The car doors are frozen what to do. How to open a frozen car door

Very often in winter it turns out that the locks in the doors of cars freeze, or the doors freeze to the body. This can be a big problem. Especially for those who need to urgently go, but it is impossible to get into the car.

How to open a frozen car lock

You can open a frozen car lock in several ways:

If you cannot open the car lock from the driver's seat, then it is worth checking if the other doors open. If you have a station wagon or an SUV, you also need to check the trunk lock. If at least one lock of the car succumbed, then we can say that the problem is solved. You can get into the car and, by turning on the stove, defrost the remaining locks with the help of heat from the car interior.
In the event that you managed to insert the key into the car lock all the way, then by turning the key in different directions, you can try to open the door while tapping on the lock itself, as well as around it. If one door does not give in, you can carry out this manipulation with the rest of the doors, but do not try too hard, you can break the key.
If the previous method did not work, you can try to heat the key with a lighter or matches and try again to open the car lock.
If you do not feel sorry for the coating on the car door, then you can try to heat the lock with an open fire.
You can also pour hot water into any container, such as a plastic bottle or even a balloon, and press it tightly against the lock. In this way, you can warm it up. In this case, you need to periodically turn the key.
If you have an electrical outlet near the machine or a long enough extension cord, you can try to defrost the lock with a hair dryer.
Also in the winter, it does not hurt to purchase a special tool designed to defrost locks in cars. It is better if there is a straw in the package, or the package itself will have a thin spout, in order to make it convenient to inject liquid into the car lock. After the liquid has got inside, insert the key and try to open the lock.
The lock in a car can also be defrosted using exhaust gases from another car. To do this, you need the car itself, a hose of the desired diameter and the owner of the car. One end of the hose must be put on the exhaust pipe, and the other should be brought to the lock and held until it warms up.
If none of the above methods succeeded, then you still have two ways out: either wait until it gets warmer, or call a tow truck and transport the car to a warm place.

How to open a frozen car door

It also happens that not only the locks freeze, but the car door itself freezes to the car body. There are also several ways to open the door.

As with locks, try to open each door.
You can try pulling harder on the car door. However, be careful not to break the handles or damage the machine. This method can also be used for all doors in the car. The door that is least used is usually the one that opens best.
You can also insert a wooden or plastic lever into the gap between the door and the car body. This method can help, but do not forget that such manipulations can wrinkle the door itself or the car body and also damage the coating.
You can purchase special tools to prevent freezing of rubber door seals to the body. In most cases, these tools help.
If none of the above helps, and if you have a certain amount of money, then again you can use the services of a tow truck and take the car to a warm place.

Prevention of freezing locks and doors in the car

It is best, of course, not to so that the locks in the car doors and the doors themselves freeze. To do this, you need to prepare in advance and carry out prevention.

Even in the autumn before the onset of frost you need to purchase a tool for defrosting car locks, winter grease for doors and a tool that preventing freezing of doors.

After a winter wash, you need to treat doors, locks and door hinges with special chemicals. Even if you're not going to the car wash, then such processing is still necessary.

If you regularly prevent freezing of locks and doors and have all the necessary special tools at hand, then even in severe frosts, you can easily get into your car.

Even residents of regions with not the most severe winters sometimes cannot open the car. This is due to temperature differences: the moisture accumulated during the thaw freezes, tightly grabbing lock mechanisms and door seals. As a rule, this happens when we are in a hurry.

How to open a frozen lock

On cars equipped with a burglar alarm, you can open the lock using a key fob. However, at low temperatures, the battery often runs out in it and it becomes useless. Then you have to open the door with a key. And there are three ways.

Be sure to check all doors, not just the driver's. Hatchbacks and SUVs can also be accessed through the trunk.

Method 1. We crumble

If the lock is slightly frozen and you manage to insert the key into the hole, try to break up the ice inside by rotating the key from side to side. Be careful, don't push too hard. Overdo it - and the remains of a broken key will be added to the ice jam.

If the driver's door does not give in, try to do the procedure with the passenger.

Method 2. Gray

If turning the key in the lock does not come out, you can try to melt the ice. The simplest thing is to heat the key itself with a lighter.

