The subject line pretty much says it all. If the temperature is much below freezing, both sliding doors are very difficult/impossible to open. Worse, they will crack slightly but not open, and can't be shut all the way, turning on the interior lights and initiating a loud warning chime.
Per my online research, this seems to be a common problem, although tried-and-true solutions are less common.
I think that the rubber gaskets on both the door and the body are freezing to the metal parts of the other. I don't think the problem is compounded by door misalignment - when the doors are not frozen, they do open smoothly.
I think the stickiness of the rubber is also a factor - if the doors are not used for a few days in the summer, they are hard to open. It's like the rubber fuses to the mating surface a bit.
One of my coworkers has the Hyundai-badged version of the same van, and has the same problem. He said that he's pulled two door handles off, and had recently treated the rubber gaskets with silicone spray to try to keep them from sticking to the sealing surfaces.
I did the same yesterday (a fairly mild day in which the doors opened fine in the afternoon), and they were OK for awhile but frozen shut again by the evening as the temperature dropped.
My experience is that oil-based rust-proofing sprays deteriorate open-cell rubber gaskets, so I'm reluctant to use that sort of product.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
Per my online research, this seems to be a common problem, although tried-and-true solutions are less common.
I think that the rubber gaskets on both the door and the body are freezing to the metal parts of the other. I don't think the problem is compounded by door misalignment - when the doors are not frozen, they do open smoothly.
I think the stickiness of the rubber is also a factor - if the doors are not used for a few days in the summer, they are hard to open. It's like the rubber fuses to the mating surface a bit.
One of my coworkers has the Hyundai-badged version of the same van, and has the same problem. He said that he's pulled two door handles off, and had recently treated the rubber gaskets with silicone spray to try to keep them from sticking to the sealing surfaces.
I did the same yesterday (a fairly mild day in which the doors opened fine in the afternoon), and they were OK for awhile but frozen shut again by the evening as the temperature dropped.
My experience is that oil-based rust-proofing sprays deteriorate open-cell rubber gaskets, so I'm reluctant to use that sort of product.
Any suggestions? Thanks!