musthavemuzk Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 my car has been filthy dirty now for a couple weeks. but the weather has been too cold to wash it and leave it sit outside all night. well last night after work i had had enough of it and washed it anyways. while sitll in the bay i dried the door seals and all that good stuff. soo this morning i go out to start my car and i could not get in. so i go around to the pass side and nope. so then i go back around to the drivers side and nothing. at least nothing til i felt the door handle give and stay all the way out. so now i have a broken drivers door handle. and still unable to get in my car. after work i tried to get in the pass side but was trying to be careful so i did not break that one too. the top half of the door is free but the rest is not. i used a firm pound around the doors edge and still solid. i know i will have to replace the drivers handle now. i just hope i do not break the pass side. any tips on freeing the frozen shut door? ok now you can laugh. i know i did all day. i just could not stand my car dirty. and this is what i got for it. next time i think i will deal with a filthy car for a few more days. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Sorry to hear about your problems! I know I always got VERY nervous when the car doors got frozen shut. I would pour hot water on the handle so that it could move. If gently pulling the handle to end-of-travel didn't unlatch the door, I'd quit pulling and get more hot water to pour around the door. I would gently pull the latch to end-of-travel and put force at the top by the drip rail weatherstripping. Sometimes the door would come open, sometimes more hot water required. Anyway, I think you're going to have to try hot water on the side that's not broken, then open the other side from inside the car. As a prevention, be sure to use silicone on the weatherstripping. I use a spray, but I think a grease would work better because the silicone spray gets absorbed pretty quick. That will prevent moisture from building up on the weatherstripping and freezing the door shut in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctx46 Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 the door handle are a piece of cake to fix..... when you get your door open, remove the 2 skrews on the backing plate (right behindt the door handle) you can get it from there.... and for the un freezing of your doors... I have 2 word for ya..... and if you have a girlfriend like mine, you have 9 to choose from...... "hair dryer" sorry to here about this, I hope this helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPRACER Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 It's not the seals that freeze, its the bloody door latch mechanisms inside the doors, me I got tired of fixing and modifying the damn things, I installed a remote starter and let the thing thaw out before I even try the doors.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 all i can say is at least it happened here at home and not while out of town or while it was parked uptown or some other location. i have some of the silicone spray already, but it does me no good right now, but will be sure to apply it later. then either reapply frequently or get something with more stay power. too late to try the hot water tonight. sun is almost down. will have to try it tomorrow though. was planning on going in through the good door. then getting to a nice warm place for the handle replacement party. just hope i can find one locally. if not then i guess i hit up the search function of this place and see what i can find on that. thanx again Shawn Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 well some of my tax money was already marked for a remote starter. but since i do not have my tax stuff yet it does me no good. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 do your rear seats fold down for trunk access? maybe you could get in thru there? good luck joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 nope that was gonna be a spring project. find fold down rear seat and get her installed prior to car audio comp season getting underway at full steam. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toastemcutlass Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Hey that used to happen to my 86 all the time I used to carry around a squirt bottle with alcohol in it and would spray it all around the door jam when it got frozen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 hmmm interesting isopropyl alcohol i presume? Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeorge Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 you know last winter I had a Problem with My STE where the doors would Freeze open, and the Pass side would Freeze shut after someone got in. If i ever go to start driving that thing in the winter as a daily Driver Im going to put auto start in her. and with any car I always Turn my heat to all the way hot and half Fan befor I turn it off so that way in the morning I can Just go out an start it and Run my a$$ back in the house. and if I get an auto start no worrys about a Frozen door in the morning. Speaking of I better Start my STE for its warmup once a month soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCRagtopguy Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 How about warming it up with a hair dryer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Intl Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Perhaps winter formula windshield washer fluid would de-ice without stripping wax from the paint? Keep bottle indoors and pour at room temperature. Glad my wife insisted I install the remote starter with keyless entry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 i managed to score a new drivers side handle. well if you can say $55 plus tax a score. grrr then i gave the hot water a try on the unbroken handle side (the pass side) and got nowhere. i heard alot of ice melting and such but still unable to gain entry. but i gave up before i got frustrated and did something dumber yet. so in the morning we are gonna get the nipco heater and a hair dryer and give her a go. this is the first time i have ever had problems with hard to open cuz they are frozen doors. and i can only blame me for it. if i had not wanted a clean car so bad..... lesson learned the hard spendy way this time. cost me like 6 bux in quarters to wash her and then 2 days without her and then having to bum a ride to work and then so far 60 bux in parts. awful spendy car wash if ya ask me. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismellrealbad Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 well if you can kick that high, i know i can, i would have tried kicking hard enough on the part by the handle that it would have cracked whatever was holding it together. honestly im not going to let a stupid frozen door cause me to not have a car for 2 days. thats ludacris. i would have found SOME way to open the door wether it took 10 mins or 4 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 I personally would not kick the door handle. It would break for sure, they're rather fragile and don't like force. You might try a heat gun if you have one. They get very hot, very quickly. It should work, just don't leave it in one spot too long. I had to use one to soften some vinyl so I could get my new upper dash pad in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismellrealbad Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 not the door handle it self, it will certainly break, but some part on that pillar maybe just below it. some spot that wouldnt dent that you could do it hard enough to loosen it. of course the hair dryer, heat gun, hot water all all better ideas but thats just an all else fails situation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NORBI Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 This remained me of a story my friend told me that locked his keys in his car in Newark NJ, he couldnt open the door so he asked a guy that was just walking by to help him and he did by kicking his windows and braking it and he told him that now he should be able to get his keys now. I recommend doing same thing to get to the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 patience was definitely tried today. temps of -10 before the wind was factored into the equation. took 4 hours plus to get into my car and get the one handle replaced, but i got into my car. now i need to get the other handle and replace it as well. started with the blow dryer and got nowhere. then we got Gary's father in laws NIPCO heater and some tarps and made a tent. after about an hour there was no more water running off the door seams and still unable to gain access. so we got the door open enough to get a coat hanger inside and open the door from the inside. then we got the other door open and started her up. she went right away. not bad for sitting since wed night in this cold. cold fingers and cold metal did not mix well in doing the handle so we ended up with a tent on that side as well. definitely a spendy car wash. about 5 bux in quarters for that. then 60 for one handle. without car for 4 days. all the laugh and teasing from my stupidity of washing my car on the coldest day this winter cuz i could not stand a dirty car anymore. then i am gonna check the other local yard to see what they want for a pass side handle. then once that was done we went to Grand Forks. come home and i could not get into my place as the lock was froze. so it took the blow dryer to get into my apt. just not a good month for me. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 welp got the pass side handle today. hit the other local yard and it was cheaper there. not alot but still cheaper. they only wanted 50 plus tax for the pass handle. good thing is that both handles are shiny and new. so tomorrow i am gonna get that done since it is supposed to be about 20 or so for a high. i have to look at my door as well. with all the heat and cold and tugging and such i now have an air leak on the top rear of the pass door. hopefully it is easy to put back. what a spendy car wash though. and with the sloppiness today it dos not even look washed. but it was clean for 4 days though as it sat parked. longest it has been clean since i bought it. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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