First thing, make sure your weather-stripping is in good shape. That could
solve your problem right off.

When I lived in NY state, this happened to me a few times a year. Some
people may not like my solution, but it worked. I owned an old car (minus
remote entry)... yes I needed a key to unlock. Well, the key "flap" was
broken in an open position and was prone to icing up. Sure no one would've
stolen the car if I never locked it, but thats not the point. Take out a
lighter and heat up the key. Also put the flame to the lock mechanism...
try not to set any cloth gloves on fire.

To open the door from that point, I'd lightly thump on the frame (NOT glass)
and rub an ice scraper along the crack. If you can't even get a crack in
the ice sheet, use the same lighter and melt a small hole in the ice (at the
frame), then start peeling/pounding.

-keith




<r2000swler@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1103829087.308215.105590@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I live just south of Lexington KY, and the
> last 24 hors have been interesting. Areas
> slightly to our north-west have record
> snows. We had a mild ice storm last night.
> About 1/4" of the clear crud. The local
> power utility does a good job of keeping
> trees cut back so we had no power outage.
> Feb. 2003 saw some areas without power for
> up to 2 weeks. w
> I was dismayed to dicover my 1991 Civic coated
> in a sheath of ice. I could unluck the front
> doors, but couldn't budge to doors. So I got
> the hatch up, crawled in and made it into the
> drivers seat. Since I am 6'1" it was quite
> a sight. The engine started up with no problem.
> I expected to be able to force a door open from
> inside the car. WRONG. Stuck like with epoxy.
> Crawled back out through the rear hatch.
> I couldn't get into my utility building because
> the combination lock was iced over.
> I debated pouring some warm water on the doors,
> but decided that thermal shock might crack the
> glass. So I rumaged through the house looking
> for a solution. I found the Krogar house
> version of "Lysol". 99% alcohol. So I grabbed
> both cans and went out to fight the ice.
> Worked great. As I sprayed it on, the ice
> lifted away from the door frame. I used a small
> peice of flexible plastic, AKA credit card, to
> work the alcohol into the seals. Took about 10
> minutes on each door.
> By that time the engine had heated up enough to
> loosen the ice on the windshield.
> I sprayed the seals and wiped them off then sprayed
> them with silicon. When the temps drop to 0 tonight
> I should be able to get into my car.
> The only downside is the car smells like a doctors
> office.
> Terry
>