I offered to warm up the Jeep for the SO this morning, and she took me up on it. (I’m telecommuting today, so I get to go to work in my jammies. ) I pressed the ‘unlock’ button on the key fob, and did not hear the sound of the doors unlocking; just a weak click. Oh, I know what that means… Sure enough, the door was frozen shut. I got in through the other side and started the Jeep and turned on the heat and defroster. After 5 or 10 minutes I was able to open the driver’s door.
I noticed the inside of the windshield was wet. Water had condensed there and had frozen in the night. I dried windshield and the SO went on her way. She mentioned that she’d wiped the glass when she got fuel yesterday.
I’m pretty sure that the frozen door was from rain freezing in the gap, and that it had little to do with the interior condensation. Still, the condensation may have been a contributing factor. In any case, the inside of a vehicle shouldn’t be damp. What can I do to dehumidify the interior of my Jeep?
Turn on the air conditioner. It will dehumidify the air to some degree as well.
That said, I doubt very sincerely that moisture on the windshield caused the door to freeze shut, unless you took a hose to it and flooded the interior of the car or something
Usually (at least in the land of real winter) it’s snow accumulation tracked in on the mats. In your case was it rain? It melts and evaporates. However, from experience, it’s not condensation, it’s water from the outside. Water seeps onto the rubber door seals, then freezes. Forcing can rip the rubber off. I see this effect most often when you go through the car wash (or a heavy rain) then leave the car where it’s well below 0c/32F. SOlution - have a dry cloth, towel off the rubbers before parking the car.
Interior condensation? Odds are you have the heater on recirculate, which mean the car heats up faster, but he moisture is not replaced by much less humid outside air. Once the car is warm, put the heater back to outside air. (In a cold climate, your windows will fog from humid breath and sweat when on recirculate).
Like geneb said, turn on the AC. Turning on the windshield defroster should also turn on the AC as the AC helps dry the air. Of course this assumes that the AC system is working properly.
Also make sure that the car ventilation system isn’t in recirculation mode. That can cause the moisture level to rise also. On most vehicles, turning on the windshield defroster should turn off recirc mode and allow fresh outside air in.
A tip: rub a lot of Vasoline on the rubber seals of the doors and frame. It makes a mess, but keeps them from sticking. Silicon spray and rubber products like Armour All also work. If the lock itself is frozen, there are products for thawing out the locks. You can also use a spray lubricant that comes with the little ‘straw’ to spray into the lock then the locking mechanism on the side of the door. WD-40 is OK, but I prefer something like a teflon lubricant.
One last thought: Does the liquid on the inside windshield smell or taste sweet and maybe leave a film on the glass? If so the heater core could be leaking. By ‘taste’ I mean to wipe a little bit off the glass onto your finger and touch the tip of your tongue with it. Antifreeze is a poison and shouldn’t be consumed or breathed in. Also check the coolant level under the hood. If there’s a bad enough leak, it could be low. If you suspect a heater core leak, get it fixed ASAP.
When I was primarily driving the Jeep, I kept the heater control on Defrost or Defrost + Vent. This automatically engages the a/c. The SO tends not to do this, so that may be why condensation appeared since she’s been driving it. I’ll let her know and give it a try.
Moisture can ALso be trapped if the fresh air inlets are blocked by snow and is caused by running whipper’s to clear window instead of getting out the brush.
When I get a bad case of frost/condensate on my interior windows I run the heater on mid way between and leave a window open an inch, and clear my fresh air vent.
It has rained here for almost 2 days and is 17 or-7 this morning so I will be ready for a fight to get the truck door open. I didn’t prepare my door seals for this. :smack:
My current car (1999 Honda Civic) had the problem with the door seals freezing when I first got it. Armour All took care of that problem.
Another issue is door locks freezing in cold weather. I had a Ford Tempo that had a problem with the interior locking mechanism freezing up. The only way to fix that is to remove the door panels (which can be a PITA) and lubricate the parts.
Key lock cylinders can freeze but I’ve never experienced that problem.
I mentioned leaving the heater control on Defrost to the SO, and she said, ‘Oh, yeah! Good idea.’
Interestingly, it seems that the left side of vehicles parked in the driveway get more ice than the right side. There’s a large cedar in the neighbour’s yard at the corner of the property line, and that protects the second car, but the first car does not have any sheltering foliage. I think that there is a slight slope to that side, which would tend to not make water settle in the seals and less snow to accumulate on the right. But even the ice on the windows is less. If there is any air movement, it tends to come from the sea side on the right.
I believe it was already posted but again the AC compressor will operate with the defroster always, except old klunkers like mine where the AC has been B O for several years…
And I did have a 3 rounder with frozen doors. And a coworker calling for assistance left me with forcing them. Had I had time I would have tried hot water on the seams.
No, not always, it depends on how the A/C controls are designed.
Typical American vehicles automatically engage the A/C when in the defrost mode, as suggested, and they also typically automatically engage recirculation in the max A/C mode, with no provision for recirc in any other mode.
Typical Asian vehicles have a separate A/C on/off button, as well as a separate recirc on/off button, allowing (and requiring) the driver to choose these functions regardless of mode (e.g., floor, dash, defrost, etc.). Selecting defrost will not engage the A/C in these vehicles.
“Damp Rid” makes a productthat is attached to a plastic hanger for closets. It is a self-contained unit that won’t spill the desiccant or the water it pulls from the air. As a bonus it will make the car smell good. Really popular in the rainforest to the north.
I had no idea the forien cars were that different, i have family and friends that could use that information.
After 3 rounds with my truck this morning to get the doors opened my youngest daughter stop by and she also had trouble with her doors as did many others, however she pushed her drivers window, open button!
The window didn’t open but when she closed her door after leaving the van run while picking up her 5 year old the window fell into the bottom of the door.
That then was my day job! At least the glass didn’t shatter.
It also depends on the outside temperature. The AC in my car won’t work when the outside temperature is below freezing, and it won’t work automatically when the defroster is on and the outside temperature is below 40°F/4°C.
) I pressed the ‘unlock’ button on the key fob, and did not hear the sound of the doors unlocking; just a weak click. Oh, I know what that means… Sure enough, the door was frozen shut. I got in through the other side and started the Jeep and turned on the heat and defroster. After 5 or 10 minutes I was able to open the driver’s door.