One of the fun surprises that winter can throw your way is a frozen car door. If you handle this situation the right way, you can get into your car fairly quickly without damaging it at all. Here’s what Interstate Automotive wants you to know about dealing with a frozen car door.
Preparation and Planning Are Always Good
If you know that the weather is going to involve frozen precipitation or that rain is likely to freeze overnight, planning ahead is always a good idea. That’s sometimes easier said than done, however. Assuming that you do have time to prepare, spray lubricant and de-icing spray are great items to have on hand. You can use spray lubricant in the door locks of your car door and around the seals of the doors to help ensure that they don’t freeze shut. You’ll need to periodically reapply this overtime to make sure your car doors remain unfrozen.
Some Things You Shouldn’t Do
It’s natural to panic a bit if your car door does freeze shut, but that doesn’t help you do anything. You definitely don’t want to pour hot water over your car door. For starters, hot water freezes faster than even cold water does, so you run the risk of everything freezing more. You also run the risk of damaging your car by pouring hot water on it. Take the time to handle the situation properly so that you don’t end up with a worse situation on your hands.
Freeing the Door Properly
Take a look at what you’re dealing with before you try anything. If the ice is fairly light, you may be able to use some gentle heat to fix the problem. A hairdryer on low heat can melt some thin ice, for example. But you only want to use that for a couple of minutes at a time so you don’t damage glass or paint. The best plan is to push against the door gently with your body weight. This can help to break the ice and may make it easier for you to pull the door open. This is the best option if you can unlock the door with a fob.
Interstate Automotive in Eau Claire, WI can help you with these and other car issues. Give us a call today and we can set up an appointment to sort out whatever is going on with your car.