Increasingly in recent years in the winter period there are unexpected thaws, which usually end with a sharp change of weather to a hard frost. In such a situation every motorist risks to get into an unpleasant situation, when the car doors, the gas tank hatch, the hood or trunk lid suddenly freezes because of the sudden change of temperature. Worst of all, you may get a situation where the frozen door stops giving in to the owner’s attempts to open it.
What to do if the car door or hatch is frozen?
The best option for removing ice from the moving elements of the door and the joints is, of course, blowing hot air from the hair dryer. However, if you can not get a hair dryer promptly, it will have to cope with “brute physical force”. It is strongly not recommended to pull the frozen door immediately with all your might. With such an approach at times increases the chance of breaking or tearing something. First, it is strongly recommended to gently knock on the door and all the parts joints with a soft hand. Even light tapping will make the ice move and in the long run will greatly simplify further attempts to open the door or hatch.
What to do if the lock latch is frozen?
The most unpleasant scenario is when the weather froze and iced the lock latch. In this situation, the lock is best heated with a hair dryer. However, if there is no such device in close reach, you will have to resort to less effective methods. The first way is to use silicon grease. Probably, it will help. It depends on your luck. The second way is to heat the key from the lock on an open fire, insert it and try to “work out” the latch. You have to be very careful not to break anything. Most likely you will have to heat and insert the key into the lock several times.
Is there any way to protect yourself from such situations?
The first and, in fact, the only thing you can do is to treat the door hinges, moving parts and all kinds of adjoining elements, such as gaskets. Door locks are strongly recommended from time to time throughout the winter to treat with a special antifreeze composition. The range of such funds in today’s market is wide enough, and cost a copeck means against frost. If you need to wash your car in winter, do not neglect the procedure of blowing the body to remove water droplets.