If you live in a cold climate and you don't have a garage or cover to protect your car, you may have to deal with frozen door locks. Ice and snow can result in your key not fitting into the lock and you being locked out of your vehicle when you need to leave for work or drive home. You may also end up with a frozen lock if you wash your vehicle in cold temperatures. It only takes a small amount of water to freeze up a lock and prevent it from working. What not to do A common response is to pour hot water over the lock. While you may find that it unfreezes the lock in some cases, it can also damage the lock and the seals that surround the lock. The water can also freeze again inside the lock, especially in extreme cold. Don’t try to force the door open with other objects like screwdrivers or pry bars. You could end up breaking a door handle or other components and be left with an even bigger problem. Steps to opening a frozen car lock One of the easiest ways to get inside your vehicle is to try another door.

Much of the time, only one lock will be frozen and you can access the inside of the vehicle through the passenger or back doors. If all of your doors are frozen, you can spray some de-icer on the lock. This generally works to loosen the ice within a few seconds. If you are at home and don’t have a de-icer, you can use a hair dryer to warm up the lock. That heats the lock more gradually than pouring hot water on it, so you won't risk damaging the lock. Once the ice melts, the lock will turn. Another option if you have a cigarette lighter is to heat up your key and put it in the lock. Don’t let the key get too hot or it could melt the components in the lock. Also be careful not to burn your fingers! To prevent your locks from becoming frozen, you should cover the vehicle before it rains or snows. Also, although it's important to keep your car clean in winter, avoid washing your car when the temperature is cold enough to freeze the water before it dries. The statements expressed above are only for informational purposes and should be independently verified.

Melting ice from a frozen car lock can be achieved in several ways, but despite what your first instinct may be, using hot water is not one of the recommended methods. Car locks have tight seals and water can hardly reach inside to melt the ice, so the hot water rarely works. garage door repair danvilleMoreover, depending on how fast you move or how cold it is outside, the hot water could freeze as well and further complicate the problem of how to melt ice from a car lock.garage door parts athens ga Forcing the key into the lock is another bad option. prehung interior door replacementIt can result in a broken key or a broken lock.shower door seal ebay

The best solution to open a frozen lock is to use a commercial lock de-icer. If you don’t have any de-icers or are having an exceptionally bad day and your de-icer is trapped in the locked car, don’t worry. garage door repair wayne paThere are other options.upvc french door costs Check all the door locks of your car, and identify the one that is least frozen. Most likely it is the one that has been in the sunlight, or the one facing east or south. In wintertime it is best if you avoid parking your car in the shade. Morning sunlight can help with opening door locks, even if they are frozen. Press your thumb against the door lock. Keep it there for a few minutes. The skin’s warmth might heat the lock just enough so that you can open it. Try to open the lock, but do not force the key if things are still frozen.

Hold the key by the end. Use the lighter or a match to heat it. Move the flame back and forth to heat as much of the key as possible. Warning: Be careful with the flame and the heat. While heating the key don’t burn your fingers, melt any plastic attachment the key may have, or allow the key to become so hot that it’s painful to even hold. Insert the heated key into the car lock that’s been frozen shut. Try to open it without forcing. The ice might not melt with just one attempt. It may be worth it to reheat the key a few times and give this technique another try. If none of the above mentioned tips work, pour some hand sanitizer on the key, and using the key as the delivery device, try to insert as much hand sanitizer into the lock as possible. Hand sanitizers contain alcohol, which could melt the ice. Alcohol does burn, but only in high concentrations and the concentration of the alcohol in the hand sanitizer is not high enough to burn. However, it is recommended that you proceed with care, if you want to heat the car key after applying hand sanitizer.

A commercial de-icer may be used to melt the ice, and help you start your vehicle. During the cold season, you should keep de-icers in your car and home, and in winter jackets, so that you have these on hand at all times. Pull the door handle firmly, to see if it opens. If the car door is frozen as well, don’t force it open and avoid using tools, at the risk of scratching your car. Firmly push against the door’s margins with the palms of your hands, until the ice around the door cracks. Remove the ice around the door and open it. Hopefully one of these six methods solved your frozen car lock problem. Remember to always exercise caution in freezing temperatures. OVERVIEW INSTALLATION GUIDES FAQs Back to Electronic Locks Benefits of SmartCode Deadbolt With a SmartCode keyless entry deadbolt you can use your own personal keypad code to enter your home with just a few simple pushes of a button and lock it with just one. You also get more control over who has access to your home.