A more effective option is to insert a thin metal object into the lock and heat it already, transferring heat into the mechanism. A hairpin, a piece of wire, or an unbent key ring is suitable as a conductor. If there are other cars nearby, try heating the lock with red-hot .

What you should not do is pour hot water: in the cold, it will immediately cool down and freeze, further exacerbating the problem.

Another bad piece of advice is to blow through the keyhole. The heat of your breath is still not enough to melt the ice, but the resulting condensate will immediately freeze. Moreover, by negligence, you can generally stick to the castle with your lips.

Method 3. Defrost

It is best to use a special defrost spray, the so-called liquid key. A small spray can only be attached to the lock and press the sprayer a couple of times. The alcohol-based liquid will melt the ice, and the lubricant included in the composition will prevent corrosion and protect against subsequent freezing.

If there is no liquid key at hand, but there is a pharmacy nearby, you can buy alcohol and a syringe and inject the lock: the effect will be the same.

But spraying WD-40 and other kerosene-based liquids into the lock is not worth it. They won't help much against the ice, but they will wash all the grease off the mechanism.

How to open a frozen door

Unlocking the lock is only half the battle, because in order to get into the car, you still need to open the door. Due to the larger area, it, or rather rubber seals, freeze to the body much more strongly.

In no case should you pull the handle with all your might: the door is unlikely to budge, but the handle may fall off. To open a frozen door, you need to knock it with your fist around the entire perimeter and press it. So you crush the seal, the ice on it will crumble and free the door from captivity.

You can also try rocking the car from side to side.

On hatchbacks and station wagons, try slamming the trunk a few times if you can open it, of course. The air flow will push the door from the inside.

How to open frozen windows

There is no special need to open the windows, unless you are going to wipe the side mirrors directly from the passenger compartment. However, in order not to inadvertently spoil the power window mechanisms, it is better in no case to try to lower the icy windows before the interior warms up.

When the ice melts, the windows can be opened and also treated with silicone grease where the seal is adjacent.

And do not use a scraper to clean the mirrors: it leaves scratches and can damage the anti-reflective coating.

If your car is not equipped with electrically heated mirrors, try de-icing them with warm air. When the car is warm, blow air from the heater through the open window,

How to keep your car from freezing

Wipe dry the door seals and treat them with silicone grease or spray.
Let the car cool down before parking. Ventilate the interior by opening all doors and the trunk to allow the moisture to evaporate or freeze.
Be sure to treat all locks with a moisture-repellent silicone-based lubricant.
With constant freezing of the locks, dry them well by putting the car in a warm garage or underground parking. The machine will warm up, and then all the moisture will evaporate.
When you leave your car overnight, remove snow from the top and bottom of the doors.
And don't forget to throw newspapers on the floor. They will absorb the melted snow, the humidity in the cabin will decrease.
Always make sure that after the car is properly dried. The washer should blow out the glass seals, wiper blades, washer nozzles, as well as locks, door handles and the gas tank hatch with compressed air.

How do you get into a frozen car in winter? Share your tips in the comments!

The main reason locks freeze is moisture getting into the keyhole. There it freezes and expands, which makes it impossible to insert or turn the key, since the mechanism is blocked by ice. There is more than one way to open a frozen car door lock:

The consequences of locks freezing in a car can be very different. Incorrect defrosting may lead to the need for partial or complete replacement of the lock. Due to excessive haste or excessive zeal, it is possible to break the key, which, in the absence of a duplicate, is fraught with serious troubles. If you need to know what to do, and not try everything at random. And what are the options for fixing the problem, see the TOP 10 ways to open a frozen lock in a car.

