Doors/ Ignition Freezing

[jdnj1982]

I need some help. I have a 95 passat GLX and live in the northeast. The doors consistently freeze and I am unable to open nor close them. Most of the time I have to sit in my car for 20-30 minutes until the doors unfreeze and are able to close again. Also the other night my ignition froze over and I had to use de-icer in it to start my car up. Do any of you know of any mods that can be used to stop this from happening. If so please get back to me at [email protected]. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Joe

[boschmann]

Is it the door latches or door locks that are freezing? If it's the latches, try spraying some WD-40 into them, since it's a water displacer & lubricant. I don't see how moisture could get into the ignition lock, so it's probably just sticking due to the cold. Get some powdered graphite lubricant to put in the keyhole and work it around with the key. Don't put WD-40 into a lock cylinder.

[mchoss1970]

Not to contradict but using WD-40 can make the problem worse. WD-40 is water based and will therefore freeze again. If you can find a good silicone based lubricant, that will fix your problem. It happened to me a couple of years ago but hasnt since I used the spray (LPS 2, blue can red writting). Looking in the sporting goods section can help you find a good lube, gun sprays never use water based products for obvious reasons. When spraying the door latches, pry the plastic cover off the latch assembly on the back of the door (carefully). Lube it up well and work the door and handle several times. This should help you out. I dont know how long the fix will last so be sure to carry lock de-ice for when the lube dries up. Another tip for keeping the door seals from freezing is to use vasoline or some other for of mild grease on them. This will ensure that you dont rip the seals when they are frozen and should make getting in quite a lot easier. For a cold climate auto maker (ie, Germany) VW has realy dropped the ball on the door seal and latch problem. All the VW's I've ever owned have had these problems. I live in Canada and have some good experience with these cars in the cold. As for your ignition...sorry I cant help you there. But The graphite idea does sound like it should work. Mike.