[Nicky]

I almost made a pretty big whoopsie this morning before I set off for work!

Came down to get in the car and set off but of course it was all frozen over - fair enough, this is pretty standard by now, unlock, get in, start the engine and get the heaters going, get out, shut the door and scrape the ice off.

I fell at the first hurdle with this though as all the doors were frozen shut Fair enough - so I trudge back up to the flat, get an old milk bottle full of hot water, come back down and pour this over the door shut and handle to free it up. Works a treat - I press the button on the handle, get in, start the car and then get out to defrost.

It was a particularly hard job this morning with the frozen snow so de-icing took a little longer than usual, but eventually I got it all scraped off and went to get back in - only to find that the door handle was starting to freeze up again (having poured water all over it...) and I was almost stuck outside my car, with 4 frozen doors, the keys (and the keys to my flat) in the ignition and the engine running!

A bit of force and wiggling and I finally - thank God - managed to depress the button and get in. Only the button was still stiff and was now stuck in, and so as I go to close the door of course it just bounces open again... fortunately still had a little hot water left and was able to free it up again.

Was very nearly the stupidest thing I've ever done though :lol:

 

[howell811]

:lol: I had a Kia once that I had to climb in the boot of and kick the door open from the inside !

 

[Nige005]

There have been lots of Threads recently which advocate using warm water to defrost locks and doors.

Not me though, precisely because of the problem you experienced !!

Don't be tight, use Deicer and make sure it's in your hand before closing any door again !

 

[Nev]

and make sure it's in your hand before closing any door again !

Wise words. Suitable for a number of situations.

 

[SnowAngel x]

I almost made a pretty big whoopsie this morning before I set off for work!

Came down to get in the car and set off but of course it was all frozen over - fair enough, this is pretty standard by now, unlock, get in, start the engine and get the heaters going, get out, shut the door and scrape the ice off.

I fell at the first hurdle with this though as all the doors were frozen shut Fair enough - so I trudge back up to the flat, get an old milk bottle full of hot water, come back down and pour this over the door shut and handle to free it up. Works a treat - I press the button on the handle, get in, start the car and then get out to defrost.

It was a particularly hard job this morning with the frozen snow so de-icing took a little longer than usual, but eventually I got it all scraped off and went to get back in - only to find that the door handle was starting to freeze up again (having poured water all over it...) and I was almost stuck outside my car, with 4 frozen doors, the keys (and the keys to my flat) in the ignition and the engine running!

A bit of force and wiggling and I finally - thank God - managed to depress the button and get in. Only the button was still stiff and was now stuck in, and so as I go to close the door of course it just bounces open again... fortunately still had a little hot water left and was able to free it up again.

Was very nearly the stupidest thing I've ever done though :lol:

Now that is an almost perfect description of what I did 2 days ago.
Except I went to the supermarket after that rigmarole, and forgot the door would freeze again. Luckily the passenger door was able open, and I was able to lean over and push the drivers door from the inside (after 4 attempts of trying to open it far enough to stay open and not too close it would just catch shut.) Luckily no-one was watching :lol:

 

[Nige005]

Wise words. Suitable for a number of situations.

:cheese::cheese::cheese:

Foot in mouth time for me again Nev !

P.S. Good to see you back. :thumbs:

 

[Nige005]

Now that is an almost perfect description of what I did 2 days ago.
Except I went to the supermarket after that rigmarole, and forgot the door would freeze again. Luckily the passenger door was able open, and I was able to lean over and push the drivers door from the inside (after 4 attempts of trying to open it far enough to stay open and not too close it would just catch shut.) Luckily no-one was watching :lol:

:lol:
Always keep some Deicer in your handbag T !!!

 

[SnowAngel x]

:lol:
Always keep some Deicer in your handbag T !!!

I don't have a handbag. If it doesn't go in my pocket, i don't take it with me.

I did buy some after that though. (just had a thought... I left it in the car. )

 

[Nige005]

I don't have a handbag. If it doesn't go in my pocket, i don't take it with me.

I did buy some after that though. (just had a thought... I left it in the car. )

:lol:
Oddly enough I have the same problem.

OK at home 'cos I keep some in the garage and some in the car but if you freeze up whilst away from home you could be in trouble 'cos naturally the Deicer is locked in the car.....

There has been some imaginative Posts about how to get around this recently !

 

[AlfistaUK]

Last year, after a couple of days of snow and freeze-thaw, I parked my 147 on my drive (which slopes upwards) to get out to open the garage door to put the car inside and, when I looked back, the car was sliding down the drive towards the main road, wheels stock still!

Note to self: This year, salt the drive EVERY morning!

Fortunately, although the car reached the road, it stopped there. Hearattack over.

 

[Toronto Spider]

I know this isn't any help, but I honestly can't believe the amount of trouble you guys have with your cars in the winter. It really baffles me.

