Winter Problem

[tfp1977]

I have 1991 Lumina Sedan with 3.1 Vin T. Whenever it snows or we get freezing rain with the design of this car my wipers freeze to the windshield and down in the cowl area. Also the snow/ice goes down inside both doors and I have a hard time opening my doors. I do not have a garage and was wondering what are some things others do to prevent this problem. Tonight we are getting alot of snow and currently I have a tarp over it because I went to leave tonight and the wipers were frozen solid. I got them loosened but it took awhile. Also the drivers door will not open, can't even lift the handle. What are some things some of yins do for this problem? It is very bothersome. Thanks

[Artem F]

WD40 will help with the locks.

There are special "holders" for the wipers - put them there for the night.
(lift the wiper for an inch and gently move it down - it'll rest on this holder).

About the freezing doors and the water/ice between the door and the body - there should be some "silicone lubricant" for this purpose in the autostore, I can't remember the name.

[john51md]

Originally Posted by tfp1977

I have 1991 Lumina Sedan with 3.1 Vin T. Whenever it snows or we get freezing rain with the design of this car my wipers freeze to the windshield and down in the cowl area. Also the snow/ice goes down inside both doors and I have a hard time opening my doors. I do not have a garage and was wondering what are some things others do to prevent this problem. Tonight we are getting alot of snow and currently I have a tarp over it because I went to leave tonight and the wipers were frozen solid. I got them loosened but it took awhile. Also the drivers door will not open, can't even lift the handle. What are some things some of yins do for this problem? It is very bothersome. Thanks

Son of a gun, armor all, even vaseline will work on door rubber. You could turn car off with wipers in the up position, then VERY IMPORTANT, scrape windshield ice free before starting car, if not wipers will start and may rip them because they are frozen, also a bottle of spray deicer helps.
Door handles are a pain in the rear for sure, spray the heck out of every moving part when they arent frozen with a water displacing spray like a silicone lube or WD 40, nothing is a long term fix except a garage

[jeffcoslacker]

Good suggestions...

It's real important to wipe the door perimeter seals all the way around with WD-40 or silicone as suggested, this is what actually makes the doors impossible to open, and makes people rip the door handle right off trying to force them open.

I don't park inside either, and sometimes I don't get a chance to wipe the seals before we get ice...when the door is frozen, before pulling the handle, put your fingers down between the top rear corner of the window frame and the roof as much as possible and pull outward, you'll hear the frozen seal peel away from the body, and you've just removed most of the problem, the door will usually open pretty easily then...I pull from the top of the door, not the handle, I'm not wanting break one off...

Lift the handle on the outside and spray some lube into the linkages underneath, helps keep them from freezing up. Put a shot of wd-40 into the lock so it won't freeze...

Also it sounds like since this is a recurring problem for you, I wonder if you've ever tried parking the car facing the opposite way? Sounds like you're positioned where the direction the weather comes from might be making the problem worse, if you turned it around where you park, the wind might not place the snow and ice so strategically where it causes problems?

Our snow and ice usually comes from the southwest here, so I park with the driver's side facing away from it, minimizes the build up on that side and makes it easier to get into....

[richtazz]

I use spray silicone on the rubber door seals and have no problem with the doors freezing shut. I do it once a month on all my cars and it takes like 10 seconds per door. I also use rain-x on the windows (and rain-x de-icer washer solvent), which makes scraping easier and helps prevent the wipers from freezing to the windshield. There is nothing that will prevent the wipers from getting stuck when there is freezing rain falling, you just have to remember to free them up before you turn them on so you don't break the wiper mechanism.

[tfp1977]

The wipers sticking to the windshield is not maining the problem. It is them freezing down below the windshield and after they are unstuck from the windshield still will not turn. I was thinking about pouring hot water down there but am afraid of cracking the windshield. Last night I put a tarp under the hood up over the windshield. I don't care much for this design.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by tfp1977

The wipers sticking to the windshield is not maining the problem. It is them freezing down below the windshield and after they are unstuck from the windshield still will not turn. I was thinking about pouring hot water down there but am afraid of cracking the windshield. Last night I put a tarp under the hood up over the windshield. I don't care much for this design.

Unfortuneatly,as vehicles became more aerodynamic, their designs changed and problems resulted such as yours. I own 3 minivans and they all have that problem with the deep pocket under the windshield to collect snow and ice. If you travel around to the other forums (especially Venture) you will see that many car and van owners have the same issue. Tarps are one way to somewhat avoid this problem. I remember seeing a few years back a tarp for sale that had magnets sewn into the edges to attach itself to the vehicle and cover the windshield. I, at one time fashioned one to go across the windshield and the edges were placed inside the car and the doors were closed holding the tarp in place. That worked well.
If you don't have access to some of the items named above to keep your doors from sticking, and to lubricate the seals you can look to your kitchen and grab a can of PAM or similar type cooking spray as a temporary means to solve your problem.

[tfp1977]

Thanks for your help. The tarp seemed to work it just is going to get old having to take it off everyday but I guess that is what I have to do. Thanks again

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

Unfortuneatly,as vehicles became more aerodynamic, their designs changed and problems resulted such as yours.

Yup. One aspect I hate is that as a smoker, I always have a window down, in any weather. When it rains, any car built since 1990 or so sucks the water from the windshield right into an open front window and puts it right on the power window control cluster, or your leg...the airflow never used to hug the body so close, and the windshield wasn't flush with the pillars, so there was a channel for it to direct up and over the roof...

[ponchonutty]

You could always get a remote starter too????