Hello,

 

ever since the winter showed up and the temparature has been below zero I have had trouble with both front doors.

The door handle will not budge and I need to open the doors by getting into the backseat and opening them from inside.

The locking mechanism on the driver side has been changed already once, since it broke when I tried to open the door. If I gently force the door open from the outside the door will not lock in place and will remain open, .i.e. will fly open in the next turn. The handle will not go back to its original position.

Once the car is warmed up then both doors work properly and can be opened from the outside. I use a heater inside the car for about an hour before I head to the office and the front doors still cannot be opened from the outside. When heading back home the doors will have frozen and once more I have to get into the car from the back... Getting hugely annoying!

 

So far I have tried WD40, power lube and lock oil without any difference. Oh yes and WD40 freezes, don't use that!

 

The garage is saying that its a Skoda problem and there is nothing they can do about it, whereas Skoda is saying that its not a Skoda specific problem and that the garage did a poor job...

 

Does anyone have a solution for this?

 

Cheers,

 

Scus

Welcome to the Forum.

 

WD40 is the Spawn of the Devil.

Water Dispersant that clears stuff of proper and long term lubrication and protection.

 

You need to Lubricate Properly, White Grease or Maintenance OIls, Dry Chain Dressings, & Rubber Grease where needed.

Silicone Spray possibly.

(There is another Better WD 40 that is the Proper Stuff, limited Availability.)

 

Use Rubber Dressing around the Door Seals & Window Seals & keep as dry as possible always in the cold weather.

WD40 is the Spawn of the Devil.

 

WD40 is a great product that has many uses. You just have to understand what it's for, and not use it when it's not applicable.

 

1. 1Z Gummi Pflege on the door seals

2. White grease / graphite grease on the moving parts inside the lock

3. If nothing else helps, heat up the door handles with a hairdryer untill they work.

 

That's all I got...

Thanks mate.

Will give the other options a go.

 

Interestingly the garage said not to use oils or lubricants, as it might damage the lock?

WD40 is a great product that has many uses. You just have to understand what it's for, and not use it when it's not applicable.

 

1. 1Z Gummi Pflege on the door seals

2. White grease / graphite grease on the moving parts inside the lock

3. If nothing else helps, heat up the door handles with a hairdryer untill they work.

 

That's all I got...

Have not tried white grease yet. Using a blow dryer will look kinda silly on the office parking lot before getting in

WD40 should adopt this sales slogan, 'Jack of all trades master of none'.

 

Always good to see how badly it can operate as a lubricant, like when people spray it on Push Bike chains and leave them a few days outside, 

only to find some rusty bike chain seized up.

WD40 should adopt this sales slogan, 'Jack of all trades master of none'.

 

Always good to see how badly it can operate as a lubricant, like when people spray it on Push Bike chains and leave them a few days outside, 

only to find some rusty bike chain seized up.

 

I think you do not understand what WD40 is. And this is also why so many people use it incorrectely, and then complain about it.

 

WD-40 isn't actually a true lubricant. WD stands for "water displacing" and its main use is as a solvent or rust dissolver.

 

The lubricant-like properties of WD-40 come not from the substance itself, but from dissolving components. And the effect doesn't last. WD-40 can be a good substance to start with, it can help clean up rust or other grime. But depending on what you're working with, you should probably follow up WD-40 with use of a true lubricant such as one based on silicone, grease, Teflon, or graphite.

 

Use it to un-seize things like rusted bolts, pins or to remove rust. And remember that afterwards, you have to clean the items and lubricate them correctely.

I think i understand WD40 having used it for decades for what it does work for, but many do not understand what it is for.

There, over lunch I used oil that is used to maintain weapons and only freezes in temparatures below -60 C. Lets see if it helped. Problem is that the door does not have a lock where to insert the key, so getting the oil into the locking mechanism is a bit tricky.

Any advice as to where to spray the oil / lubricant? Have sprayed onto the lock on the door frame side and pulled the door handle out, sprayed in there while moving it back and forth.

You have to pop the plastic cover beside the moving part of the handle towards the back of the car off to get at the keyhole on the driver's door. There's a little rectangular slot that the key fits in on the bottom edge of the cover to help lever it off. 

@ psycholist will this require any tools? Or will the cover beside the moving part just pop off? Spray in there then?

 

EDIT: I suppose you meant this:

Edited 22 January, 201511 yr by Scusbucked

On my car i normally go with Gummi Pflege on the door seals, and all the door shuts wiped down with Sonax BSD after every wash.

 

Gummi Pflege keeps the rubbers in good condition, and BSD helps keep the paint slick and water draining away quickly.

 

Hope this helps. 

Thanks samuir1974, the problem is the handle, it won't even move in the morning after a cold night. Will try what psycholist suggested and spray some oil into the key hole. Fingers crossed, will be back tomorrow with an update.

Thanks samuir1974, the problem is the handle, it won't even move in the morning after a cold night. Will try what psycholist suggested and spray some oil into the key hole. Fingers crossed, will be back tomorrow with an update.

 

OK - apologies for skimming over the post.

 

Still suggest a good clean around the affected area - plus a decent QD/Wax/sealant application to help the water leave the area affected. 

@ psycholist will this require any tools? Or will the cover beside the moving part just pop off? Spray in there then?

 

EDIT: I suppose you meant this:

 

That's the one - the tip of the key is the only tool you need to pop the cover off. 

That did not do the trick either... The handle is not budging. Its currently about -7 degrees. This has never happend to me at such temparatures, after -20 and more I could understand it. Looks like I will need to argue with the garage and Skoda again tomorrow... Grml

After doing some local research it seems that its quite common that the door handle freezes. All parts need to be taken apart dried and the properly greased, might even be a good idea to exchange the cable inside aswell. Just emailed Skoda with this info, lets see what they will say. Cannot do it myself, as do not have a garage to put the car and with this weather there is no way I am doing it outside. Blizzard coming up.

Edited 22 January, 201511 yr by Scusbucked

Good news, was able to presuade Skoda to take the car in and get it sorted. Obviously the sales person said that in his 7 year history with Skoda he has never come accross something like this Hopefully exchanging the cable and properly oiling the parts will do the trick. Will keep you posted.

Good news, was able to persuade Skoda to take the car in and get it sorted. Obviously the sales person said that in his 7 year history with Skoda he has never come across something like this Hopefully exchanging the cable and properly oiling the parts will do the trick. Will keep you posted.

 

Fantastic news - good to read this 

So in the end there was water in the door that kept freezing up at low temparatures, or so it seems. Temparatures have not been really cold, so a real test has been tricky. The garage just ordered one cable and did one door, need to assess things and if it did the trick will need to bring it back and get the other door done.

There, finally a cold night and presto changing the cable helped :clap: The driver side would open and the passenger side would not budge.

Now the other door needs to get fixed and hope that was the last of this bother.