# Frozen doors. Yah, i know, old topic.



## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

*Frozen doors....such a stupid design! My 06 Xtrail did the frozen doors thing again. So we had a rare arctic deep freeze snow storm in Vancouver a week ago. 35 cms of snow and daytime temps of minus 9, windchill factor of minus 15, strong winds. I have experienced the dreaded Xtrail freeze out once since 2015 with similar weather. But this time this was rediculous. I had a day off and i waited till 12 noon to go to a laptop repair shop only 3 mins from home. IT was blowing wind and snow pretty good but at least the temperature was only minus 1 or 2 C. First i go remove the snow off my truck's roof and all the glass. Next i tried to open my front passenger door....nope, door stuck ! Finally aftera few tugs it ooens but will not latch shut, after 4 slams, it latches shut. Next i go try my driver's door....A miracle,it opened normally. After 2 attempts to close shut, it closes. I start my car. I warmed it up for 20 minutes. It was blowing nice hot air from the defroster. I finally drive off to my destination 3 minutes away. After circling the block 3 times i park of busy East Broadway a few car lengths from the laptop store. Shut off the engine....and my driver door refuses to open . I try the passenger side, nope...,.both rear doors...Nope! Can you believe, i spent 25 minutes stuck inside my Xtrail?? Heat on full blast, i rolled down my driver's window to reach out and try to pull on my outside door handle..door still wont open. I reach out and put my key in the door lock , it turns but will not undo the inside door mechanism. I tried using my keyfob remote unlock/lock/ unlock multiple times over but that did Nothng. I never panicked, i was just so pissed off and annoyed. 25 minutes of trying all sorts of stuff to get Any door to just open from inside. Heat on high, windows up,hoping to dethaw my inner door lock mechanism . Finally, i try one last time.....frigging door opens!. After that i just shut my door and put on my after market alarm. I did not lock with key fob. Next 3 days, parked in front of my home, unlocked but alarm on. Only way i could ensure i could open my doors. Yesterday and today the temperature shot up to plus 8 or 9 celcius and rain rain Rain. You know i really like my Xtrail. But in next year or so, probably moving away from Vancouver about 500 klms to a smaller city where they get regular typical Canadian winters of overnight lows minus 10-25 C. This Xtrail will not be suitable for that at all. Im thinking i give this truck another year and sell, switch to a used 07-10 Toyota Rav4, awd , 4cyl. I normally keep my Used vehicles 5 to 6 years and then switch things up anyways. Sticking with japanese used suv, a Rav4 , altho boring, is like a very dependable , easy to fix and run, toyota corolla. 









*


----------



## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

I don't lock my doors anymore,at home or at work. Only at the store parking lot, by the time i got there ,the interior is a bit warmer already. 

The few times my doors froze, the trick i used was the lock/unlock on the fob key or the key in the hole. Once inside to keep the door shut , i lock the door using the lock/unlock button. To get the door open again, one hand pulls the unlock at the door and the other the lock/unlock button. 
By doing this I was able to get out and move on. 
We're getting temperatures around -20c here and in the morning my doors are fine(well it stays in a heated garage)


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

I finally got 3 out of 4 doors open today after 10 days of having only the drivers door work. It opened with the key thankfully. Sometimes the doors will open but will only stay closed if I lock them and then they can't be reopened. I love this little machine but the door issue is enough to make me give up on it. The weather is going to be great for the next 2 weeks minimum. Highs of around -1 C. I should be back to 4 doors very soon.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I confess that the cold snap in late November saw me having to get in through the rear passenger side. It was one of the last straw factors in getting rid of it. I just realized it was not going to get used much and the odd time I might want to use it in the winter I might just be facing the frozen doors or a no-start condition. Happy to report no such issues with the Forester.
This may not be the place but I have two new Gates thermostats and a Gates water pump for the X trail that I never got around to installing. Does anybody want them? I was thinking about putting them on Kijiji for $20 or so, but I am also willing to just give them away to someone here who would like them.
I also have a rear wiper motor, a center armrest in perfect shape, a sun visor clip holder, a fuel injector, a bunch of nuts and bolts and clips. I am 5 minutes from the Casino for anyone in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

PM sent re: parts.


