Sliding Door Frozen Shut Will Not Open

Grover · Post by **Grover** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:51 pm

Tried doing a search and didn't find anything so I'm asking the question here..

It was a balmy 3C on Sunday here with lots of rain and well Sunday night everything turned to ice including my van.

All of the doors were frozen shut, I managed to get all of them open except for the sliding door. It just will not open. I have power locks.. the lock works no problem, just that I can't open the door at all from the outside anymore.

This is my first winter with a Safari so I'm a newbie to sliding doors. I kinda need to have it work because I use it for my business.. I don't have a garage I can put it in overnight to warm up or that's what I would do. Is there anything I can do or am I gonna have to wait til we get out of the deep freeze?

Thanks!

NotDadsW41 · Post by **NotDadsW41** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:36 pm

I'd start by running the van with the heater on high to get the inside good and hot and see if that doesn't work.

Then I would get inside. Pull the handle so that you know the latch is release and push on the back side of the door to see if you can free it up.

Smiliesafari · Post by **Smiliesafari** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:58 pm

When you get it open spray everything with WD-40 or whatever your favorite lube is.

mdmead · Post by **mdmead** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:42 pm

Smiliesafari wrote:When you get it open spray everything with WD-40 or whatever your favorite lube is.

I'll second this.

This isn't a common problem, but when the weather is working against you... I had mine freeze shut a few times when I lived in New England. If you keep your door seals lubed, it helps to keep them from freezing to the metal door.

crash · Post by **crash** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:57 pm

LOL.. must be our region grover. mine was fine on monday, until i came out of walmart as the temp took a dive monday night.

enter through one of the other doors and climb into the back. pull the handle as you would to open from the inside (with your left hand) and give the door a slam with the heel of your right had right at the furthest right of the door .. it'll open and your good. just be thankful your rears didn't freeze like my lower dutch doors did. where the water pools it was a solid block of ice and ripped half of the rubberize foam weather strip off on the left lower. ugh

Post by **MountainManJoe** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:32 pm

The owner's manual recommends using silicone grease on weatherstrips. I think it's safer and WD-40 will break them down over time.

GnarliSafari · Post by **GnarliSafari** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:07 pm

as crash stated "right had right at the furthest right of the door" and you should be in business!

leadtrombone · Post by **leadtrombone** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:22 pm

The same thing happend to me the other day. Went to open, the latches released but the door was stuck.

I push on it to make it latch again, put mu cargo (little like it was) in the passenger seat.

Drive off.. Get about 5 miles and the slider slides open.. Oooops..

Just warm it up.. and i got some anti-freeze stuff for the seals for next time..

Cobra · Post by **Cobra** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:38 pm

like crash said mine froze shut last year i got in the van held the latch with my left hand, laid on the seat and drop kicked it. after i get it open i sprayed the seals with silicone lube and haven't had the problem since (better do it again tonight before it freezes again)

reaper · Post by **reaper** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:22 pm

GM has a silicone emulsion bottle that can be purchased
I have used it to free up slider seals & use it for doors etc.
1#10953014

Wiley · Post by **Wiley** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 12:21 pm

My door was stuck as well, though it had nothing to do with the temps....but figured some pics could help others regardless. The problem was the rod connected to the door handle, while engaging, was not engaging far enough to release the mechanism opposite the handle on the side by the sliding door track. When I pulled on the rod by hand the door opened without a problem. I included a pic of the mechanism opposite the handle for reference, but aside from lubing it since I had it apart, I did not touch that part.

I also removed the sliding track to grease it while I was tearing things apart...pretty easy but a pain. Have to remove the rear panel and then simply remove the 4 screws which hold it on, as well as the 5th hidden behind the tail light, behind the black rubber stopper. Its only been a day but the door is working better than when I purchased it, heres to hoping it lasts. Grease often!

Hope it helps.