How do you stop the door buttons from freezing up?

[Tobs]

Not that it applies at the moment as its got a bit warmer, but last week I had to resort to using warm water to free the door buttons (1995 Chim with buttons but no key lock in them). Has anyone found a solution to stop them freezing up? De-icer doesnt seem to free them up, only warm water seems to work!

Toby.

[jonathant]

not infallable, but I found keeping them as dry as possible helps - make sure there's no water caught between the button and the clear silicon cap that covers it.

[GreenV8S]

Warm water is going to make sure they freeze up even worse next time, though. Best bet is get thme as dry as you can, spray water dispersant (WD40) inside to get rid of the remaining water, and try to keep the insides lightly oiled. Oh, and central locking makes things a lot easier as you don't need to worry about the lock itself freezing.

[Chris Smith]

I had the same problem and couldn't get in either door for love nor money. Once the car had thawed out, I pushed each button down and smeared vaseline round the body it slides down into. Next morning it was even colder but the buttons worked a treat. Haven't had a problem since.

[Tobs]

Thanks for that I think i'll try some silicone grease around the button.

Cheers,

Toby.

[justinbaker]

Dont try and push the botton down to hard, those little control rods might bend (I did mine once). You have to lift the carpet panels away and get your hand in there and put them right!

[rev-erend]

Don't use water.

WD40 is OK but evaporates too quickly.

Try any light mackine oil - 3 in 1 oil (bike chains etc) is ideal..

Thin enough to get in , thick enough to stay around and it won't freeze.

[shadowninja]

I always used it as a deciding factor as to whether it was ok to drive or whether I should use the other car. If i couldn't get in, then the conditions were probably too poor