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

Thank you so much for the bag'o'parts quadraria10. It was nice to meet you.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

You too. Hope they are useful for you.


----------



## 2006 Owner (Feb 12, 2020)

tonyvancity said:


> *Frozen doors....such a stupid design! My 06 Xtrail did the frozen doors thing again. So we had a rare arctic deep freeze snow storm in Vancouver a week ago. 35 cms of snow and daytime temps of minus 9, windchill factor of minus 15, strong winds. I have experienced the dreaded Xtrail freeze out once since 2015 with similar weather. But this time this was rediculous. I had a day off and i waited till 12 noon to go to a laptop repair shop only 3 mins from home. IT was blowing wind and snow pretty good but at least the temperature was only minus 1 or 2 C. First i go remove the snow off my truck's roof and all the glass. Next i tried to open my front passenger door....nope, door stuck ! Finally aftera few tugs it ooens but will not latch shut, after 4 slams, it latches shut. Next i go try my driver's door....A miracle,it opened normally. After 2 attempts to close shut, it closes. I start my car. I warmed it up for 20 minutes. It was blowing nice hot air from the defroster. I finally drive off to my destination 3 minutes away. After circling the block 3 times i park of busy East Broadway a few car lengths from the laptop store. Shut off the engine....and my driver door refuses to open . I try the passenger side, nope...,.both rear doors...Nope! Can you believe, i spent 25 minutes stuck inside my Xtrail?? Heat on full blast, i rolled down my driver's window to reach out and try to pull on my outside door handle..door still wont open. I reach out and put my key in the door lock , it turns but will not undo the inside door mechanism. I tried using my keyfob remote unlock/lock/ unlock multiple times over but that did Nothng. I never panicked, i was just so pissed off and annoyed. 25 minutes of trying all sorts of stuff to get Any door to just open from inside. Heat on high, windows up,hoping to dethaw my inner door lock mechanism . Finally, i try one last time.....frigging door opens!. After that i just shut my door and put on my after market alarm. I did not lock with key fob. Next 3 days, parked in front of my home, unlocked but alarm on. Only way i could ensure i could open my doors. Yesterday and today the temperature shot up to plus 8 or 9 celcius and rain rain Rain. You know i really like my Xtrail. But in next year or so, probably moving away from Vancouver about 500 klms to a smaller city where they get regular typical Canadian winters of overnight lows minus 10-25 C. This Xtrail will not be suitable for that at all. Im thinking i give this truck another year and sell, switch to a used 07-10 Toyota Rav4, awd , 4cyl. I normally keep my Used vehicles 5 to 6 years and then switch things up anyways. Sticking with japanese used suv, a Rav4 , altho boring, is like a very dependable , easy to fix and run, toyota corolla. *


*I have my 2006 X-Trail since new, and over the years found a couple of things that help.
I don't like washing it in the winter, but when I do I try to blow out the latch mechanism, the key and outside handle with compressed air. Then I spray a light oil like 12-34 or WD-40 into outside key and especially around the latch mechanism.
But today I was trapped too, because yesterday we had heavy snow and it went above 0 for awhile and water ran down outside window and into the door again and froze while it sat outside.
I checked the forums one more time and will try to remove the inside panel to see where exactly the water is coming in. I have access to the Nissan shop manual and it appears that the main mechanism is right at the latch and all the handles and key cylinder are all activating rods down the the latch mechanism.
I really like the X-Trail, but sometimes the little things are annoying!!*


----------



## 2006 Owner (Feb 12, 2020)

tonyvancity said:


