Door issues and freezing temps - how are you making it through the winter?

[Darel]

Just bought my '09 S5 in May so this will be my first winter with it. It's already in the low 20s at night here, and I'm having issues with my doors / windows, wanted to see what you all are doing.

I'll be honest, the first time I got in an S5 when I was shopping and saw that window pop down to let the door open, I thought to myself, "oh yeah, THAT'S gonna be a problem". I was right.

First overnight freezing rain, doors opened, but windows never popped down. Didn't realize it until I went to close the door and clanged the window off the trim strip. Couldn't get door closed without dragging a heat gun and a cord out. OK, freezing rain, 1/8" of ice all over the car....I get it. Tough day.

Couple days later, just a normal frost, windows frozen up. Just from frost. Which we have virtually every day.

I used to have a Jag XJ-S that the doors were CONSTANTLY frozen shut, I used Sil-Glyde silicone grease (yeah the brake stuff...gotta have silicone) to lube all the weatherstrips and never had another issue. Did that on the S5, including the beltline strips, figuring they were freezing to the window and holding it up. The window doesn't seem to have an issue separating from the weatherstrip surrounding the door aperture.

Went out this morning, temp about 31 (which is NOT cold, especially for this area), and NO frost, car completely clear. The window did pop down, slowly, with effort. The door handle also stuck open until I slammed the door a couple times. Again there was NO frost, NO ice and I'd already greased the weatherstrip. The passenger window wouldn't go down (didn't try opening the door) until a good amount of heat had built up in the car, I was almost at work.

I'm thinking this car's gonna be tough to live with in the winter. By the time December rolls around I probably won't see a single high temperature above 20F until late March or April. Not kidding. I live on top of a mountain (in a town called Mountain Top) in northeast PA.

Those of you that don't live in sunny LA, how are you living with your S5 in the winter? Or are you not? I'm seriously worried here. Thing that really sucks is there's not even a way to put a remote starter on these cars so I can start it when I wake up and let it thaw a little!

Is there something better I can use to lube up the window rubbers and belt strips? How about carefully-applied silicone brake fluid? Anyone successfully gotten the door latches waterproofed / lubed?

I hate winter so much. So, so much.
Darel

[Neil F]

I have a Cab and yes the window come down to clear the edge of the top. Did not know the coupe did it also. Anyway, I only had my 14 through one winter and only once did I have an issue with the window not dropping when I did not clear an ice build up. Other than that under I did not have an issue.

[spensley]

Warm water (not hot).

[Darel]

So that it turns into a solid chunk of ice 20 minutes later? Nope.

[BrianVan]

I had a 370 that the windows popped down when opening and closing. But didn't drive in winter. Had a car with power windows parked outside and froze up and couldn't pay at the toll booth without working the window up and down for 10 mins while driving, OR just opening the door.
A BIG DIY is to make some sort of cover, like a windshield cover but fashion so its long and skinny and you can velcro it somehow inside the car so its semi tight around the weatherstriping at the base of the window. It will shield it from ice and weather overnight. The fact the window HAS to pop down to open door and its frozen would suck. Or even if you trailer-park hung a large towel\plastic over the window (pinched at the top) to cover the weatherstriping would help some and use soft covered magnets\weights to hold it down against the car. Sorry for the dilemma, but there's no real solution except park it in a garage.

[Darel]

Ugh. The garage belongs to either the TR6 (convertible) or the wife's M-B.....

[PEM]

I think it's an issue in general with cars that have the frameless windows. I find that opening the door isn't usually the problem if your window doesn't slide down, it's closing it. For me I'm usually able to just get in and roll the window down after a few minutes of blasting the heat and I'll be able to close the door after that. I did have one instance where I just had to drive with the door not fully closed, but still latched for a few minutes on side roads until I was able to roll down the window.

[Darel]

*sigh*


You can kind of make out one peeler there....

