Minivans in cold climates

Karen07 · Dec 7, 2010

I live in Canada and currently have a 2004 Toyota Sienna, I hate it. When it gets cold, like it has started to do, either one or both of the sliding doors won't open. It is beyond inconvenient and have found a forum with 400+ posts about this issue with the Sienna.
What I want to know is does anyone live in a cold climatr and have this problem with any other type of minivan? By the sounds of it, there is no permanent fix and Toyota is denying there is a problem so I'd rather sell the thing and get something else. Our van battery died last night because the door was stuck partly open from trying to open it but not being able to close it and then forgetting it was like that... So frustrating...

lovinwaves · Dec 7, 2010

Welcome to car-seat.org

Wow, I can understand your frustration. I have never heard of that being a problem honestly. Is it because of ice and snow or just because it's cold? I have a 2005 Odyssey and have never had problems with the doors in the wintertime. The exception might be washing it at a car wash then leaving it outdoors in freezing temperatures and unable to open it in the morning. Or perhaps an ice storm that has frozen the doors shut.

We do have quite a few minivan owners that frequent this forum, so hopefully they can chime in about their experiences.

Minnesota · Dec 7, 2010

Oh no! Are they automatic doors or manual? I've never had an issue like this with my Sedona, but that must be really frustrating.

If you can get into the van, is it possible to open them from the inside? Like crawl in through the driver's side, over the center console and then try to bump them open from the inside. I would think maybe that would give you more leverage as you could kind of put your shoulder into it instead of just pulling.

oddduck · Dec 7, 2010

Have you tried WD-40 or silicone spray along the rubber gaskets?

mimieliza · Dec 7, 2010

I have the same problem with our 1999 Honda Odyssey. For us, it is a combination of cold and moisture that causes the doors to get stuck. We've been fine this year so far because we've only been parking it in the garage.

Keeanh · Dec 7, 2010

No no, don't ever force a door open if it's frozen shut! You'll rip your gasket off. If you're lucky, it's just a nuisance to put back on. If you tear it, you have to go buy a new one.

I've never had power doors. Is that where the problem is?

Doors get frozen shut when it goes above freezing, some water gets in, and then it goes below freezing during the night. Keep snow off the top of your van. It melts a bit during the day and runs down inside the crack around the door. If it's warm during the day and going below freezing at night, wipe the gasket dry in the evening and shut at least one of the front doors on a terry towel. That should keep the gasket from freezing to the door.

If you go to open the door and it's frozen, but you've got it on the second "catch", you should be able to close it again. Just give it a good hip-check right where the latching mechanism is. Turn off your inside light except when you actually need it.

If my doors are frozen and I've remembered to put a towel in, I can start the van with the heat on. This is usually enough to unfreeze the rest. Otherwise, everyone piles in through the one door. Even without the towel, I can usually find one door that I can ease open. I did use a hair dryer once -- open one click and warm up the gasket along the top because that's usually where the problem is.

But I never thought of silicone!! I am SO doing that. Thank you!!

Once the temp is staying well below freezing, that shouldn't happen anymore.

BudgieStew · Dec 7, 2010

We live in Quebec and had a 2007 Ford Freestar with powered sliding doors.
Yes, maybe once or twice it happened that one of the sliding doors would freeze shut and then get stuck open once I was able to open it and by open I mean it was shut but not totally. Because it was a powered door there was no way to force it shut hard. The only way I would know is when the alarms would start ringing telling me a door was not shut properly.
It certainly wasn't a big issue as it only happened a couple of times and was easily resolved.
Even if it was stuck open and turned off overnight I think, not totally sure here that it had a timer in it that shut everything down after a certain amount of time.
Our current Ford seems to have that in it. My beloved children have been known to leave doors hanging open. And if I wasn't paying attention when I remotely locked it and missed the double beep letting me know that a door was still open and I come out in the morning the interior lights are off and the battery fine.

I think that doors freezing shut and then not shutting properly are a natural hazard of living in a cold climate. They make de-icers for car locks perhaps that might be a solution.

Mingie · Dec 7, 2010

We have had that happen in our 2007 Entourage a few times during each winter. Mostly with damp snowy weather that has turned cold quickly. Usually warming up the vehicle helps get the doors to open. It is a pain when you have cold kids and need to get going. I won't miss that now that we have moved to the rainy west coast!

DahliaRW · Dec 8, 2010

When it snowed here ice formed in the track that the door slides on and the sliding doors would not open. I cleaned out the track and then the worked fine. (I have an '09 Sienna).