> *Frozen doors....such a stupid design! My 06 Xtrail did the frozen doors thing again. So we had a rare arctic deep freeze snow storm in Vancouver a week ago. 35 cms of snow and daytime temps of minus 9, windchill factor of minus 15, strong winds. I have experienced the dreaded Xtrail freeze out once since 2015 with similar weather. But this time this was rediculous. I had a day off and i waited till 12 noon to go to a laptop repair shop only 3 mins from home. IT was blowing wind and snow pretty good but at least the temperature was only minus 1 or 2 C. First i go remove the snow off my truck's roof and all the glass. Next i tried to open my front passenger door....nope, door stuck ! Finally aftera few tugs it ooens but will not latch shut, after 4 slams, it latches shut. Next i go try my driver's door....A miracle,it opened normally. After 2 attempts to close shut, it closes. I start my car. I warmed it up for 20 minutes. It was blowing nice hot air from the defroster. I finally drive off to my destination 3 minutes away. After circling the block 3 times i park of busy East Broadway a few car lengths from the laptop store. Shut off the engine....and my driver door refuses to open . I try the passenger side, nope...,.both rear doors...Nope! Can you believe, i spent 25 minutes stuck inside my Xtrail?? Heat on full blast, i rolled down my driver's window to reach out and try to pull on my outside door handle..door still wont open. I reach out and put my key in the door lock , it turns but will not undo the inside door mechanism. I tried using my keyfob remote unlock/lock/ unlock multiple times over but that did Nothng. I never panicked, i was just so pissed off and annoyed. 25 minutes of trying all sorts of stuff to get Any door to just open from inside. Heat on high, windows up,hoping to dethaw my inner door lock mechanism . Finally, i try one last time.....frigging door opens!. After that i just shut my door and put on my after market alarm. I did not lock with key fob. Next 3 days, parked in front of my home, unlocked but alarm on. Only way i could ensure i could open my doors. Yesterday and today the temperature shot up to plus 8 or 9 celcius and rain rain Rain. You know i really like my Xtrail. But in next year or so, probably moving away from Vancouver about 500 klms to a smaller city where they get regular typical Canadian winters of overnight lows minus 10-25 C. This Xtrail will not be suitable for that at all. Im thinking i give this truck another year and sell, switch to a used 07-10 Toyota Rav4, awd , 4cyl. I normally keep my Used vehicles 5 to 6 years and then switch things up anyways. Sticking with japanese used suv, a Rav4 , altho boring, is like a very dependable , easy to fix and run, toyota corolla. *


*I have my 2006 X-Trail since new, and over the years found a couple of things that help.
I don't like washing it in the winter, but when I do I try to blow out the latch mechanism, the key and outside handle with compressed air. Then I spray a light oil like 12-34 or WD-40 into outside key and especially around the latch mechanism.
But today I was trapped too, because yesterday we had heavy snow and it went above 0 for awhile and water ran down outside window and into the door again and froze while it sat outside.
I checked the forums one more time and will try to remove the inside panel to see where exactly the water is coming in. I have access to the Nissan shop manual and it appears that the main mechanism is right at the latch and all the handles and key cylinder are all activating rods down the the latch mechanism.
I really like the X-Trail, but sometimes the little things are annoying!!*


----------



## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

Update: First two weeks of February in Vancouver and the weather is very mild winter ( relative to the rest of Canada) . ALL of January it rained Everyday so there was no sub zero temps . For february, saw a minor dump of snow that lasted barely 2 days and many rainy warmer days washed it away . Had a few overnight minus 3 C and a few days of plus 7 to 10 C/sunny days. So no frozen doors. I do realize from what others commented on here just recently and in the past, my doors seems to freeze/not latch shut/unlatch from the inside during times when it gets very cold/snow and if there is some thaw where water somehow gets inside the door mechanism and refreezes overnight. But the weird thing about this last door freeze-out was that After i got into my vehicle and my truck was warmed up and blowing hot air from the vents, and after i drove a few minutes, i still was stuck inside my truck for over 20 minutes as the cabin heat still would not de-thaw the door mechanisms to unlatch . So other then normal parts replacement and normal vehicle maintenance, the Xtrail has been a very good daily driver. The door latch freezing issue is a mystery that i would like to solve tho.


