This morning I went to open sliding doors first thing and the motors whirred and each of the doors attempted to open in turn, but could not seem to manage it after a bit of whirring and wheezing. One door only part closed and I could not open or close it by hand then.

It was a chilly start to the day, light frost, perhaps -2 C (that's about 30 F I think for those still in the dark ages when it comes to units of measure). Little bit of frost and ice on the car.

First time this has happened, so methinks it is the cold weather and a bit of frost and ice. No big deal right? Except I am off to the French Alps next week and it will be much colder than this up at those altitudes.

Searched the forum for previous posts - lots of threads raised about sticky doors but not much feedback on solutions that worked.

I'm thinking maybe the tracks need lubrication - Owner's Manual says to use NLGI Grade 2 EP, GC-LB. That is about the most common form of axle and bearing grease on the planet, and I have some in the garage.

Any body have any tips about lubricating these doors? Manual says to lube centre and upper tracks & the open position striker spring.

Anybody else had this problem in icy weather and willing to share how they overcame it?

Running short of time to resolve this before I hit the road.....

Thanks. Happy Motoring and Season's Greetings to you all.

 

Post Script - I should have said, as the day warmed up the doors open and close as normal.

 

You sure it wasn't the rubber seals frozen to the metalwork, I've heard of people using furniture spay polish on the seals to repel the water and prevent it icing up. Can't recommend it since never done it myself.

 

Rodger,

That's a good suggestion - it certainly could be the seals iced to the coachwork. I'll give it a try with some silicone spray or wax and I'll lube up as per maker's recommendation at same time. Fingers crossed.

 

OK, this afternoon I cleaned all the tracks and wheels and gears for the sliding doors (and for the rear tailgate - used white spray grease for the gears on that) and lubricated them with a light coat of fresh grease. Whilst I was at it I used some pledge spray furniture wax to do ALL the door rubber seals. Smells lovely. Doors do seem to slide a bit easier - but could all be psychological. Anyway, it's a good maintenance task out of the way.

Hopefully this will give the doors their best chance of working correctly at high altitude in Winter conditions. Also sprayed a bit of WD40 (penetrating oil) into the door locks to keep them moving.

Hopefully these measures will work - it took a good 3 hours to clean and lube the tracks on both sliding doors.

 

Just back from the Alps. No problems with the sliding doors sticking despite some freeze/thaw conditions. Conclusion: cleaning and lubricating the tracks and then spraying some furniture wax polish onto the door seals was worth while effort. Thanks.

 

Pledge [silicon] polish or any of the pound-shop [silicon] plastic interior polishes on the door seals is bill. Ditto for sticking seat belts, fully extend then lash both sides with a cheepo silicone polish and they improve a lot without having to go to the extent of having to dismantle the mechanism[s] and spray with 'white grease'.

 

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