[11S5V8]

I live in Cleveland Ohio, not as much snow but no issues what so ever in the winter. going on my second winter with this car and it has 100k miles.

[Neil F]

OK, freezing rain, 1/8" of ice all over the car....I get it. Tough day.

**** Obviously that will cause a problem with any car that drops the window - normal and you have to clear it

Couple days later, just a normal frost, windows frozen up. Just from frost. Which we have virtually every day.

**** If your window is not dropping, there is something else wrong. Window motor getting weak? Check operation of the other side


Went out this morning, temp about 31 (which is NOT cold, especially for this area), and NO frost, car completely clear. The window did pop down, slowly, with effort. The door handle also stuck open until I slammed the door a couple times. Again there was NO frost, NO ice and I'd already greased the weatherstrip. The passenger window wouldn't go down (didn't try opening the door) until a good amount of heat had built up in the car, I was almost at work.

****Sounds like weak motors

Darel

I live in NJ and no issues with cold or snow. Ice and yes it needs to be cleaned

[Darel]

Have you guys treated your weatherstrip with anything? It's really acting like they're frozen in place.

[esfyve]

Use this, it should keep the doors from freezing to the trim. I believe a lot of dealers use it.

https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-9148.../dp/B004B8GTQG

[Darel]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot!

[Brry]

Hello,

Since it started getting cold my door sensor works randomly, i wonder if this is actually a problem caused by the cold. anyone have ideas?

[superswiss]

Ok, I live in sunny California, so no issues with doors freezing shut and I don't take my car up to the mountains in the winter. I've never owned a car with frameless windows when I was living in cold winter climates. Seems a bad idea. Tesla just pushed out an update to the Model 3 for this same issue. Their solution is to roll down the window a whole inch as you are opening the door. You could try rolling down the windows before opening the door. You can do that using the metal key. Just turn the key to the open position and hold it. The windows should start rolling down and the sunroof opens, so make sure to clear the snow of the roof first. You can also program the convenience open function with OBD11 etc. and then you can hold the fob open button for the same thing. The Gummipflege stuff doesn't do anything for winter conditions. It just keeps the rubber from drying out and cracking over time. It might help a little as a side effect. Honestly, as mentioned above already, the best thing would be not to park your car outside overnight. If I still lived in a cold climate, I would make sure I had enough garage spaces for all my cars during the winter. This way they also won't be freezing cold to get in in the morning. Even here in CA I park my cars in my garage to protect them from the elements etc.

[old guy]

I just park the A5 and drive the A4 ;-)

[Whinny SQ5]

I normally just used the snow brush to brush off the snow and then carefully used the ice scraper to get the ice off the windows of the S5 and SQ5. I hardly ever needed to use water. However, the water I did use never gave me issues turning into ice. I only used a little and then drove the car.

On a side note, I see you're from Mountain Top, PA. I'm so glad I don't gotta deal with Pocono Mountains winters anymore. I lived there for a few years and then moved to Central PA, and now I'm in beautiful California.

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Audizine mobile app

[Darel]

I did use the Gummibear stuff anyway, can't hurt. Dry / cracked rubber allows water to sit in it and then freeze, so why not.

I used Rain-X on the windows, since it does advertise a "non-stick" quality. Again, why not.

I've also been, as you say, doing the convenience-open thing with the fob as I approach the car. At least then I'll know if I should open the door or not.

I bought a 12v hair dryer that I leave in the trunk. Haven't gotten to that point. It's pretty weak but maybe just a couple of degrees of heat will help.

Wish I could remember what I used on my old Jag XJ-S rubber. Those doors used to freeze so solid it would take hours with the (real, 120v) heat gun before they would pop open. I treated the rubber with something and never had another issue again. I think maybe it was DOT5 silicone brake fluid, but I'm not 100% sure.

However the last 2 weeks have been somewhat milder, and it hasn't really been cold enough yet to freeze them up. We'll see.