For the record, I don't carry de-icer, I've never had my locks freeze (or at least they've never frozen badly enough to prevent me from entering the car), never had my handbrake freeze (or my alternator for that matter ), I've never, ever, ever even considered using hot water on my car in the winter (that's just asking for trouble), etc. Mind you, I don't drive an Alfa, so maybe that's the answer. :lol:

I do carry a brush/scraper (that gets hard and regular use) and a shovel (although I've never had to use it for motoring purposes), a blanket and spare boots and gloves.

I know this is more winter than you normally get, but even so, winter shouldn't be this big a deal.
--Toronto

 

[renone]

I know this isn't any help, but I honestly can't believe the amount of trouble you guys have with your cars in the winter. It really baffles me.

For the record, I don't carry de-icer, I've never had my locks freeze (or at least they've never frozen badly enough to prevent me from entering the car), never had my handbrake freeze (or my alternator for that matter ), I've never, ever, ever even considered using hot water on my car in the winter (that's just asking for trouble), etc. Mind you, I don't drive an Alfa, so maybe that's the answer. :lol:

I do carry a brush/scraper (that gets hard and regular use) and a shovel (although I've never had to use it for motoring purposes), a blanket and spare boots and gloves.

I know this is more winter than you normally get, but even so, winter shouldn't be this big a deal.
--Toronto

Its not only winter that's a big deal....if we get a summer and the temperature gets to 25c its a heat wave with an inevitable drought with a hose pipe ban, so we can't even wash our Alfa's! Then when it rain's we have floods and we can't drive as the roads turn to rivers! But hey, we do like our little drama's here!!:lol:

Seriously though, the issue with frozen doors is caused by our damp climate, lots of moisture in the air during the day which freezes as the temperature drops at night. Whereas in other cold climates the air tends to be dry. The cure for freezing doors is to rub Vaseline around the door seal and WD40 the door locks during winter. :thumbs:

 

[0of0]

...Seriously though, the issue with frozen doors is caused by our damp climate, lots of moisture in the air during the day which freezes as the temperature drops at night. Whereas in other cold climates the air tends to be dry....

+1 - totally different atmospheres / climates

 

[chillihound]

I almost made a pretty big whoopsie this morning before I set off for work!

I always try to ensure a good whoopsie is made before any journey in the morning!!!

 

[Toronto Spider]

Well other parts of the country may be dry (say Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta) but trust me when I say it's not at all dry here in southern Ontario. We worry about the humidex as much as we worry about the wind chill warning. There is a heck of a lot of moisture in the air all year round.

As for car washing and lawn watering bans, we've got those too. Even in years when we have plenty of rain. We've also got the deteriorating water and sewer systems that haven't been properly maintained in decades. It's becoming more and more common for watermains to burst thereby causing roads to suddenly become sinkholes swallowing up whole vehicles, or alternatively rushing rivers of floodwater, so trust me when I say I'm certainly not reading about anything that we don't experience here.
--Toronto

 

[V6Alfisti]

I found I had a bouncing door this morning (due to the lock surround sticking in).

Just stuck the key in and wiggled, popped straight out

 

[symon]

I had a similar problem on my 164 with frozen locks.

I managed to open the drivers door after adding some warm water, but as the other locks were frozen the central locking kept trying to lock the car.

I opened the drivers door quickly and started the engine and thought as long as I leave the drivers door open I will be fine until I can get in.

Then along comes my dad who was getting a lift...

He leaned accross the driver seat to put his lunch in the passenger footwell, and on his way out he closed the door and the car locked itself. So the car was locked, the engine running and my only key in the ignition.

We tryed the usual tricks to unlock the car, but I ended up breaking one of the rear 3/4 windows to get in.

My dad then put his arm though and when he tried to open the door he snapped the interior door release off.

To say I was annoyed was an understatement.

 

[lovelyred159]

Men do have a get out of jail card ( although if you get caught you may go to jail) for warm liquid in these occassions, women need some privacy and a container......!

 

[mave]

I know this isn't any help, but I honestly can't believe the amount of trouble you guys have with your cars in the winter. It really baffles me.

For the record, I don't carry de-icer, I've never had my locks freeze (or at least they've never frozen badly enough to prevent me from entering the car), never had my handbrake freeze (or my alternator for that matter ), I've never, ever, ever even considered using hot water on my car in the winter (that's just asking for trouble), etc. Mind you, I don't drive an Alfa, so maybe that's the answer. :lol:

I do carry a brush/scraper (that gets hard and regular use) and a shovel (although I've never had to use it for motoring purposes), a blanket and spare boots and gloves.

I know this is more winter than you normally get, but even so, winter shouldn't be this big a deal.
--Toronto

Baffles me too then - any tricks you'd care to share? How do you prevent locks freezing? How do you remove thick ice build up on the winscreen? How do you remove ice from the inside of the windscreen? How do you prevent your washer jets freezing? Or the washer fluid from freezing when it hits the screen? These are all problems I've had with any number of well maintained cars, not just Alfas

 

[bazza]

My parents managed to leave their house keys in the car the other night, park it in the garage, and press the button to close and lock the garage door as they stepped outside.
Luckily they had a son to call to take them a spare set of keys down.