Frozen handle and windows.

[YauKwan]

Hi all.

There must be other owners in the north east coast dealing with this at the moment.

It was snowing followed by freezing rain two days ago. Yesterday I came out to stuck door handles and worst, frozen windows.

The reason it’s worst is because when you open the door the windows cannot retract messing up your window alignment.

So today I preheated the cabin for 30 minutes. Windows was still frozen but the retraction action broke the ice. My door handle was almost impossible to press because of ice.

Any ideas on how to prevent frozen handles? Or possibly thaw them?

My car is not garaged.

 

[Zaphod]

Probably buy some small aerosol cans of lock deicer. Spray it in the crack of the handle. Probably could spray along the base of the window as well. But yes, preheating would be best way for the windows. The issue with the windows is not specific to Tesla, any car with frameless windows has the same issue.

 

[DR61]

I have felt with this many times in California Sierras in winter on many makes of cars. Windshield de-icer spray can works well, or in a pinch (if not too cold) very warm water in a spray bottle sprayed on affected part.

 

[jsmay311]

Bummer. This is a bummer, man.

Might a few whacks on the handle with the bottom of a gloved fist break the ice loose enough to operate?

Otherwise, maybe using a de-icing spray that you keep in the trunk could do the trick(?).

As for the windows, I have no first-hand experience with frameless doors, but maybe the de-icer sprayed on the bottom of the window could help there too. I've also read that a credit card (or something similar) can be used to slide between the bottom of the window and weather strip seal to help break up the ice, probably after scraping as much ice away as you can with a regular scraper and/or using the de-icer.

I also read that if you run into problems with the window freezing to the door seal at the top of the window, applying a silicone spray (or something called Gummi Pfledge) to the rubber door seals where they contact the window once per month during winter can help prevent/reduce them from freezing together.

 

[DR61]

(or something called Gummi Pfledge)

Yes, I forgot about this - it is helpful.

 

[pharma5]

@YauKwan try the outdoor car cover:
Model 3 Car Cover

My Model 3 currently lives indoors, but I've thought about this as a backup plan.

 

[david_42]

Oh man! I remember winter in New Jersey. My dad had a rubber mallet he kept near the front door to break ice off of his car. Some years the ice would build up on power lines and cause blackouts. I also remember trees being stripped of any branch under a half-inch in diameter.

The preheat feature could be a real live-saver.

 

[Twiglett]

When I lived in NJ I used to put a piece of carpet over the drivers side windshield and around to the drivers door. Then used my remote starter to pre warm the car.
The carpet would warm up faster the bare metal and gave me a nice clean view out and easy entry.

 

[MarkS22]

This happened to me on my 3 with very light rain and then a freeze overnight. (And it wasn't an insane freeze... it was about 25F.) No ice was even visible on the door seam. Took over 30 minutes with the heat on to allow the windows to drop enough to close them. I tried shaking the windows and giving a firm thump, but nothing worked. The door handles were stiff, taking extra effort to push in, and they remained sticking out without pushing them back in. In 3 years, I didn't run into this problem with my S.

Most concerning...the exterior was dry and later in the day, I lowered the windows... when I brought them up, they were wet. So, it's like the seal is either retaining moisture or something inside the door is getting moisture in. The freeze then "locks" the window into place. Seems to me, they need a better seal.

 

[DFibRL8R]

Similar occurrence for me @MarkS22 and agree different than with Model S. The only time I had issues with Model S was very heavy visible ice conditions. For Model 3, despite no visible ice on windows/door, the handles stuck a little and window did not lower when door opened (door still seemed to open and close fine without causing window alignment issue as OP mentions). Later on when the thaw occurred, I also noticed the wetness on the lower part of the windows that emerged from below the seal.

 

[iluvmacs]

In 3 years, I didn't run into this problem with my S.

Strange, halfway through my first winter with my S, I've had both frozen handles and frozen windows...

 

[MarkS22]

Strange, halfway through my first winter with my S, I've had both frozen handles and frozen windows...

So many variables...

 

[DFibRL8R]

Thanks to warm temps, I washed and dried both cars (S and 3) yesterday evening. This morning, when I rolled the Model 3 driver's window all the way down and the back up, there was a lot of moisture deposited on the window. I'm thinking the gasket on the 3 is letting more moisture collect down inside the door than the S as @MarkS22 postulates.

 

[dss33]

Guessing you missed out on Elon's flamethrower sale a couple weeks back, yeh?

In all seriousness, perhaps a small butane torch is all you need. And BONUS - you can now make some pretty sick creme brûlée whenever you want.

 

[Zaphod]

This happened to me on my 3 with very light rain and then a freeze overnight. (And it wasn't an insane freeze... it was about 25F.) No ice was even visible on the door seam. Took over 30 minutes with the heat on to allow the windows to drop enough to close them. I tried shaking the windows and giving a firm thump, but nothing worked. The door handles were stiff, taking extra effort to push in, and they remained sticking out without pushing them back in. In 3 years, I didn't run into this problem with my S.

Most concerning...the exterior was dry and later in the day, I lowered the windows... when I brought them up, they were wet. So, it's like the seal is either retaining moisture or something inside the door is getting moisture in. The freeze then "locks" the window into place. Seems to me, they need a better seal.

Pretty much any car with frameless windows will have that issue. It's not necessarily a Tesla thing. Some are better than others, but never able to eliminate totally. My last 3 Audis all had frameless windows and just something need to deal with. Never bothered me.

 

[MarkS22]

Guessing you missed out on Elon's flamethrower sale a couple weeks back, yeh?

In all seriousness, perhaps a small butane torch is all you need. And BONUS - you can now make some pretty sick creme brûlée whenever you want.

I actually have one on order. Anyone know of a ceramic coating that will protect the paint from a “not a flamethrower”?

 

[DrComputer]

Yet another reason Franz needs to stop using frameless windows in all Teslas. This is an example of form over function. Frameless windows should only be used in convertibles where there is no roof for the frame to close against... not in a sedan or SUV.

 

[S'toon]

 

[mspohr]

Hi all.

There must be other owners in the north east coast dealing with this at the moment.

It was snowing followed by freezing rain two days ago. Yesterday I came out to stuck door handles and worst, frozen windows.

The reason it’s worst is because when you open the door the windows cannot retract messing up your window alignment.

So today I preheated the cabin for 30 minutes. Windows was still frozen but the retraction action broke the ice. My door handle was almost impossible to press because of ice.

Any ideas on how to prevent frozen handles? Or possibly thaw them?

My car is not garaged.

Hot water will quickly free up everything

 

[AndreN]

Hot water will quickly free up everything

Need to be careful pouring hot water on a freezing cold window. My dad did that when I was a kid and cracked the windshield.

My Model S window decided to freeze today. I stupidly yanked the door open but then couldn't close it while inside the car since the glass hits the brightwork. Can't force the window down manually either. I managed to close the door while outside the car by pushing/bending the top of the window under the brightwork. Then I tried to lock the car with the fob and the lights stayed on (car thought the door wasn't shut). I had to slam on the door just to get the car to turn off. Tomorrow I'll try using either a hair dryer or alcohol or something to unfreeze the window.