Doors frozen OPEN!

[blgN8]

Oct 25, 2020. Left Model Y outside in light snow for several hours. When I went to move car into garage, door handles were frozen, but broke free fairly easily. Door opened, but I found I could not close doors after entering car. Widow hit cold door seal hard - felt like window would break off if I persisted.

I could not role window down, and could not close door.

Thankfully, Car allowed me to drive with door open. Rear door had same issue.

After 15 min in heated garage, windows and doors worked ok. This is concerning, as normally (pre COVID) my wife would be parking outdoors at work and this would be a very big problem for her - not to mention, no where to go to thaw and close. We'd have to have car towed to Tesla Service Center.

 

[VikH]

Unfortunately during these transition periods where we get wet snow/rain with freezing temps this is common. You'll need to get in the habit of preheating the car 30 minutes before leaving.

 

[blgN8]

Unfortunately during these transition periods where we get wet snow/rain with freezing temps this is common. You'll need to get in the habit of preheating the car 30 minutes before leaving.

That's ridiculous. This even the cheapest car you can find does not have this issue. $63k car that cannot close it's doors in cold weather is a real problem.

Yes, your suggestion to pre-heat for 30 minutes may work.. but may not if you have already opened the door (as I had) only later to find out you cannot close it. Cabin and door would be hard pressed to warm up if it's left open.

Yesterday, when this happened, was pretty fair day here in MN, approx 30 deg f. You can see the water on the ground is not frozen. Can you imagine when it's -25 deg f?

The windows need to work - in all temperatures.

 

[Shateam]

This is a common issue with frameless windows and is not specific to Tesla. These types of threads, videos get posted all of the time during this time of year.

My previous car, a Mercedes had frameless windows and I experienced the same symptoms. But in that car I didn’t have the luxury of remotely pre-conditioning the car.

 

[P3dStealth]

That's ridiculous. This even the cheapest car you can find does not have this issue. $63k car that cannot close it's doors in cold weather is a real problem.

Yes, your suggestion to pre-heat for 30 minutes may work.. but may not if you have already opened the door (as I had) only later to find out you cannot close it. Cabin and door would be hard pressed to warm up if it's left open.

Yesterday, when this happened, was pretty fair day here in MN, approx 30 deg f. You can see the water on the ground is not frozen. Can you imagine when it's -25 deg f?

The windows need to work - in all temperatures.

I agree with you but most of the forum will defend tesla no matter what. It happened to me last winter multiple times. I am going to try anti ice spray this winter.

 

[blgN8]

I agree with you but most of the forum will defend tesla no matter what. It happened to me last winter multiple times. I am going to try anti ice spray this winter.

I suspect you're right. Still new to Tesla crowd. I've had many frameless window cars and never once had this issue. If this happened in a BMW forum, people would cry out against the injustice and stupidity of the design.

Seriously, my wife works down town and parks in open-air ramp. In MN gets darn cold. This will be a real issue if/when it happens to her.

 

[Mmackinnon]

I had the same issue happen with my 2018 ford raptor with electronic door opening mech. It was even a recall but after the fix it was the same so i just used deicer.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

I suspect you're right. Still new to Tesla crowd. I've had many frameless window cars and never once had this issue. If this happened in a BMW forum, people would cry out against the injustice and stupidity of the design.

Seriously, my wife works down town and parks in open-air ramp. In MN gets darn cold. This will be a real issue if/when it happens to her.

Frozen Windows (BMW)

 

[blgN8]

This is more than simply frozen windows.. with Tesla Model Y, I could not even come close to closing the door .. at 30 degrees F.


Anyway.. service call is scheduled.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

This is more than simply frozen windows.. with Tesla Model Y, I could not even come close to closing the door .. at 30 degrees F.


Anyway.. service call is scheduled.

Door Frozen Open (BMW)

 

[Gizmotoy]

This is more than simply frozen windows.. with Tesla Model Y, I could not even come close to closing the door .. at 30 degrees F.

Anyway.. service call is scheduled.

Right, but the fact you couldn't close the door was because of the frozen windows. Somewhat worse, if the window isn't lowered when you close the door it will damage the black trim piece where the window hits it. So unfortunately you might have trim damage too.

Frameless windows are kind of the worst. I kept a hair dryer in the garage on an extension cord so I could close the door on my 1990 Toyota Celica, which also had frameless windows, during Ohio winters. They make for a nice clean look, but are a PITA.

 

[P3dStealth]

Your door handles will also freeze solid. That was even worse for me because I'd be standing in the cold in a parking lot trying to break into my own car lol.

Think I am going to try this stuff this year on the seals around the window and the handles.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KB1RXNN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_uY3LFbXNSM9TJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Recommend the OP send this video to his local SC well prior to his visit so he won't have to drive there just to hear, "Within spec."

No need to waste the time or the trip if nothing is going to be done . . . .

 

[Altes]

That's ridiculous. This even the cheapest car you can find does not have this issue. $63k car that cannot close it's doors in cold weather is a real problem.

Yes, your suggestion to pre-heat for 30 minutes may work.. but may not if you have already opened the door (as I had) only later to find out you cannot close it. Cabin and door would be hard pressed to warm up if it's left open.

Yesterday, when this happened, was pretty fair day here in MN, approx 30 deg f. You can see the water on the ground is not frozen. Can you imagine when it's -25 deg f?

The windows need to work - in all temperatures.

Not if you designed the car in Palo ALto where its ALWAYS nice ( well they do get the occasional frost in the "winter")

 

[Saturday]

I live in Maine and my regular windows on my car freeze into place. I’ve always solved that so far by ramming an ice scraper with mild force towards the bottom of the window into the seal, sort of going across the whole thing once or twice over. That’s usually where the ice has formed. Worked for me but ofc your mileage may vary depending on the source of the freezing.

 

[P3dStealth]

Recommend the OP send this video to his local SC well prior to his visit so he won't have to drive there just to hear, "Within spec."

No need to waste the time or the trip if nothing is going to be done . . . .

Yea this is funny but true. He made a service appointment and they will tell you it's normal when you get there.

 

[TomServo]

Seems our man in Norway (Bjørn Nyland) would have experienced this over the years of owning Tesla's and reported this.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Seems our man in Norway (Bjørn Nyland) would have experienced this over the years of owning Tesla's and reported this.

I've owned Teslas for 3+ years here in MN. I have yet to have frozen windows or doors, but I also park in a garage or parking garage the majority of the time. That doesn't mean our vehicles haven't sat out in snowy/freezing conditions for hours at a time.

All manufacturers with frameless windows have this issue, it's simply a weak point in the design. It doesn't matter who manufacturers the frameless windows, there will be conditions that are just right to cause problems. Door mechanisms, too, are often a problem in cold weather conditions. One of the links I supplied from a BMW forum literally has the exact title of this thread, verbatim (except that they didn't pluralize "doors").

If your Tesla spends considerable time outside in cold conditions the two best ways to mitigate the issue are to use silicone lubricant on the window, door, and handle seals, and to preheat the vehicle.

 

[Saturday]

welp here is one guy's solution (you could skip to about 2 mins to see him attempt to open the door)

 

[blgN8]

UPDATE:

Spoke with Tesla. They are going to spray a Dupont product (prolly what P3dStealth suggested above, which I've ordered), check window calibration and.. fix my trim. See photo below, I noticed door trim piece dented and scraped from window glass hitting it.. which sucks.