----------



## molly (Oct 31, 2014)

HELPPP!!! OK, I admit washing my bus yesterday may not have been the smartest thing to do BUT it was covered with half chewed frozen mountain ash berries after a thousand bohemian waxwings stripped our tree! And it was above zero, and I thought it would dry out before it got colder, which has only been about -8 last night. I had dried the inside of all the door frames and didn't think about the locks. So it snowed some more and today I opened all the doors fine but the driver's door opened part way then seemed to stick and after I pushed it closed and tried to open it again, it refused so I pulled but as the handle seemed to be pulling away from the door a bit, I stopped. I knew that this handle was replaced by the previous owner at about 55000K when it pulled off when it froze. I got in the other side, and let it get warm, tried to push it open from inside but no go. You can hear a click in there, but nothing happens. What should I try? I don't want to crawl in there and get trapped or anything, haha, as I am far from petite and agile! 

UPDATE: I just went back out and now it opened, haha! BUT, I would still be keen to hear any suggestions for prevention of this in the future! I also read the other very long thread about frozen door locks, so obviously a very common issue.


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

There's no prevention other than than not washing the car when it's going to get cold. Here the problem is that we get a thaw with wet snow or rain and then it's does a deep freeze.
You could buy a small plug-in heater to put inside the car when you know conditions are right for a door freeze.

Not to be mean but we just had our 7th day in a row of 16 to 24 C sunny weather. I even jumped in the lake yesterday. The water was 3.5 C. WOOHOO! It was 17 C at 6:00 am this morning. It's going down to 0 tonight though.

P.S. Very cool about the Bohemian Waxwings (other than the mess)


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I think the winter tires are going on today, but our bit of indian summer has been great. You actually went for a dip? Wow swimming in November.
And Molly its a particular X trail thing where once or twice a winter you get to be a contortionist. If you know the temp will be doing a big swing, I used to find leaving the windows open a crack helped lessen the humidity and door freezing. I would also leave the doors unlocked.
Once you are in the frozen car, starting it up and getting some heat in the cabin will usually unthaw the doors in approx 15 to 20 minutes.


----------



## molly (Oct 31, 2014)

Thanks guys...I have never had the door not open like that, but glad it solved itself. I saw a few suggestions in the other thread for various sprays to apply to the locking assembly, and was wondering if anyone is currently using one. Just as a precaution.


----------



## T30-XTrail (SE) (Jan 22, 2021)

I just bought this car couple days ago.








t was like -2 last night and 3 doors would not open. Is there any updates with any solution to avoid this hassle? Thanks


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

Your X-Trail is identical to mine. I parked mine for the winter because I was so %@#&ing sick of the doors freezing. Always 3 of them. I don't know of any solution other than a heated garage or put a small heater in the car when the weather seems right for the doors to freeze.


----------



## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

you know what sorta works for the frozen doors? 

Spraying something such as WD-40 on the weather rubber strip.
But that still does nothing for the actual door locks/locking mechanisms inside the doors itself. Where the problem is hidden out of site unless you move the door panels.
AND I HAVE at least once removed all four door panels, removed the plastic vapor barrier, sprayed the crap out of the lock mechanisms , put back the vapor barrier plus put another cold weather foam barrier overtop ( thinking maybe somehow i insulate the inside of the door...). Reinstall each door panel.
And voila! ....same crap, no difference. It is just a poor engineering design by Nissan. I have owned and driven many vehicles, this Xtrail is the only one that has this frozen locks/non shutting issues. And this weekend here in Vancouver, the night temperatures are dropping to minus 2 celcius/daytime highs of 2C to 4C. Snow forecast of 5-15 centimeters depending where in metro Vancouver . I fully expect frozen doors again for at least a few days . On a happier note, i have been driving the toyota matrix. Only one morning i had frozen door weather seals on the matrix, but after that i wd-40 sprayed the rubber and no issues. Never frozen lockouts on the 2004 matrix in 8 years it has been in my family. We just start her up, drive it and no drama.


