Freezing doors on 2021’s

[Eric]

I’m in the dead of winter in Alaska and my doors don’t unlock anymore since it’s freezing. I have to use the actual key in the key fob on the driver’s side door. Once the truck has been running for a bit and heats up, they work. I can’t afford to leave it in the shop for a bit so I’m going to deal with this winter.

Frozen doors on a 2021 damn man that was my worst nightmare. I still haven’t experienced this issue with my 2021 but if there’s one there will be more.

Really sad to see that it’s still happening especially because it’s a problem they are fully aware of and are allowing to happen.

At least your key works. That didn’t work for me on my 2018. But unfortunately there is no actual fix for this problem. I’m super sorry for you man. What exactly is the temperatures up there in Alaska?

Sponsored

 

[sysop]

Freezing doors was a recall I never took action on for my 2015. Whenever I have gotten a new vehicle, I've always sprayed a few cans of Fluid Film into various places as rust prevention. Inside the doors is one of those places, focusing on the inside of the latch. Yes, I know aluminum doesn't rust, but there are many little bits of steel in there too. The main point of it is condensation and moisture can't get to the metal to freeze it stuck.

Never in the lifetime of that vehicle have I had an issue with freezing doors.

 

[clipperqb]

This happened to one of my rear doors this weekend. Had a pretty good ice storm come through. Seems like the closer (if that's what it's called) was bound. After warming it up and running an errand it opened. I'd prefer this not happen again. I did a short video.

 

[sysop]

The piece that limits travel of the door is called the door check.
f150 door check - Bing images

Once open, get it covered in some sort of lube that will repel moisture and not freeze. I think the factory uses a bit of lithium grease (just not enough and not on the points that need it).

 

[Wakevictim]

Frozen doors on a 2021 damn man that was my worst nightmare. I still haven’t experienced this issue with my 2021 but if there’s one there will be more.

Really sad to see that it’s still happening especially because it’s a problem they are fully aware of and are allowing to happen.

At least your key works. That didn’t work for me on my 2018. But unfortunately there is no actual fix for this problem. I’m super sorry for you man. What exactly is the temperatures up there in Alaska?

It’s my first Ford and I can’t complain too much other than the phantom battery and now this. We are experiencing temps in the teens right now. I live in Juneau so the freezing temps aren’t as extreme as more north. If the key doesn’t end up working, I’ll be screwed ?.

 

[clipperqb]

The piece that limits travel of the door is called the door check.
f150 door check - Bing images

Once open, get it covered in some sort of lube that will repel moisture and not freeze. I think the factory uses a bit of lithium grease (just not enough and not on the points that need it).

Thanks,
It's about 20 degrees here now, I just went out to drop the tailgate and she be frozen it seems as well. It hasn't been freezing rain or anything.

 

[MikeYQM]

My RR door has frozen open at least 5x now. After the service appointment failed to fix it last week, I spent an hour + in -15C, idling the truck and trying to fix it. Had to ratchet strap the door in place to drive to the dealer.
@Ford Motor Company how safe is that?

 

[Eric]

My RR door has frozen open at least 5x now. After the service appointment failed to fix it last week, I spent an hour + in -15C, idling the truck and trying to fix it. Had to ratchet strap the door in place to drive to the dealer.
@Ford Motor Company how safe is that?

Jesus Christ. Worst nightmare. For anyone unaware, this frozen door issue has been going on since the 2011 models.
THERE IS NO FIX FOR IT So don’t waste your time with visits to the dealership because you will always be back again for it.

The parts that cause these doors to freeze save Ford a fair bit of change.
If you were to make a decision that would put a lot of people at risk to save A TON of money, as bad as it is I could rationalize it from a business standpoint but they are not saving such a significant amount that it would be worth putting all these people in danger.

you will come across various different methods of trying to fix it yourself and I’ve heard stories where some of them worked but I can guarantee there is no Ford dealership that will be able to fix it.

I had to live with it for three years on my 2018 XLT until I gave that truck back to them for my 2021. I’m super thankful I haven’t experienced it with this new truck yet but honestly those three years were so traumatizing that I still get nervous every time I open/close my doors on this new truck and the weather is below zero.

I never resorted to using straps. I would just not open my rear doors when the weather was cold enough. And on the days that my driver door wouldn’t close I would just hold it while I was driving so I wouldn’t be late for work. They will open or close eventually. It just sucks for the first half hour to an hour where they won’t do what they’re supposed to do and you have to plan your life around it.

it’s especially embarrassing when you have passengers in your truck and you have to tell the guys in the backseat to hold the door shut until I say so lol. And people roast me for talking smack about Ford

 

[psambrose]

Both doors on drivers side are not usable when temp is below about 30F. When I back into my driveway, the passenger side is not accessible due to a hedge. So I tied a rope to a plastic stool and leave the driver window open. After climbing through the driver window in the morning, I can pull the stool up into the cab so I have it with me if needed.