@Whinny SQ5, yeah I'm pretty much done with winter. Not enough to move to CA (lived there for about a year) but maybe UT, VA or NC. My wife wants to retire in Montana (lived there too, loved it) but that's kinda contrary to my winter aversion.

[RockJGC]

I can't believe nobody mentioned silicone spray. It's perfect to lubricate door seals and they'll never get stuck in freezing weather again.

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-8007...one+lube+spray

[Darel]

I'll give that a shot too, thanks! I think I might have a variety of that, different brand, at home anyway.

[wkhanna]

a good quality 'dressing' on the rubber should help greatly.
it does here in western PA.

just make sure whatever you use is compatible & will not harm the rubber.

btw, the rainx is great for icy mornings on your glass....

[Ford Prefect]

I have a VW that does the same thing. But when researching this particular car (convertible beetle) it was the door handle switch contact. It is worse in the cold too.

How does the S5 actually work? Assuming it’s similar, when you touch or first start to operate the handle the window slides down right?




Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Darel]

The issue I have is with the window getting frozen in place. It's operating normally. I can hear the motor straining.

[Whinny SQ5]

I did use the Gummibear stuff anyway, can't hurt. Dry / cracked rubber allows water to sit in it and then freeze, so why not.

I used Rain-X on the windows, since it does advertise a "non-stick" quality. Again, why not.

I've also been, as you say, doing the convenience-open thing with the fob as I approach the car. At least then I'll know if I should open the door or not.

I bought a 12v hair dryer that I leave in the trunk. Haven't gotten to that point. It's pretty weak but maybe just a couple of degrees of heat will help.

Wish I could remember what I used on my old Jag XJ-S rubber. Those doors used to freeze so solid it would take hours with the (real, 120v) heat gun before they would pop open. I treated the rubber with something and never had another issue again. I think maybe it was DOT5 silicone brake fluid, but I'm not 100% sure.

However the last 2 weeks have been somewhat milder, and it hasn't really been cold enough yet to freeze them up. We'll see.

@Whinny SQ5, yeah I'm pretty much done with winter. Not enough to move to CA (lived there for about a year) but maybe UT, VA or NC. My wife wants to retire in Montana (lived there too, loved it) but that's kinda contrary to my winter aversion.

I think any of those places (except Montana) will have milder winters.

Now that I think about it... I always used synthetic wax on all of my windows/glass and rubber trim (and on the clear coat, of course). But that's something I did year round, not just for the winter. So maybe that's why I didn't have many issues.

Anyways... Let us know if what you did helps. I hope it does.

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Audizine mobile app

[Darel]

Me too, since I go to work at 3:30 am and don't feel like messing around with anything at that hour.

I lived in Great Falls for 6 years and honestly I still think the winters here in PA are worse. Never got much snow, because it was so windy storms just blew right through. And 20 degrees in MT is way warmer than 20 degrees in PA. Humidity works the same in cold as it does in heat - it definitely "sticks" to you more here in PA than it ever did. Never really needed more than a light jacket in MT.

[Darel]

Well, none of that worked.

Windows frozen again this morning. About 10 minutes with the little 12v hair dryer to thaw out the waist seal and the driver's door was ok. If I needed to take someone with me, and thaw out both doors at 3:30am that'd suck.

It's definitely the waist seal, because the door opened without resistance, and I just stood there blow-drying it with it wide open and flicking the switch until it dropped.

I will have to see if I can find that silicone spray and figure out some way to drop it down into the waist seal without getting it all over the paint or door panel. I had previously in this thread smeared some Sil-Glyde on all the seals, including trying to work some down into the waist seal, but obviously that didn't work.

Also wondering if maybe I dribble some Rain-X down into it....

[Wantboost]

I assume the gummi pledge didn't help either?
What's the waist seal ? Is it the rubber at the bottom of the window ??

Well, none of that worked.

