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Model 3 doors/windows/mirrors + Ice = trouble
- Thread starter richyrich
- Start date
Birdman325
Member
Same. Put the order in last night. I have had cars with frameless windows before and do not recall ever having a real problem (other than in some severe ice storms which are not the norm) but all these threads and postings have me really nervous about the 3 in the deep winter. (I was “cautious” enough about it re battery issues - let’s hope this does not become an everyday common occurrence.)
Are there many cars with frameless windows? I have never had one before my S, and in my opinion it is the single worst design feature of the car. It takes a fair amount of extra effort and precautions to be sure you can open and close the doggone doors in cold weather, just because of the frameless windows, so I think they are totally impractical for a car used in winter (especially if parked outside as mine is). My other concern about the frameless windows is the constant extra wear and tear on the window lift mechanisms -- they must work each and every time a door is opened or closed, adding considerable extra cycles to the mechanism.
I see absolutely no advantage of the frameless windows to offset these disadvantages -- do they have any advantage? If the car were a two-door coupe, I suppose it would make the car look more like a convertible. But on a 4-door sedan, they seem to serve no purpose whatever.
Otherwise, the Model S is pretty good in the cold, especially with the Sub-Zero package. But I agree that it is best to shut off the automatic mirror folding.
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-car-door-windows-without-frames-only-seen-on-expensive-cars
I'd only guess it's something like this, maybe because of the glass roof, plus it looks nicer! I've had frameless on my BMW 435i coupe previously, but never had any winter related issues with it
JohnSnowNW
Active Member
Many premium vehicles come with frameless windows, and as far as I'm aware it's almost exclusively aesthetic. As they're more complex you'll see issues with them pop up in vehicles from all manufacturers.
I have yet to have any issues with my windows, and our winters aren't exactly a walk in the park.
When You You stopped by with his Model 3 in February in the dead of night it was something ridiculous like -30C up in Vaughan, the only issue we found with a few dozen people poking and prodding at the car was the handle being stuck open.
I suspect there was rain or moisture causing these initial window issues, maybe even because it's not so cold and some of the snow is melting and dripping into the seams before refreezing. I'm hoping the silicone lube helps for that, but I am concerned about the handles being a bigger hassle than other cars. Anyone know if the silicone can be applied around the handle itself?
You have been lucky. Stay tuned -- with the right combination of temperature and moisture, eventually one or more of your windows will freeze in place. The trick is to preheat enough to melt any ice, or at least enough to allow you to easily scrape off the ice. The suggestion above to use silicone spray on the gaskets is probably a good one, too.
JohnSnowNW
Active Member
Well, due to the nature of our winters the Model X has either been in our garage, or a parking garage, and I always preheat the vehicle. I think I'll look into the silicone spray, too, as I see no reason not to take precautions.
How come Tesla didn't put a thin heater strip along the window jams to melt the ice during the preheat? Similar to the door handles. A small resistance heating strip during defrost would have taken care of this. Someone else mentioned a possible software improvement that would automatically direct the vent output heat towards the windows during remote warm-up to attempt to defrost the window seals.
Maybe someone here who can replicate the frozen lock and window issue can try altering the vents and see if preheat then fixes it. If it does then Tesla can roll it out as a software fix
Does the Model S have scheduled pre-heating? The other problem I'm having is the charge port (not the cover) failing to unlock and the solution for that is 2 hours with the car on HI and the rear seats down. Scheduled pre-heat would help.
I'm going to wipe the window seals with silicone spray tonight, hopefully that solves the window issue. Not sure what to do about the door handles - one of my rear ones never returns into place when I open the door - has to be manually pushed back. Maybe a spray of silicone in there too?
JohnSnowNW
Active Member
5_+JqckQttqck
Active Member
Neo_fd3s
Member
This has always been an issue with vehicles that have frameless windows. Eventually when the right circumstances occur, you will run into this issue.
While the frameless esthetics are welcomed (I personally don't like it...), they are especially cumbersome to deal with when the winter weather comes around. As far as I can see, the majority of vehicles that have these type of windows have the motor automatically lower the window a bit prior to the door fully opening.
The only vehicle I know that doesn't do this, surprisingly, is my 08 Miata PRHT. I found this a welcome feature. What the engineers did was give the window a small sway point prior to closing the door. So you go to open the door and the window slouches towards the driver when the window no longer has the frame of the roof and pillars for support. Which means the window kinda wobbles on the door by itself. I found it kinda weird but at the same time grateful they came up with this solution. Since this was my daily driver for 10yrs, when it came to winter time, I never had to worry about the window getting stuck in place preventing me from opening the door.
Amazingly enough, it held up against the winters very impressively. Never had any issues with the doors nor windows in the winter.
Too bad non of the Tesla models could incorporate this small little feature. I think it mainly has to do with the design of the overall chassis. Can't avoid not lowering the window a tiny bit since it'll prevent you from either opening or closing the door properly...
I much prefer my doors to have full frames around their glass... Having experienced what I did with the Miata, I'll forgo anymore hardtop convertibles for the forseeable future (provided I'm still living in this tundra..).
While the frameless esthetics are welcomed (I personally don't like it...), they are especially cumbersome to deal with when the winter weather comes around. As far as I can see, the majority of vehicles that have these type of windows have the motor automatically lower the window a bit prior to the door fully opening.
The only vehicle I know that doesn't do this, surprisingly, is my 08 Miata PRHT. I found this a welcome feature. What the engineers did was give the window a small sway point prior to closing the door. So you go to open the door and the window slouches towards the driver when the window no longer has the frame of the roof and pillars for support. Which means the window kinda wobbles on the door by itself. I found it kinda weird but at the same time grateful they came up with this solution. Since this was my daily driver for 10yrs, when it came to winter time, I never had to worry about the window getting stuck in place preventing me from opening the door.
Amazingly enough, it held up against the winters very impressively. Never had any issues with the doors nor windows in the winter.
Too bad non of the Tesla models could incorporate this small little feature. I think it mainly has to do with the design of the overall chassis. Can't avoid not lowering the window a tiny bit since it'll prevent you from either opening or closing the door properly...
I much prefer my doors to have full frames around their glass... Having experienced what I did with the Miata, I'll forgo anymore hardtop convertibles for the forseeable future (provided I'm still living in this tundra..).
It doesn't help. Someone posted a heat map photo and the door handles were stone cold after 30 minutes.
Did you use it on the handle as well? Or the part of the door where the window goes down into the door?
I'm going to try this out after also having my door and window stuck frozen shut.
Mine has been fine since it happened without any spray at all so the two aren't necessarily related. The problem here is what happens under specific conditions and that's also the concern - hard to know when issues like this might strike (like my stuck charging cable on the other thread). Silicone hopefully helps but we'll only know the next time we get those unique weather conditions.