Ways to unlock a frozen lock

When a frozen castle is found, the main thing is not to panic. You need to evaluate the situation and fix the problem in one of the following ways:

liquid key, it is also a lock defroster, it will always help to open the car when the door lock is frozen.
open fire in the form of a lighter or matches, it can also help open a frozen lock if there is no special equipment at hand or you are an opponent of similar things. It is necessary to warm the key with fire, and inserting it, try to pull it back and forth (very carefully so as not to break it). If the lighter has a directed flame, then the lock itself can also be heated, but this dangerously!
Alcohol or alcohol-containing liquids (cologne, eau de toilette) can also be used. After all, pure alcohol dissolves ice (actively releasing heat).
windshield washer fluid or in another way - anti-freeze, in extreme cases it can also contribute to thawing ice in the castle. But it is worth remembering that, as a rule, it contains isopropyl alcohol (an aggressive substance), moreover, diluted with water.
Warmer from a bottle of water or a bag filled with warm sand, often helps warm the castle.
Definitely not to pour boiling water into the well, as this can lead to water entering the electrical wiring.
cocktail straw, will help warm the lock with warm air, if you attach it to the keyhole at one end. Of course, you can simply breathe on it (in severe freezing it is not effective), but not only is it an additional source of moisture, which will turn into ice in severe frost, it is also very inconvenient.
Nut loosener based on kerosene (for example, WD-40) is also quite often used in order to open the lock in winter. But there is one "BUT" - it is worth remembering that such a substance is hygroscopic (as well as brake fluid), so it will help, but it will begin to absorb moisture and aggravate the situation the next time you try to open it. But what to do, the castle is frozen, and there is nothing else nearby. In this case, you just need to spray with a moisture-displacing lubricant.
Traffic fumes. A somewhat extravagant, but often effective method is to warm up if the lock is frozen in the car. You just need to find a suitable hose, which you need to put on the exhaust at one end, and substitute the other to the frozen lock (the same effect that mouth fuking gives).
Silicone Grease or other water-repellent liquid. It will help if the difficulty of opening the car door is created not by the lock itself, but by the sealing gum. When the snow (during cleaning) got on the seal, then first melted, and then froze (forming an ice edge).
If the door is frozen (ice has formed on the rubber seal), then in order not to tear the rubber band or tear off the door handle, you should not pull the door towards you, but rather push it to break the frozen ice.
Warm garage. If none of the above helps, you need to organize towing the car to a warm place where the locks and door seals could thaw. Although, before despairing, it’s worth trying to open the lock on another door, maybe not everything is so bad there, and then the interior heater will come into effect if there are no problems with the stove and it doesn’t.

Locks must be thawed carefully. In any case, remember that you need to be very careful when defrosting the lock so as not to damage the key, the door or the internal mechanism of the lock. So that there are no problems with opening the door, experienced car owners always treat seals, hinges and the lock mechanism itself with a special tool. By the way, a frozen lock and frozen doors are not the only problem, you need to try further, it can be quite problematic to do this, and if it is, then it’s even more difficult to move off.

The question of how to open the car door can arise in two cases: when the keys are left inside or when the doors are frozen in the car. These troubles, although not fatal, still make you nervous and can ruin your plans, and in some cases the vehicle itself.

Most often, this happens at the most inopportune moment, for example, when you are late for work, a meeting, a train station, etc. Opening a frozen car door is not so easy because an experienced driver is well aware of the possible consequences of such an unpleasant phenomenon , for example, a door can be opened by force, but this will not go unnoticed for the door itself, its lock and rubber seals. Today I bring to your attention several effective proven ways to open the car door if it is frozen.

So, let's say your doors are frozen and you don't know what to do.

1. The first way to unlock the "frosty central lock" is a trick! As a rule, not all doors grab the same, some of them in any case will be more pliable. So do not hang your nose, but rather check how things are with the rest of the doors. Do not forget that the trunk, no matter how, is also a kind of door, sometimes with its help it is possible to open the car door , which has frozen. Through the trunk, you can climb into the cabin, turn on the enhanced interior heating and - voila, after some 20 minutes the door will thaw and let you in or out. It is not necessary to wait for complete defrosting, if you are in a hurry, the most important thing is to get inside, and everything else is a matter of time, while you go to a meeting and work, the door will unlock itself.