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

WD40 is not really a good idea. It contains petroleum distillates which will damage the rubber seals over time. Gummi Pfledge is made for door seals.


----------



## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

X-hale said:


> WD40 is not really a good idea. It contains petroleum distillates which will damage the rubber seals over time. Gummi Pfledge is made for door seals.


Ah thanks, i never heard of that Gummi Pfledge. I googled it: *Gummi Pflege* provides real, deep down protection, helping to prolong the life of rubber seals, gaskets and trims, providing protection against cold, heat and UV radiation from the sun. Sonax *Gummi Pflege does* not provide a merely superficial improvement to the way rubber looks but provides deep down rubber protection. 
- It sounds like the silicone emulsion fluid ( made by GM) that i mentioned here years ago. We used it often on customer's vehicles when i worked for Speedy Glass. I use the wd40 so infrequently on my rubber seals that in my case, it take many years to degrade the rubber. 
-Some Google info sites claim the wd40 is fine for rubber seals with no harm. But good to know, thanks X-Hale. 
- PS...it just started snowing here in Vancouver. Has not stuck to the ground yet. Watch the tv news tonight if it mentions Vancouver weather/snow. LOL....snow so rare here that a few centimeters and everybody loses their minds, transit buses slide and crash into vehicles, telephone poles, people book the day off work, some people get so happy they go do cartwheels , others whine and moan and wish it would just rain for 3 months straight. 
-Not me! i let it pile up and look for excuses to drive in the snow or take the Husky for long walks and we both frolick . One year we had pretty much a blizzard and i swear it was just me and the Husky walking and playing in half foot of snow or more, everybody indoors huddled in their corners scared a snowflake might come inside and make them Die or something.


----------



## DFSpencer (Oct 21, 2019)

X-hale said:


> WD40 is not really a good idea. It contains petroleum distillates which will damage the rubber seals over time. Gummi Pfledge is made for door seals.


I will challenge this idea that WD-40 is incompatible with rubber, although that is a very commonly seen claim. The composition of WD-40 has always been a trade secret, and there are now some varieties of WD-40 that differ a little in their composition, but you can figure out what is in it fairly well by viewing the MSDS sheet, although it is helpful if you have some basic organic chemistry knowledge. First of all, the confusion about 'petroleum distillates' should be addressed. Johnson's Baby Oil is essentially mineral oil, which is a petroleum distillate. In fact some of the components of WD-40 are the same as in Baby Oil. WD-40 does contain a range of boiling points of the same fundamental chemical group. It also includes in its formula some or all of the chemicals in Stoddard Solvent, AKA Varsol. There are some rubbers that can swell slightly when constantly exposed to WD-40, that is true, but that is not how you would normally use it. In fact you will find people recommending WD-40 treatment for some automotive rubbers that have suffered aging degradation. Because WD-40 was actually invented as a "water displacer" (in fact originally to protect missiles in missile silos from corrosion) it would be an obvious protect to treat the internal parts of the XTrail door opening and locking mechanisms from the annoying problem of freezing, if you can get to them. And it actually would be better than standard lubricants for that purpose.


----------



## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

DFSpencer said:


