Cold climate owners' experience wanted

I've had all sorts of problems with the charge door in the winter. Especially since I park outside. For an example, in one storm it filled up with ice with it plugged in. I had a hard time getting the car unplugged and even a harder time getting the charge door shut. Of course reopening was a pain too.

BuffaloBillsfan said:

I have the same problem when it's cold when it comes to opening the charging door. I'm going to look for a rubber wedge to pry it open for those occasions. Do you think this is a big enough issue that they'd put a stronger spring or whatever it's lacking so the door pops open in cold weather? Do we make a petition or something?

Click to expand...

Just a minor suggestion... try some silicone spray lube on the weatherstripping seal around the port door and in the door latch mechanism. I was finding on my '14 that would sometimes need to give the door a hard thump with my fist before the latch would release. When released, sometimes found a frosty seal on the weatherstripping. Silicone lube seamed to help keep this from sticking.

try some silicone spray lube on the weatherstripping seal around the port door and in the door latch mechanism.

Click to expand...

I think I will try this. I have had some problems with frozen charge port door lately, and today's problem was especially vexing. First there was no sound when trying to open with the key. Fine, there usually isn't when there's a problem. There had not been a proper ice storm like there was a few days before, but there was still some ice visible in the gaps, so I took a plastic spatula to it. Nothing. Went to the owners manual, tried to try the suggestion there, but the diagram did not match what I saw. More spatula, and when I was done it was clear that everything had to be free of ice in the gaps - every side was coming up when pried (in the name of love, for all you U2 fans) - but still no click with the key and no opening. Some pounding on the door was mixed in here as well. Anyway, I gave up and hoped that the charge port door would "change its mind" after I drove the car. And it did. But when I looked for evidence of what the sticking culprit could have been, I found nothing. The one strange thing I noticed was that there was a very thin coat of ice on the charge port door (that stopped short of the edges)... and nowhere else. Now why would that be? It was like that before I did anything.

This problem is quite a bad thing. Makes me think that there either should not be any latch/lock here (are there thieves in the night out to siphon electricity?) or that it should be something simple, external, and not delicate.

You may want to try a light coating of silicone grease on the seals, and the spray on the hinges. The spray is kind of thin and messy.

I parked my 2015 24kWh outside in -10F, lost 8% SOC roughly on a day due the battery warmer. Noticed the dash light was flashing when I started it this morning, it was probably an indicator for battery warming.

So far loving this car in the winter

Yes, that was the car letting you know the warmer was running.

NoReleaf said:

(in the name of love, for all you U2 fans)

This problem is quite a bad thing. Makes me think that there either should not be any latch/lock here (are there thieves in the night out to siphon electricity?) or that it should be something simple, external, and not delicate.

Click to expand...

Not certain, but I think the latch is a safety feature to prevent the charging cover from opening “in flight” and becoming a small air brake. I once failed to latch this door and it did come open...quite a surprise but I was going slow enough that it didn’t bend or worse, rip off.

And for those of us of more advanced chronology, that quote is also from one of the Supremes biggest hits pre-dating U2 by decades.

NoReleaf said:

try some silicone spray lube on the weatherstripping seal around the port door and in the door latch mechanism.

Click to expand...

This problem is quite a bad thing. Makes me think that there either should not be any latch/lock here (are there thieves in the night out to siphon electricity?) or that it should be something simple, external, and not delicate.

Click to expand...

Besides the frost buildup, sensed the weatherstripping was becoming stiff & less pliable in the cold. Thus, had a gut hunch the cause of the failure to release was likely too much tension on the latch mechanism when very cold. Fortunately, I have an attached garage so this didn't happen often. Anyways, didn't really care so much about the actual cause due to other issues from the road salt. Just spray lubed the living daylights out of the hinges, latch, seals, and plastic surfaces like I do with other mechanisms exposed to road salt. It's important to only use silicone spray lube to minimize attracting additional dirt, also have a rag to mask and clean up the overspray mess.

Yes, silicone can work. I would also recommend that you spray WD40 into the joints of the charging outside door mechanism... That stuff is made to remove Water, which can freeze in the cold and jam the door latch.

Also, you can press down on the door panel while you are pressing the remote to open it... That is like a mini car hood, and if you relieve the pressure on the mechanism, then it will open easier.

If you really have trouble lifting the door, either attach a piece of duct tape on the edge of the door so you have a pull tab to lift when it sticks.. OR a plastic knife to leverage the door up...

I would also recommend that you spray WD40 into the joints of the charging outside door mechanism... That stuff is made to remove Water, which can freeze in the cold and jam the door latch.

Click to expand...

WD-40 is a (toxic) solvent. It can easily damage paint, and has no real lasting lubrication effect. It should be used for nothing other than freeing rusted bolts.

I use something called beer grease.
It's about $100 for a 2 ounce tube. I get it from work.
It's food contact grade grease.

If it's safe for rubber then it's food grade silicone grease.

What I can find out about beer grease is it appears to contain silicone oils and beef fat along with some preservatives.

Oilpan4 said:

What I can find out about beer grease is it appears to contain silicone oils and beef fat along with some preservatives.

Click to expand...

Yuck. Pretty old school, like oakum...

Silly me. I saw “beer grease” and concluded you have to drink a beer while applying the grease.

I’ll leave now.

I have used the gummi stuff for years, mostly for sticking door seals, but also used it on the Leaf.

https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-91480615-Gummi-Pflege-Rubber/dp/B004B8GTQG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548857377&sr=8-1&keywords=gummi+pledge

FYI our Leaf in snow at -23F or -30C can go 28 miles from 100% to 10%

BrockWI said:

I have used the gummi stuff for years, mostly for sticking door seals, but also used it on the Leaf.

https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-91480615-Gummi-Pflege-Rubber/dp/B004B8GTQG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548857377&sr=8-1&keywords=gummi+pledge

Click to expand...

I assume the stuff is actually "slipperi" rather than "gummi" then? That's confusing. ;-)

LOL yes, my understanding it is a food grade silicone, but it does make the rubber slippery rather than sticky and makes water hard to freeze to the rubber. I also coat the metal surface opposite from the seal as well.

Now that it's warmer and everything has melted, I learned something today. I learned that you don't use your keys to pry open the charge door when it's stuck shut. Please learn from my mistake. The good thing is , is that what broke off is just plastic.

I took a pic of what I did but no where to post it?

I took a pic of what I did but no where to post it?

Click to expand...

You have to use a third party image hosting service like IMGUR (NOT Photobucket) and link the image to here. This topic is fine.