Dawn · Dec 8, 2010

I experienced it every winter when I had my 04 Sienna. SIL has an 05 and is having issues. I live in NC and she is in Richmond, VA. I had to go out and let the heat run before I could open the sliders. Some mornings dh would go out and push from the inside.

firemomof3 · Dec 8, 2010

Yup, happens to me :happy-wavehello:
I park the van in a sunny spot so that at least I can get one of the automatic sliding doors to open. I have a Sedona.

twinsmom · Dec 8, 2010

Yes, it happens to me if it's rainy during the day, then below freezing at night. I now have a remote starter to warm up the car before we go out. If it happens to you, just run the car for a little bit until it warms up. Then you should be able to open the doors. I agree that it is a major PITA.

SafeDad · Dec 8, 2010

oddduck said:
Have you tried WD-40 or silicone spray along the rubber gaskets?

:thumbsup:

I have never had an issue with my 2006 Odyssey, but I did on my 2001 Odyssey. I used Shin-Etsu silicone grease on the gaskets around the doors and it resolved the problem. Honda and Acura dealers often sell it, not sure about Toyota or other companies. I'm sure any automotive silicone grease would work if you don't want to use a spray.

jourdysmom · Dec 8, 2010

I 2nd (or 3rd) the use of silicone spray on the rubber gaskets to prevent them freezing shut. BUT do not spray it directly on the gaskets, the overspray can adn will damage your upholstery, and get on the kids or car seats and is just a nasty mess. My father (mechanic for Chrysler for 20+ years) told me to saturate a rag with it, and then wipe the gaskets on all the doors, even if you are only having a problem with one or 2. The rest are bound to freeze eventually. He said repeat as needed.

Keeanh · Dec 8, 2010

CPSDarren said:
:thumbsup:

I have never had an issue with my 2006 Odyssey, but I did on my 2001 Odyssey. I used Shin-Etsu silicone grease on the gaskets around the doors and it resolved the problem. Honda and Acura dealers often sell it, not sure about Toyota or other companies. I'm sure any automotive silicone grease would work if you don't want to use a spray.

Also, bike shops sell silicone grease, or the bike "parts" section of a lot of bigger stores. That's where ours came from. I just never would have thought to use it until now.

amyd · Dec 8, 2010

My sliding doors were sticky on my Mazda 5 this morning. I'll have to pick up some silicone spray...thanks for the tip:thumbsup: Yay for Canadian winters

Karen07 · Dec 8, 2010

Thank you so much for all the replies! The doors are manual and do this when it's below zero a few times a week, snow or no snow. Last night I sprayed WD40 and they were fine this morning but I agree that spray is not the way to go, smelly and getting on the car seat and upholstery. I will have to get some of this silicone stuff. I also ran he van for 20 minutes today to warm it up first, though this is quite a waste if gas to do this every morning for so long.. I'll see ho much of the winter I can get through with the silicone, maybe I can keep this van yet... Thanks everyone!!

zeo2ski · Dec 9, 2010

jourdysmom said:
My father (mechanic for Chrysler for 20+ years) told me to saturate a rag with it, and then wipe the gaskets on all the doors, even if you are only having a problem with one or 2. The rest are bound to freeze eventually. He said repeat as needed.

My father, also a mechanic for Chrysler/Ford for 30+ years

does the same.

Guest · Dec 13, 2010

Karen07 said:
Thank you so much for all the replies! The doors are manual and do this when it's below zero a few times a week, snow or no snow. Last night I sprayed WD40 and they were fine this morning but I agree that spray is not the way to go, smelly and getting on the car seat and upholstery. I will have to get some of this silicone stuff. I also ran he van for 20 minutes today to warm it up first, though this is quite a waste if gas to do this every morning for so long.. I'll see ho much of the winter I can get through with the silicone, maybe I can keep this van yet... Thanks everyone!!

Go to a store and ask for silicon spray/grease that's better than WD-40. Tell me what you're using it for. There are a ton more products that are "better" than WD-40 now.

emandbri · Dec 27, 2010

I just had this problem with my sienna a few weeks ago. I've had it for 3 years and this was the first time I had an issue but it is usually in the garage. Our garage door opener was broken and I was too lazy to open it and parked it outside.

They opened a little but wouldn't open the rest of the way one is powered and one is manual. I called my friend to ask what to do and she said her ford did that all the time and to have a kid crawl in through the driver's side and open it from the inside and whole I did the handle on the outside at the same time. I was able to open one but not the other and drove with the door ajar light on.

I hope you find a solution that works!

Minivans in cold climates

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