We are extremely disappointed in the winter performance of our Model Y. This is our second winter and last year we had one day or so where weather lead to windows freezing to the seal so they were unable to open (which means we could not get in or out of the car). This year we have had several days already with this issue and frankly this makes the car unusable and unsafe (if we can't exit a vehicle when we need to, this is not safe!--and in this instance we had been driving for 30 mins with the heat on and still had frozen windows). There is more cold weather coming and we basically feel we can't use our car to go to skiing because of this (which is our plan over the holidays). We preheat the vehicle for up to 30 mins (sucking battery life if you have to do this every time you want to drive your car), have had Tesla put a special product on the seals and all this has not worked. We do not have a garage but really that doesn't solve this issue as we don't have garages at every destination. My husband went to bring the car into Tesla for servicing to see if they could add another coating of the spray on the seals and they refused to do this (they said that it should last three years --even when he told them it is clearly no longer working). Then when my husband tried to point out that it seems to be a major design flaw, he was told it was a "car problem, not a Tesla problem"!! What does this mean??? We are both so frustrated that we are now looking into what other electric vehicles we could trade it in for. If we had known that frameless doors would be so brutal in winter, we would never have purchased this car. I guess that is our issue for not doing enough research in that regard. Anyone else have any other solutions we can try before we give up on Tesla?
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Windows freezing and not being able to get in and out of our Model Y
- Thread starter readytotradein
- Start date
Upvote
0
VIN is 5YJYGDEE2LF045xxx
I know that there were early versions of the Y that had seals that were not treated with the hydrophobic products in the factory (ours was not) so they did it for us after we had our first issues last winter. Unfortunately it didn't work this winter when we had the perfect storm of moisture and freezing temps. It is doing fine in the polar vortex we are experiencing now because there is no humidity.
Upvote
0
richrootes
Member
It’s unfortunate that you’re experiencing this issue - though thankfully weather like this here in Vancouver is a little unusual
Have you asked the name of the product Tesla applied to the window seal? I’d have thought it should be quite easy to acquire and use
Good luck
Upvote
0
Clark_Kent
Member
I understand. FYI - when folks talk VIN on TMC they're asking for the first three digits only. It gives a sense of when the MY was built.
Upvote
0
we had a similar experience with our model S. No explanation as to why this would happen in a model S. We were stranded on the freeway with no cell service and doors that could not open from the inside or outside. Had to crawl out of the trunk.
Upvote
0
All,
Contrary to what's being said in this thread, this problem is *usually* caused by to ice on the rubber seals at the bottom of the window or around the trim, but not exclusively. I know from personal experience that it can be triggered by freezing in other areas inside the door and/or -- I think -- the motor just giving up for a while in such cases and needing to be reset.
I had this happen to me on a frosty night in Northern Virginia a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it was one of our coldest nights thus far, and there was a little bit of frost on parts of the car, like the frunk and door handles, but no real evident frost on the driver's side window seals or trim.
Per ususal, I just pulled my door open normally, not realizing that the "auto inch window drop" hadn't happened, and nearly broke the window. Luckily, it flexed enough to open without breaking (making a really loud, horrible, fingernail screech as it pulled out from under the metal trim).
It took me a minute to realize what had happened. Of course, with the window stuck fully up, I couldn't get the door closed. I'm lucky I realized it wasn't "auto dropping" or I would've just closed it normally and probably shattered the window.
I tried lowering the window and it wouldn't budge. I think there was something frozen *inside* the door mechanism, given the total lack of any frost or ice along the seals or trim. In fact, I didn't even hear the motor attempting to respond to the button anymore...it was as if it just timed out for a while and had given up.
Given that it's impossible to safely drive anywhere with the door un-closable, I called Tesla's emergency roadside assistance. They reminded me that the latest versions of the mobile app have a cabin climate preconditioning capability (not to be confused with battery preconditioning) and was able to start a climate and defrost preconditioning cycle from the app.
