A5 Frozen Windows and application of silicone

[jpaul]

works fine on window top+bottom ... where it receeds into frame, after soap, as I said, allow to dry & rub/work-in the gummi, so it doesn't coat/smear window as it rises.
internal weather seals on doors, and boot/bonnet seals too ... have never done petrol flap.

are there other recommended brands than einzett

 

[Finglonga]

On my old e92 and the wifes e81 once the bottom seal was de-iced the window dropped to open. I/we carried a rag to dry off the top seal when parked overnight and there was going to be a good frost and never had it stick up there.

 

[TNGL]

Thanks for the help. My gummi arrived today and so when I get time in the week I'll apply it.

 

[TNGL]

works fine on window top+bottom ... where it receeds into frame, after soap, as I said, allow to dry & rub/work-in the gummi, so it doesn't coat/smear window as it rises.
internal weather seals on doors, and boot/bonnet seals too ... have never done petrol flap.

are there other recommended brands than einzett

I think some may be getting confused as this stuff is normally used on the rubber seal/gasket around the door. In your case it seems to be the window scraper seal that is causing the problem (the one that seals against excess water running down the glass and into the door).

On most cars these seals are removable if you really wanted to get to all of it, but having never done so on an A5 myself and not knowing your mechanical prowess, I wouldn't advise it.

If you drop the window all the way down it will expose much of the seal though, and remove the pressure against it so the you could get a cloth-wrapped finger into the gap between glass & seal. I wouldn't expect it to work quite as well as it does on a rubber seal though as most scraper seals are lined with felt, to stop the window squeaking as it goes up and down, which is probably what is accumulating water and causing the freezing problem in the first place. Got to be worth a try though, as is using some kind of glass sealant on the window itself. It makes it much easier to scrape ice from glass on a freezing day, so might help with your issue too.

Correct, that is the troublesome area and where you should apply it, where the seal and window make contact.
Personally I consider the above mentioned area to be "outside the seal" where the seal meets the window / door frame. In my opinion, the inside would be the bit towards the roof lining interior, or in the middle of it. Of course there's no point in putting anything there.

I am back once more... my windows froze again and so I don't think I applied it properly! How exactly did you get it onto the seal? I found there was limited room for the gummi to enter the gap between the window and seal and so it may not have applied properly?

Did you just apply it to the bottom part of the glass window, lower the window and that in essence applied the gummi to the seal? I just squeezed as precisely as I could for the gummi to run into the very narrow gap between the window and seal.

 

[jpaul]

only ever apply it to the seal never the window
roll thw window down so fully retracted.
clean seals with soap+water, let them dry, first

using an old absorbant rag - like a duster - saturate a small area with gummi, and then with finger in cloth, or forming a small wedge of cloth for base of window,
work/rub that into the seal, leaving seal just shiny/damp, but not enough gummi that it will be dragged up and smear window when you raise it.

putting the cloth on the back of a knife blade works too, to get it into gaps.

 

[adam cool dude]

If your windows are frozen to the frame so is your windscreen. A jug of luke warm water will do the trick no problem. Gummi is great for pillarless doors anyway.

 

[Heisenberg]

There was a fix for this from Audi where the cut a bit of the seal away which contacts the window further down inside the door.

 

[bimbleuk]

If the Gummi isn't working in that area then consider Red Rubber grease as it's syn and natural rubber safe and is a bit more mechanically stable so shouldn't wear off so quickly.

I've used it on leaky sunroof seals before but also just ordered some Gummi to use on my i3 frame-less window seals as it's a bit less viscous from a YT vid I looked at.

 

[200sols]

There was a fix for this from Audi where the cut a bit of the seal away which contacts the window further down inside the door.

Which doesn't work, at least on the TT.

 

[paintguy]

I am back once more... my windows froze again and so I don't think I applied it properly! How exactly did you get it onto the seal? I found there was limited room for the gummi to enter the gap between the window and seal and so it may not have applied properly?

Did you just apply it to the bottom part of the glass window, lower the window and that in essence applied the gummi to the seal? I just squeezed as precisely as I could for the gummi to run into the very narrow gap between the window and seal.

You've actually quoted how I would do it, but basically what jpaul said.

