When you need to drive in a particularly cold region, you may occasionally wake up to find that your car’s door has been iced over so much that you cannot get into your vehicle. When this happens, try walking through the following steps in order to de-ice your door without doing any damage:
- First, see if you can get into any of your other doors. If you can just get inside your car, de-icing your other doors is a simple matter of turning on the engine and getting the vehicle warmed up.
- Once you’re sure that you need to de-ice your car, start with the keyhole. After all, you’re probably going to need to unlock your door. Try heating up your key with a lighter, then putting it into the keyhole. Repeat as needed.
- If you find that the key refuses to turn in the lock, then you may need to thaw out the lock. A hairdryer is effective here. Simply turn it on to its highest setting and point it at the lock for a few minutes.
- When the lock is freed up, work on the door’s seal with an ice scraper or a hairdryer. Once the seals are unstuck, try pouring some windshield wiper fluid inside to thaw out the ice that may be inside.
- Your job isn’t done when you finally get the door open. Wipe it all down to get rid of any remaining ice and moisture that may serve to re-freeze your door later on.
Should you experience any other problems with your automobile, bring it to our Seattle auto body shop.