Windows frozen again this morning. About 10 minutes with the little 12v hair dryer to thaw out the waist seal and the driver's door was ok. If I needed to take someone with me, and thaw out both doors at 3:30am that'd suck.

It's definitely the waist seal, because the door opened without resistance, and I just stood there blow-drying it with it wide open and flicking the switch until it dropped.

I will have to see if I can find that silicone spray and figure out some way to drop it down into the waist seal without getting it all over the paint or door panel. I had previously in this thread smeared some Sil-Glyde on all the seals, including trying to work some down into the waist seal, but obviously that didn't work.

Also wondering if maybe I dribble some Rain-X down into it....

[Darel]

Nope. The waist seal I'm referring to is yes, the one along the top of the door / bottom of the glass. I've been off for the last few weeks around the holidays so haven't had a freezing cold morning to check it lately, or the opportunity to get out there with the silicone.

[Wantboost]

Careful with the silicone . U dont wanna get it on the paint . I had this problem today with window not moving .
Which silicone u gonna try next ?;
Also us ure sunroof noisy when it's cold out ?

Nope. The waist seal I'm referring to is yes, the one along the top of the door / bottom of the glass. I've been off for the last few weeks around the holidays so haven't had a freezing cold morning to check it lately, or the opportunity to get out there with the silicone.

[ChaserBBS]

Car cover?

[Darel]

I don't use the sunroof ever.

I've had car covers on a few other cars in the past. Problem is the car needs to be spotlessly clean when you put it on. The S5 is my DD and I'm not about to wash it every night (thereby soaking the waist seals) in below-freezing temps, then still need to deal with getting the stupid car cover off every morning in the dark.

I'm just going to try the spray silicone lubricant next. The windows will probably get all streaky, but I guess that's better than them getting all brokey.

[HMS]

Been there - Usually I'l just go in through the trunk.

IMG_7395.jpgIMG_7396.jpg

Ps - I wonder if coating the window with a light ceramic coat will help the water just fall off and not accumulate.

[S5_SID]

What about installing a remote start, so you can heat the car before rolling the windows down?

[Darel]

Been there - Usually I'l just go in through the trunk.

IMG_7395.jpgIMG_7396.jpg

Ps - I wonder if coating the window with a light ceramic coat will help the water just fall off and not accumulate.

Wow, you are way more nimble than I am.

- - - Updated - - -

What about installing a remote start, so you can heat the car before rolling the windows down?

There aren't any.

[S5_SID]

Wow, you are way more nimble than I am.

- - - Updated - - -



There aren't any.

Check this thread out.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...for-S4-S5-B8-5




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darel]

Not for a manual trans.

[S5_SID]

Not for a manual trans.

Oh shoot didn’t see your signature on Tapatalk.

I used to live in Iowa I know how horrible ice can be. I’m glad that I live in sunny California now haha.


A Tesla forum recommend this product, not sure if it would work but worth a try.

[Wantboost]

Oh shoot didn’t see your signature on Tapatalk.

I used to live in Iowa I know how horrible ice can be. I’m glad that I live in sunny California now haha.


A Tesla forum recommend this product, not sure if it would work but worth a try.

Would u apply to outside of window or top ledge ?? Tesla recommends it for freezing windows ?

Sent from my SM-G950W using Audizine mobile app

[S5_SID]

Would u apply to outside of window or top ledge ?? Tesla recommends it for freezing windows ?

Sent from my SM-G950W using Audizine mobile app

Yes that is what they are saying. The problem is the same but they have a way worse problem of the actual door handle not popping out haha. They apply the solution in between the seals so it doesn’t freeze.

Another recommendation is

[ak_siberian]

Temperature this morning a hair under -40 . For what it's worth, come autumn I liberally coat all rubber seals (doors, engine, trunk etc.) with silicone spray. Key holes, with graphite. And for my mail box a butane blow torch. But then again I'm about 180 miles from the arctic...and neither my Touaregs nor the RS5 are plugged in.

siberian