If you drop the window all the way down it will expose much of the seal though, and remove the pressure against it so the you could get a cloth-wrapped finger into the gap between glass & seal. .

 

[TNGL]

Thanks a lot for the help, I will try to drop the window completely and give it a go again at the weekend.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Which doesn't work, at least on the TT.

Indeed. I think the concensus was its the felt pad internally thats the issue, it gets wet and freezes to the glass. Then when you try to drop the window slightly on opening the door it can't.

I have one of the TTs with this issue. What I find is that even if its not rained for days if I lower my window and raise it again its wet. I can do this like 3-5 times before it basically comes up dryish.
I keep forgetting to do this to try to reduce the freezing issue. It got me about 3-4 times last year, once so far this winter.

On the TT if you only slightly pull the handle you can see if the window will drop before actually opening the door. Means you can then relock it if you choose. If you open the door it will keep trying to drop then sort of time out and stop.
You wont be able to close the door at this point as the doors drop in order to get the glass into a seal. All the other frameless cars I have had don't have this seal, they have a wider door seal that the glass presses against. Audis is a good design as its far better noise insulation, but its a bad design if you suffer the sorts of weather we do. Colder countries it tends to be drier as less air moisture so they seem to have less issues.

They do have a fix for the TT now it seems, but they lower the window slightly, which means the seal is less effective, so increases road noise into the cabin slightly.

On the TT the easiest way to fix it is some warm water over the door, below the handle, this easily defrosts the felt pad bit.
Personally now if there is a risk I just use the drivers door and put my bag into the passenger seat from that side rather than opening the passenger side.
The drivers door will almost close (first latch) and if I drive around 0.5-1 mile you will hear it drop and then raise. Easy to just reshut the door at this point. I think the combination of the heat starting to get through and the slight motion of the car gets it to detatch quite quickly.
It would probably thaw in around 3-4 minutes if your happy to sit there in the car, once it warms up a little. The issue is the switch will be sort of disabled so you cant keep pressing it as its gone into that sort of safe mode.

 

[jpaul]

Also, make sure you use a glass polish regularly, inside+out, that black grime, especially at the edge so that rain beads off well, and it runs smooth.

If you have taken a door apart, the weather seal in the doors is inboard of the window, so they are designed for some water ingress at the seal at base of window.

 

[jpaul]

... should be a seasonal sticky ?

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

... should be a seasonal sticky ?

Indeed.
After having the fix applied to mine in June (the revisde one that supposed to work) the other day I had a frozen window again.

I'm going to go back to the winding the window up and down a few times when cold weather is predicted, it really seemed to help.
Back to the small flask of warm water on really cold days i guess.

 

[mjt]

I used gummi pflege on my frameless doors when I used to park my cars outside and never had issues.

 

[Dogbreath]

It is not the same as silicone and depending on the quality of it it can damage the seals in the long run and cause squeaks and rattles across the doors.

Either gummi pflege or water, nothing in between!

Silicone will not damage rubber. Mineral oils and greases will.

 

[Steampunk]

Silicone will not damage rubber. Mineral oils and greases will.

A lot of lubricant sprays dissolve the lubricant (such as silicone) into a carrier solution that can damage seals and rubbers. It's fine on metals where the solution evaporates and leaves behind a layer of the lubricant, but you have be careful what you put on softer materials because of what the lubricant is dissolved into, rather than the lubricant itself.

It's not difficult to get just silicone grease with friendly carriers. I think the roofing trade uses it to push plastic guttering together, and you can get it for taps seals from the plumbing trade, so they won't eat plastics. They might make your car windows greasy compared to a speciality product like Gummi Pflege.

 

[red eye]

I am back once more... my windows froze again and so I don't think I applied it properly! How exactly did you get it onto the seal? I found there was limited room for the gummi to enter the gap between the window and seal and so it may not have applied properly?

Did you just apply it to the bottom part of the glass window, lower the window and that in essence applied the gummi to the seal? I just squeezed as precisely as I could for the gummi to run into the very narrow gap between the window and seal.

It normally get stuck inside the runners inside the door. It’s like a felt type it’s holds water and dirt.
You have to remove the window and run a soapy rag in between.
You can squirt some silicone spray but you need to drop the window and then work the window up and down