2. The second way to open the car door , when the doors froze - chemistry. With the help of modern technology, scientists have managed to create a mixture that solves the issue of frozen doors, it is called - "liquid key" or anti-icing lubricant, if scientifically. Opening a frozen door to this method is perhaps the easiest, unless of course you have this very “liquid key” ... One of the most common mistakes motorists make is that they store this very anti-icing lubricant in the glove compartment ... It’s almost that the same as slamming the door and leaving the key inside the car. In winter, a bottle with a “liquid key” should be at your fingertips (in a purse, pocket, garage, anywhere but inside the car), it would be even better if you have several bottles, then you can leave one in the car, and another house, then you don’t have to puzzle over what to do if the car doors are frozen ...

Actual:

3. The third way is simple and primitive. This method is the only thing that can be done if you don’t have a “liquid key” at hand, all the doors are hopelessly frozen, and you only have keys and smoking devices from improvised means (lighter, matches, etc.). As you may have guessed, we are talking about heating the key through direct fire. To those who decide that it is necessary to heat with a lighter, I answer - no, heat it up, and not much, you need the key itself. The ignition key should not be held on fire for a long time, 5-10 seconds (depending on the type of key itself), the principle is this: heat it up then quickly install it in the keyhole, wait 1-2 minutes, try to turn it, if it doesn’t help, repeat the procedure. As a rule, already in 3-4 such attempts it is possible to open the car door.

Attention! Be careful not to melt the plastic case of the key or the chip with the microcircuit if you have .

An ordinary female hair dryer can be a great helper in this matter. Direct a stream of moderately hot air into the frozen well.

Attention! In no case do not try to melt the ice with water, pouring boiling water over the doors! This is a bad idea, of course it will help to solve the question, but it will add new problems to you, for example, after you open the door, the hot drops will cool down and block the lock again, only this time it will not be frost or condensate, but real ice! In addition, the laws of physics should also be taken into account, each of us knows what happens to a cold body that is splashed with boiling water ... The same thing happens with the paintwork, microcracks appear on it, through which moisture penetrates from the outside and when interacting with the body, it forms foci of corrosion. Learn how to take care of your paintwork.

It happens that it is not the door lock that freezes, but the doors themselves, that is, after washing or rain, moisture gets on the seal and after the temperature drops, usually at night, the doors freeze to death to the doorway. The solution to this issue is very similar to the previous ones and requires similar methods of struggle.

First of all, you need to carefully clean the ice crust around the door, if any, while you need to be extremely careful, careless scraping can remove not only the crust, but also your paintwork.
Knock on the perimeter of the door with your hand, the crust on the seal will crack from impacts and the frozen door will open. Open gradually so as not to damage the rubber seal.
Use anti-freeze (I also recently wrote about that ...) It contains additives that effectively fight ice, process the doorway with it, after a while you will be able to open the car door.
Use a hair dryer. As with the lock, a hair dryer can help you solve the problem by blowing hot, warm air onto the frozen areas. Do not overdo it so as not to damage the paint with excessive heat.

Prevention is always better than cure!

Timely implementation of preventive measures will allow you to avoid the above troubles. In your arsenal must be:

De-icing agents for the treatment of doors, seals, hinges and keyholes.
Low temperature resistant silicone grease.
Before leaving the car to spend the night, do not be lazy, remove all snow from its roof, as well as water, if any, this will minimize the likelihood of door freezing and all the ensuing consequences.
After a winter wash, it is quite easy to remove the ice from the seal, for this it is enough to open all the doors for a few minutes in the cold and let the moisture turn into ice. After that, it is enough to slam the door several times in order for the ice to crack and crumble. After that, he can safely close the doors and go home.

That’s all for me, thanks for your attention, I hope the article was useful for you and you won’t have a problem with it if, God forbid, it froze.

In winter, a nuisance often occurs with cars - freezing locks. In the presence of this problem, the door does not open, and if it was possible to open it and get into the salon, then after that the closing mechanism does not work, and the door cannot be slammed. What to do and which method to choose - read on.

The lighter is not your only assistant in this situation.

How to defrost car locks?

