorway holding it shut!!) but after 10mins with the heater on and messing around locking/unlocking it seemed to sort it out!

The wife's touran doors have iced shut most days this week, I now just "tap" window frame with my fist and it seems to break the ice seal and the doors open fine, occassionally the handles stay open but then flip back in when you shut the door!
 

Dani_b19

Active Member
Apr 8, 2009
301
0
Mine's the same on my s3, the passenger door will open but then wont latch shut afterwards, freezes open.
 

vwbassett

Joined the Dark Side
Aug 13, 2007
963
53
Surrey
Last week was bad enough with frozen door handles so with the latest snow ive just given up and walked/used public transport - hate it but i know if i keep almost ripping the door handle off forgetting it will be frozen that im going to rip it off. Definitely needs some sort of grease but when im in its too dark or too damn freezing to care about. upside its saved me about £50 in fuel this month :)
 

NickyJam

FR - gone, not forgotten
Mar 17, 2008
1,669
0
SW LONDON
It's the exterior handle not returning properly and sitting flush, i have had that this week.

i had that the first night it froze...opened the door, sat in, tried closing but wouldn't. in the end the handle on the outside was still pulled out, simply pushed it back and closed fine
 

mattcymru

Active Member
Jan 31, 2007
184
0
ill give wd40 a try tonight on the seals and in the lock, hopefully have some effect!!

thanks for replies :)
 

mikeholroyd

Guest
Same again with my drivers door. Needed a hairdryer played on the outside handle before it would release so that it would latch closed.

Mike
 

Alexis27

Active Member
Dec 20, 2009
2,104
455
Manchester
DON'T POUR HOT WATER ONTO THE DOOR HANDLE!!!!!!

I did this a couple years back with my Ibiza and it completely bust the lock mechanism as it expanded quickly and broke!

Duly noted! The cap goes up and down with the remote control lock luckily.
 

mjt

Active Member
Jul 12, 2008
365
1
i had this problem last year when it was bitterly cold
kettle or 2 worked every time, just took a while for the lock to unlock, or pop back out if it froze open
 
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