I had to cover the car with a large tarp and blanket to both hold the door closed and minimize heat loss. It took 20 to 30 minutes, but whatever was frozen inside the door eventually unfroze or some timer just cycled out and allowed the window motor in that door to work again.
I've had other frameless window cars before with electric windows, including in the Colorado Rockies. This never occurred on any of them.
R,
BIll
Contrary to what's being said in this thread, this problem is *usually* caused by to ice on the rubber seals at the bottom of the window or around the trim, but not exclusively. I know from personal experience that it can be triggered by freezing in other areas inside the door and/or -- I think -- the motor just giving up for a while in such cases and needing to be reset.
I had this happen to me on a frosty night in Northern Virginia a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it was one of our coldest nights thus far, and there was a little bit of frost on parts of the car, like the frunk and door handles, but no real evident frost on the driver's side window seals or trim.
Per ususal, I just pulled my door open normally, not realizing that the "auto inch window drop" hadn't happened, and nearly broke the window. Luckily, it flexed enough to open without breaking (making a really loud, horrible, fingernail screech as it pulled out from under the metal trim).
It took me a minute to realize what had happened. Of course, with the window stuck fully up, I couldn't get the door closed. I'm lucky I realized it wasn't "auto dropping" or I would've just closed it normally and probably shattered the window.
I tried lowering the window and it wouldn't budge. I think there was something frozen *inside* the door mechanism, given the total lack of any frost or ice along the seals or trim. In fact, I didn't even hear the motor attempting to respond to the button anymore...it was as if it just timed out for a while and had given up.
Given that it's impossible to safely drive anywhere with the door un-closable, I called Tesla's emergency roadside assistance. They reminded me that the latest versions of the mobile app have a cabin climate preconditioning capability (not to be confused with battery preconditioning) and was able to start a climate and defrost preconditioning cycle from the app.
I had to cover the car with a large tarp and blanket to both hold the door closed and minimize heat loss. It took 20 to 30 minutes, but whatever was frozen inside the door eventually unfroze or some timer just cycled out and allowed the window motor in that door to work again.
I've had other frameless window cars before with electric windows, including in the Colorado Rockies. This never occurred on any of them.
R,
BIll
Upvote
0
sleepydoc
Well-Known Member
I've had this happen with framed windows, too. It doesn't matter if it's glass or metal; The issue is water getting on the seal. Many years ago I had a Toyota with a door latch that wouldn't latch when it got below -10ºF. I'd have to drive around holding the door shut with one hand. I also had the windows freeze on that car several times.
Yeah, You're probably right about the flocking on the lower seal. Surprising they use that kind of material, actually, since it's not very effective at keeping water out of the door cavity.
The trick of spraying isopropyl alcohol (or methanol) should work to get it unstuck, though. The problem with putting silicone on the lower seal is that most products will tend to smear on the window as you lower it. I don't know if something like RainEx (essentially a silicone spray) would work or not.
Upvote
0
LOL. Reminds me of a problem with BMWs flagship 750 not starting in North Western Ontario. A group of engineers showed up in Sudbury with a 750 from Germany. They tinkered for a week, gave up and went home.
A mobile Tesla tech told me to try Mother's Spray Wax. I sprayed the whole window and let some soak into the seal at the bottom. Wipe off. I've only had one freeze since, but the windows didn't stick. Before I got the wax, the passenger side popped its actuator cable, so I have to lower the window from the drivers side before opening the door.
I've tried 4 times now to book a service for this on the mobile app, but the app has hung everytime before submitting! Almost ss frustrating as the windows freezing!
Upvote
0
A mobile Tesla technician told me not to use the alcohol or silicone, but rather Mother's spraywax. I let it smoke into the flox. Had one freeze so far and the windows didn't stick. I notice every time I put the window down and back up, it is covered with water droplets, which I wipe off and repeat. There seems to be a lot of water inside the door....
I believe the manual says not to use Rain-X as there is something in it that effects the glass coating and does something with camera visibility. I'm afraid to buy washer fluid....
Upvote
0
Similar threads
- Question