There are several ways to open a frozen door without harming the car. If you have a central lock, try opening it with the key first: it may not open with the alarm button due to a dead battery. Check if other doors open - you may be able to open one of them and the rest from the inside. If the key also does not open the lock, then you need to proceed with the following steps:

If it is slightly frosty outside, down to -2 degrees Celsius, then perhaps the doors have frozen slightly, and a lighter or matches will help open the lock. It is enough to heat the key slightly and insert it into the lock, but do not apply excessive force if the key still does not turn.
If the frost is stronger (-10 ... -15 degrees), then a kettle with boiling water will help. After a quick spray on the lock, use a moisture repellent silicone grease or WD40, insert the spray tube into the lock and spread the grease inside the lock. If this is not done, the liquid will freeze inside the lock, and you will not be able to open it again. Moisture-repellent liquid will clear the lock of water, and after 5-6 seconds it will open.
If there is a severe frost on the street (-25 ... -30 degrees), then boiling water will not help. It makes sense to use a syringe filled with medical alcohol. Insert the neck of the syringe into the lock and spray alcohol inside. This substance will melt the ice and evaporate, clearing the castle of ice buildup. You can use anti-freeze to clean car windows, but this method has disadvantages, since such liquids are diluted with water, and it is difficult to drive them out of the lock.
There are special "liquid key" aerosols that need to be sprayed into the lock.

What not to do

The following phenomena when opening a frozen lock must be avoided:

Do not fill the lock with gasoline or other flammable liquids based on gasoline.
The key must not be turned by force. If you break it, the door cannot be opened at all.

What to do so that the locks in the car do not freeze

To prevent the locks from refreezing, preventive measures are required.
First of all, make sure that there is no moisture in the castle. Before use, you need to wipe the key so that it is dry, and lubricate the keyhole itself with water-repellent silicone grease. If the door seals are frozen, you can defrost them with a hair dryer. It is undesirable to water with boiling water, as the rubber parts may crack; they are recommended to be lubricated with a special anti-icing grease.

You can lubricate the keyholes with WD40, there will be no harm if you also lubricate the inside of the lock that slams the door.

On a note

1.If you don't have alcohol or defrost fluids on hand, use WD40 or de-icing glass cleaner. However, it is better not to use such a tool for the central lock, as this will harm the lock.

2. If the locks are frozen, do not rush to disassemble them. For heating and drying, a household hair dryer is suitable.

3. Locks are often treated not only with special means, but also with glycerin.

4. A silicone-based spray helps a lot: it can both defrost locks and protect them from freezing. To increase the effectiveness of such a spray, you will need to add graphite dust to it. To do this, use a simple pencil, only the dust should be fine so as not to clog the lock with dirt inside.

5.Before you manipulate the lock, carefully inspect the larva: it may be covered with ice. Such ice is chipped off with a screwdriver or knife. In rare cases, the ignition lock freezes. In this case, use the same WD40 and a hair dryer to help defrost the lock.

6. You can also carefully heat the lock structure, but you need to do this slowly so as not to damage the plastic. The ignition switch contains contacts that can ignite, so the use of open flames in this case is unacceptable.

Possible difficulties

Locks can be a little tricky. If you have defrosted the lock, but the key still does not turn, or the lock seems to have opened, but the door still cannot be opened, then, most likely, the door gum has frozen to the body. With a little effort, such a door can be opened, but you should not pull the lock handle. It is required to gently pry the door with the same screwdriver or a narrow piece of wood so as not to damage the varnish. The lock may not close: this is due to moisture getting into the internal mechanism. If you managed to open the door, lubricate the hinge and the closing mechanism of the lock with silicone grease. It does not hurt to lubricate the rubber bands of the doors.

A kettle of hot water does not help in all cases, because the locks can freeze from the inside. Then it is better to use a syringe with alcohol or hot water. Steep boiling water cannot be used, otherwise the syringe will melt.

Another surprise may be frozen buttons that open the lock from the inside. If you managed to open at least one door, you will need to turn on the stove in the car, and after 10 minutes the locks will open, but you should not wait until they freeze again. Lubricate them with a moisture-proof lubricant.

Find out how professionals beat ice on doors

Conclusion

With proper prevention, car locks will not let you down at an unexpected moment and you will not experience problems with them in the winter. If the lock is still frozen, be patient and deal with it in the ways described above, avoid using hot water, as it freezes again. Do not use brute force, as there is a risk of tearing off the door handle.