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Door not shutting

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Erwan1

Go Kart Champion
Hi all,

So a few times when it has been cold (~-15+) my driver side door would open however not shut. I had to open close the handle a few times and lock/unlock until it would finally close. This has also happened on the passenger side however to a lesser extent in that there is less opportunity for it to happen and also that when it has happened a simple open close of the handle solved it.

Last night I opened my door and it would not shut (driver side), I tried for a good 15 mins playing with it to try and get it to shut but it simply wouldn't.

This morning I called VW 24 Roadside assistance to come get the car and tow it to the nearest dealership. While I was waiting I managed to get the door shut, so I canceled the truck.

My concern is that this happens at a place where I cannot leave my car unattended with the door ajar.

Does this happen to anyone else who lives in cold weather? Should I take it to the dealership? I understand mechanism is probably freezing somehow however in my short 10 years of driving and plenty of beaters I have NEVER had this happen. Maybe a lock freeze up but not the door not shutting.
 
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LittleJohny

Go Kart Champion
You probably have a faulty latch mechanism? Although it's strange that it's happening on both sides...

I would think that it's not anything freezing up, since the same latch has to be actuated to open the door.. so any ice would have been broken away...
 
TechJunky

TechJunky

Passed Driver's Ed
I had it happen to me once when it was very cold out. The door latch was stuck in the open position and wouldn't hold the door shut. I ended up taking my key and fiddling with the latch itself, moving it along with pulling the handle, and it worked. Took a couple tries. Hasn't happened since, but I'm always paranoid when it gets really cold.
 
C

CMD

Ready to race!
Never happened to me once - I spend at least 3 weeks a month in Ottawa and the rest of my time near Huntsville, so similar climatic exposure. Would definitely be getting that looked at by the dealership.
 
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Heroic_Kaizer

Passed Driver's Ed
Its happening to me right now. It is very cold like -25 including wind chill. I could open the door but when i tried to close it, it wont shut. I pulled it into the garage and hopefully after 30 min it will close. This is ridiculous.
 
Aridi03

Aridi03

Ready to race!
DougDome

DougDome

Go Kart Champion
lol the same thing would happen to my MkIII, it's funny to see that the cars really do have hereditary problems.
 
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Heroic_Kaizer

Passed Driver's Ed
It has happened to be last year (few posts above) and it has happened to be a few times this winter too. It is my 2nd full winter and this is driving me nuts. Im scared to go far now because what if this happens to me suddenly again. Dealership service sucks because most likely they won;t fix it right away and by the time they do, Im probably already dead.
 
GTI2012

GTI2012

Ready to race!
Frozen door latches

I used to live in Chicago and have come across this problem before. Ice in door mechanism. Ice jamms up mechanism and hangs up the latch when it tries to re-latch. I used Lock eze on my locks and then dribbled it down the lock shaft into the mechanism inside the doorr (when door lock buttons were on the top of the door). I would try spraying the latch mechanism on the end of the door with siilcone slip spray to make it more hydrophobic inside. This may prevent water from staying in it to freeze.
If it is freezing the mechanism inside the door, you'll have to have the dealer pull off the door panel and lube the lock mechanizm inside the door. These doors are famous for gathering water inside (remember the gallons of water that drain from the door when you wash the car?).
Oh, and it goes without saying that you can't wash cars in the winter when it is well below freezing. Nothing you do will stop the locking mechanism from freezing if you wash it in that weather. you get too much water into the door and latch mechanism
 
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