Stupid Panda... again.

Left for work at 7:15 this morning, locks frozen, doors frozen. Deicer got the windows sorted. Couldn't get in the boot, had to use a 2 litre bottle of warm-ish water.

... then had to demist inside. Of course I had ice on the windows inside too.


I left work at 9pm, I got into the car at 9:15. I left the carpark at 9:25. :bang:
Interestingly the heater was frozen too, the recirculating air slider wouldn't move. (The flap under the bonnet musta been frozen.)


I had the keyhole open and I fired 14 gallons of deicer into it, didn't help.
I'm thinking of getting a lighter and heating my key.


What does everyone else do? Those fancy people with garages can go away.

If you squirt plenty of wd40 into the locks & buttons that should help - makes a horrible mess down your doors but if you get enough in there it should displace the water which is the bit freezing.

This usually works until it gets to minus silly degrees. At that point I tip a kettle of boiling water onto the lock - nothing's broken yet, but don't do it on the glass! Of course then you have to do the wd40 bit again.... :spin:

Unfortunately ice on the inside is more of an issue - unless you try a cheapo tub type dehumidifier to suck the moisture out (but no quick cornering once the tub has water in it!!) you have to wait until it gets warm enough inside to melt it. :bang:

If your pouring water on the locks it will work...but later on the water will freeze.

Clear the water out....or wait for a dry day and oil, grease or wd40 where you can. Or leave the boot unlocked. If someone wants to steal something they just break a window. The boot shows no sign of being unlocked.

The only reason I got into the car when I left work, was I managed to get into the boot.

I have left it unlocked for tonight.

Hmm I have seconds thoughts on saving for a Panda of my own soon. I'd like to be able to get in and out of it everyday....

Push the key in the lock, while the flap's open get as close as you can and blow into it this should thaw out the mechanism so you can open the door.

A little deicer in the washer bottle often helps.

A top tip for side windows, keep them clean. The cleaner the surface the easier it is to scrape frozen condensation off.

spray your door seals with wd40 to stop doors freezing shut,

hold the little flap in on the locks and pump loads of oil in, wd40 is too thin and because it is for freeing rusted parts it washes all the lubricant out the locks what you should do is strip and oil/grease the lock ready for winter and while the door trims off oil the window runners etc.

open the windows and spray in the rubber where the window slides I use boot lube which is what the trade use to fit the stretchy type cv boots its not dear but its not an halfords type of thing so you will need to find a motor factor.

Better still...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3m-x-6m-C...LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2eb636af8d&_uhb=1

I use silicone spray on the rubber bits.

I had a solution to this (well before I lived so painfully close to work I could no longer avoid using my own power to get there!!).

I ran a power cable out to the car that only turned on half an hour before I needed to use it in the morning. Had a heater sat on the back seat which I trailed the power lead out the boot floor. No ice scrapping, toasty and warm inside...all I needed to do was disconnect the lead from the back of the car and throw it out of site :slayer:

Important though: make sure the heater cannot fall over on the back seat and set fire to the car!! Made me nervous but I'm sure one that turns off if it falls over would be best to use!

Si

if you have a driveway, park with the driver's door as close as possible to the house. The heat from the house is normally just enough to keep the lock from freezing . It works for me anyway. Of course, any type of grease/oil will help. Ice on the inside of the windows?? It sounds like you have a lot of moisture in the car. Get a microfibre cloth and wipe the windows before parking up in the evening.

purple haze said:

I use silicone spray on the rubber bits.

Click to expand...

Ditto. I may be imagining it, but I'm sure I read somewhere that WD40 can damage the rubber, in the long-term.... [scurries away...]

[scurries back...] Quick search... -- and here you go...!

homeward said:

Ditto. I may be imagining it, but I'm sure I read somewhere that WD40 can damage the rubber, in the long-term.... [scurries away...]

[scurries back...] Quick search... -- and here you go...!

Click to expand...

Top man........ I have to use silicone spray on my Toyota truck to keep the electric windows working well...most of all in the tailgate window which has to be retracted to then open the tailgate. Spray plenty in the rails for the glass to side up and down. Works well if you have a slow electric window..speeds things up nicely.

Could try doing this also
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EVKduiDxLsA/TqBlZNThYwI/AAAAAAAAFkw/4ietswmisOk/s1600/Mutz-Nutz-Car.jpg

JamieK said:

Could try doing this also
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EVKduiDxLsA/TqBlZNThYwI/AAAAAAAAFkw/4ietswmisOk/s1600/Mutz-Nutz-Car.jpg

Click to expand...

But, if you're doing it on a Panda, you're only allowed black-and-white fur...!

Don't use silicone spray if you are planning on having any paintwork done, will cause havoc with the new paint Have you tried filling up with fuel whilst it is freezing yet? That is usually a fun one.

I just used warm water over the lock when I was using my CLX, strangely I don't recall having much trouble with the Sisley, a previous owner must have greased the catches at some point I suppose.

another tip for older panda owner is to smear silicone grease on the base of the dizzy cap before fitting it and also a pea size amount in each plug lead before putting them on to keep the damp out in extreme conditions or if like me you like playing in water

urchin said:

another tip for older panda owner is to smear silicone grease on the base of the dizzy cap before fitting it and also a pea size amount in each plug lead before putting them on to keep the damp out in extreme conditions or if like me you like playing in water

Click to expand...

we used a rubber glove back when we had our SJ. its handy having 5 leads.. 4 fingers and a thumb, just cut a small hole in the ends of the glove's fingers for the sparking plugs and the same with the thumb for the king lead. silicone grease and zip ties, it will never see water inside!

well, we had the engine submerged a few times and it never conked out. well it did, but that was down to a crappy home made snorkel and forgetting to seal up the air box's drain holes.. good thing the winch still worked.
wish we still had all the stuff from off the SJ.

I have two sets of keys, so i could get the engine running, leave the stoplock on and lock the doors.

i did make and wire a remote engine start/stop into talon, but i didnt like it so removed the relay box. would be a cool thing to have if you drove a selecta. my biggest worry with it was leaving it in gear.