 

[Mont1414]

I had an issue with my door freezing, couldn’t open the driver door from inside, handle was stuck and the lock knob wouldn’t move up or down, it would open from the outside after a couple pulls but the knob would stay stuck in the down position. Issue occurred when it was below -6° Celsius. They replaced the actuator and door lock assembly.

 

[Eric]

Both doors on drivers side are not usable when temp is below about 30F. When I back into my driveway, the passenger side is not accessible due to a hedge. So I tied a rope to a plastic stool and leave the driver window open. After climbing through the driver window in the morning, I can pull the stool up into the cab so I have it with me if needed.

Damn bro that’s really sad. Can’t tell if you’re being serious but I wouldn’t doubt it.

I had an issue with my door freezing, couldn’t open the driver door from inside, handle was stuck and the lock knob wouldn’t move up or down, it would open from the outside after a couple pulls but the knob would stay stuck in the down position. Issue occurred when it was below -6° Celsius. They replaced the actuator and door lock assembly.

I never experienced this. How long were you stuck in there? Did you just climb out of the driver seat and escape from one of the other doors?

 

[True North]

Jesus Christ. Worst nightmare. For anyone unaware, this frozen door issue has been going on since the 2011 models.
THERE IS NO FIX FOR IT So don’t waste your time with visits to the dealership because you will always be back again for it.

The parts that cause these doors to freeze save Ford a fair bit of change.
If you were to make a decision that would put a lot of people at risk to save A TON of money, as bad as it is I could rationalize it from a business standpoint but they are not saving such a significant amount that it would be worth putting all these people in danger.

you will come across various different methods of trying to fix it yourself and I’ve heard stories where some of them worked but I can guarantee there is no Ford dealership that will be able to fix it.

I had to live with it for three years on my 2018 XLT until I gave that truck back to them for my 2021. I’m super thankful I haven’t experienced it with this new truck yet but honestly those three years were so traumatizing that I still get nervous every time I open/close my doors on this new truck and the weather is below zero.

I never resorted to using straps. I would just not open my rear doors when the weather was cold enough. And on the days that my driver door wouldn’t close I would just hold it while I was driving so I wouldn’t be late for work. They will open or close eventually. It just sucks for the first half hour to an hour where they won’t do what they’re supposed to do and you have to plan your life around it.

it’s especially embarrassing when you have passengers in your truck and you have to tell the guys in the backseat to hold the door shut until I say so lol. And people roast me for talking smack about Ford

It`s past time for some law firm to move in and get FoMoCo to compensate its victims.

 

[Mont1414]

Damn bro that’s really sad. Can’t tell if you’re being serious but I wouldn’t doubt it.

I never experienced this. How long were you stuck in there? Did you just climb out of the driver seat and escape from one of the other doors?

I would climb to the passenger side door and get out, the other time I just sat there for 5 minutes constantly trying to squeeze the door handle and push the door open and it worked. It’s happened 2 times before I brought it in, all when it was colder than -6 Celsius. The whole inside door handle would be completely stuck. When I brought it in for the first time It was only -2 outside, the truck warmed up for 10 mins outside and by the time I got to the dealer it was working fine, they took everything apart and said it was okay. Happened again so I drove straight to the dealer and they were able to take the door apart and see what was going on as the issue was occurring. They said that actuator wasn’t working and the lock assembly was broken. They also mentioned that sometimes the rod has a bend in them from factory and it causes issues. When the issue was occurring I wasnt able to use the key and manually turn the lock from the outside

 

[MikeYQM]

Wow, I never thought of the possibility of being trapped INSIDE the vehicle, that’s a way bigger risk… don’t you think @Ford Motor Company ? Seems like quite a bit of liability if there’s a fire or accident or submerged vehicle.

though, I think Ford is hedging their bets that a fire or water would melt the ice that they couldn’t prevent from trapping you anyways.

 

[Eric]

It`s past time for some law firm to move in and get FoMoCo to compensate its victims.

There was some big legal action for this particular issue a few years back and it was nasty.

At first Ford denied any wrongdoing and liability and basically told everyone to kick rocks but after some time and I guess a lot more complaints they eventually spilled the beans on how they chose the cheaper parts knowing they were prone to issues in cold weather because they didn’t think the probability of malfunctioning was high enough for concern.

All the people that could prove their truck had this issue were given a few hundred bucks for compensation. That’s it. And to make it worse, they made it a real mission to prove that you had the issue caused by their shitty parts. You had to have documentation of at least 3 or 4 times you brought it in for repair.

Sponsored