20 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 C) this morning in Hood River, Oregon after 2-3 days of heavy rain. No snow on the car, just frost on the windows and body. I started pre-warming the Tesla as I usually do. When I got out there I notice that the door handles took longer than usual to present themselves and the driver door wouldn't open. Didn't want to break the handles so I only pulled moderately hard. I tried the rear door and it opened OK but when I shut it, it wouldn't close all the way and when the window slid back up it hit the upper trim. Open and slammed it shut a few more times to line it up again. Driver door still wouldn't open from the outside. I entered through the rear door and tried to open the passenger side rear door using the inside handle. Nothing. I climbed into the driver seat from the back seat and tried opening the driver door from the inside. That worked!
I unplugged the car and was getting ready to drive away and the dash alerted me that two doors were open - the driver door and rear passenger door. I went around to the outside and was able to push the rear door closed but the driver door wouldn't stay latched shut. Also tried opening and closing the windows. The driver window opened OK but none of the others. It appears that the "gasket/liner" was frozen to the glass. I could see that it was trying to open but the gasket/liner was moving with it and stopping it.
At this point, I realized that the door and windows mechanics were frozen and I would just have to wait for them to thaw out. I plugged back in and cranked up the heat and just sat there waiting. The patterns of ice crystals on the windows were slowly melting starting from the top and moving down. After about 20 minutes things had warmed up and thawed enough that everything was working like normal again. Windows open and closed and all the doors opened and shut securely.
I don't have a garage. I figure a lot of moisture got inside the doors during the previous days of heavy rain and then froze overnight. Not of my other vehicles - which are also parked outside - a Prius and a Dodge Truck - had the problem of doors being frozen shut. Lucky that we can pre-warm the Tesla from the outside.
I am hoping that is just due to heavy rain followed by sub-freezing temps and that cold temps in general won't freeze me out of my car again. In the meantime, I'll pre-warm the car longer on especially cold days.
I unplugged the car and was getting ready to drive away and the dash alerted me that two doors were open - the driver door and rear passenger door. I went around to the outside and was able to push the rear door closed but the driver door wouldn't stay latched shut. Also tried opening and closing the windows. The driver window opened OK but none of the others. It appears that the "gasket/liner" was frozen to the glass. I could see that it was trying to open but the gasket/liner was moving with it and stopping it.
At this point, I realized that the door and windows mechanics were frozen and I would just have to wait for them to thaw out. I plugged back in and cranked up the heat and just sat there waiting. The patterns of ice crystals on the windows were slowly melting starting from the top and moving down. After about 20 minutes things had warmed up and thawed enough that everything was working like normal again. Windows open and closed and all the doors opened and shut securely.
I don't have a garage. I figure a lot of moisture got inside the doors during the previous days of heavy rain and then froze overnight. Not of my other vehicles - which are also parked outside - a Prius and a Dodge Truck - had the problem of doors being frozen shut. Lucky that we can pre-warm the Tesla from the outside.
I am hoping that is just due to heavy rain followed by sub-freezing temps and that cold temps in general won't freeze me out of my car again. In the meantime, I'll pre-warm the car longer on especially cold days.