> I will challenge this idea that WD-40 is incompatible with rubber, although that is a very commonly seen claim. The composition of WD-40 has always been a trade secret, and there are now some varieties of WD-40 that differ a little in their composition, but you can figure out what is in it fairly well by viewing the MSDS sheet, although it is helpful if you have some basic organic chemistry knowledge. First of all, the confusion about 'petroleum distillates' should be addressed. Johnson's Baby Oil is essentially mineral oil, which is a petroleum distillate. In fact some of the components of WD-40 are the same as in Baby Oil. WD-40 does contain a range of boiling points of the same fundamental chemical group. It also includes in its formula some or all of the chemicals in Stoddard Solvent, AKA Varsol. There are some rubbers that can swell slightly when constantly exposed to WD-40, that is true, but that is not how you would normally use it. In fact you will find people recommending WD-40 treatment for some automotive rubbers that have suffered aging degradation. Because WD-40 was actually invented as a "water displacer" (in fact originally to protect missiles in missile silos from corrosion) it would be an obvious protect to treat the internal parts of the XTrail door opening and locking mechanisms from the annoying problem of freezing, if you can get to them. And it actually would be better than standard lubricants for that purpose.


what do you think about Jig-a Loo? i just bought a can at Canadian Tire today. I was previously using it at the auto glass shop i worked at in 2021. Worked nicely for automotive uses. Bonus is that it doesn't stink as much as the WD40. 
I used the Jig-a-loo at home on the window tracks, glass patio door track, the door locks/keyholes. 
Then i read that it is a good water repellant on hiking boots so i took an old pair of hikers and went Jig-a-loo -hoo hoo hoo on them. 
Currently going thru a 3 day heavy rain ''event''. Arghhhhh. 



  





CTV News Vancouver
Metro Vancouver weather: Atmospheric river with up to 100 mm of rain coming | CTV News


----------



## DFSpencer (Oct 21, 2019)

tonyvancity said:


> what do you think about Jig-a Loo? i just bought a can at Canadian Tire today. I was previously using it at the auto glass shop i worked at in 2021. Worked nicely for automotive uses. Bonus is that it doesn't stink as much as the WD40.
> I used the Jig-a-loo at home on the window tracks, glass patio door track, the door locks/keyholes.
> Then i read that it is a good water repellant on hiking boots so i took an old pair of hikers and went Jig-a-loo -hoo hoo hoo on them.
> Currently going thru a 3 day heavy rain ''event''. Arghhhhh.
> ...


From what I can tell Jig-A-Loo is a good product. My reply was directed at possible misconceptions about WD-40. Certainly a silicone-based product like Jig-A-Loo is a smarter product to use specifically on rubber for several reasons. I'm not sure that it would be any better than WD-40 for trying to coat the various linkages, etc. in the XTrail doors to try to prevent moisture getting on or into the various lock and door-opening parts and then freezing in cold snaps. I have many lubricants and penetrating oil-like products and I do have 3-in-1 silicone lubricant. I have found that silicone lubricants are not necessarily better as lubricants than the petroleum-based ones but they are true lubricants, which WD-40 really isn't, even by design. WD-40 will 'dry' to leave a thin moisture-repelling film on metal or hard plastic parts but it is not a substitute for a proper lubricant, although some people seem to think it is.


----------



## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

DFSpencer said:


> From what I can tell Jig-A-Loo is a good product. My reply was directed at possible misconceptions about WD-40. Certainly a silicone-based product like Jig-A-Loo is a smarter product to use specifically on rubber for several reasons. I'm not sure that it would be any better than WD-40 for trying to coat the various linkages, etc. in the XTrail doors to try to prevent moisture getting on or into the various lock and door-opening parts and then freezing in cold snaps. I have many lubricants and penetrating oil-like products and I do have 3-in-1 silicone lubricant. I have found that silicone lubricants are not necessarily better as lubricants than the petroleum-based ones but they are true lubricants, which WD-40 really isn't, even by design. WD-40 will 'dry' to leave a thin moisture-repelling film on metal or hard plastic parts but it is not a substitute for a proper lubricant, although some people seem to think it is.


Ya, i used to buy wd40 , especially when on sale, but i do also think that it is not the best lubricant for everything. I think the fan club that adores this stuff is full of caca. 
Just overhyped marketing, trying to promote it as a wonder lube that will rust penetrate, lube parts, fish lure, waterproof your boots and umbrella and if you add a few squirts to your cornflakes, will make you grow an extra 6 inches in height. Or grow hair.


----------

