[andrew28]

First snowstorm with the Insight and it came with rain. So now it has tons of ice and frozen snow. I was able to remove most of the frozen snow after waiting for the car to warm up. The door handles are still covered in blocks of ice. Worried about the sensors(on the 2 front doors) and paint if I use the ice scraper so I might just warm each door handle by hand.

 

[insightfully]

Heat sounds like a good idea. There are also deicers available in mini spray and squeeze bottles, and you could also improvise a similar mixture with 2/3 rubbing alcohol and 1/3 water. The alcohol has a lower freezing point (-128 F) than water so it "melts" the ice.

There are mixed opinions on the effect of alcohol on the paint/clear coat, but since you just waxed the car the impact should be minimal.

Good luck!

 

[Wolverine51]

I suggest using a hair drier set on low heat. It will melt the ice and then dry the handles.

 

[andrew28]

Heat sounds like a good idea. There are also deicers available in mini spray and squeeze bottles, and you could also improvise a similar mixture with 2/3 rubbing alcohol and 1/3 water. The alcohol has a lower freezing point (-128 F) than water so it "melts" the ice.

There are mixed opinions on the effect of alcohol on the paint/clear coat, but since you just waxed the car the impact should be minimal.

Good luck!

This probably wouldn't work if I need to use the car immediately but letting the car warm up to 70F(took about 20-30 minutes for the interior heat to have an effect on the door handles from cold start with 20F outside temperature) did help with melting the ice on the door handles. Still need to melt the smaller ice blocks with my hands but not as much. I wasn't sure if the de-icers will eat through the sealant I recently applied or get behind the crevices of the door handles where the sensors are located so didn't want to try it.

I suggest using a hair drier set on low heat. It will melt the ice and then dry the handles.

No garage sadly, and my apartment is on the 2nd floor.

 

[Verdier]

What's wrong with a little warm water?

 

[andrew28]

What's wrong with a little warm water?

I avoided it cause I was too dumb to realize I was dealing with a door handle and not the windshield. :sad:


My radar sensor malfunctioned today. Not sure if it is due to the cold temperature (below 0F with windchill) or I need to clear the icicles from the radar area...

 

[insightfully]

My radar sensor malfunctioned today. Not sure if it is due to the cold temperature (below 0F with windchill) or I need to clear the icicles from the radar area...

Clearing the icicles should do the trick. The radar can't send or receive sonar signals past the physical blockage. Let us know how it goes.

 

[andrew28]

Clearing the icicles should do the trick. The radar can't send or receive sonar signals past the physical blockage. Let us know how it goes.

I cleared the icicles with some warm water and that seem to have fixed the radar issues.



Had another issue today but this time it was the fuel door. My Insight's fuel door pops open slightly and does not sit flush. Apparently water got in the gap and froze. Melted the ice with some warm water and the fuel door still wouldn't pop open. Had to bring it to the dealership. I think they used some tool to get it to open. When they showed me the car, I tried to open the fuel door, and it was not opening again. This time they had one person pressing the fuel door button while the other was pushing the fuel door inwards to sit flush with the rest of the car. Once it was open they told me to have the cord attached to the fuel cap hang in a downward direction instead of upwards in the future. Mine was pulled in an upwards position towards the right. So it required more force for the latch to pop open which my car wasn't able to do due to ice and the fuel door in general being slightly open to begin with.


I hope Honda finds a solution for those of us with the fuel doors not sitting flush with the rest of the car. Having water getting into that gap and then freezing sucks.

 

[Honda2019]

My radar sensor malfunctioned today. Not sure if it is due to the cold temperature (below 0F with windchill) or I need to clear the icicles from the radar area...

Driving home from work in the snow yesterday I had my radar turn off as well due to the snow covering up the sensor (see picture).

 

[andrew28]

Driving home from work in the snow yesterday I had my radar turn off as well due to the snow covering up the sensor (see picture).

I'm pretty confident driving in winter conditions due to growing up in New England. The Insight is my first car with a radar which I think handles the Collision Mitigation Braking System, knowing that feature is off, while driving in icy conditions made me more nervous than normal. It seems like the radar safety assist features would come in handy the most during snowy/icy conditions but most likely will be blocked by the snow or ice.

 

[insightfully]

Driving home from work in the snow yesterday I had my radar turn off as well due to the snow covering up the sensor (see picture).

Is it just unfortunate happenstance that only 'select' areas (like the radar) frosted over from aerodynamics? Or had you already cleared snow from other parts of the car when the picture was taken...?

 

[ScottyWM]

Seems like it would have been pretty easy to incorporate a heating element on the radar shroud, similar to the heated mirrors.

 

[insightfully]

Seems like it would have been pretty easy to incorporate a heating element on the radar shroud, similar to the heated mirrors.

It would be trickier to maintain a consistent temperature across a non-conductive plastic cover rather than across conductive mirror/glass.

Higher placement of the radar might have been better as a Honda design choice. With the radar being low, any snow/water accumulation above it has greater chance of falling/dripping in its path. HOWEVER, the low position of the radar is good because it offsets the 'high' position of the camera.

So I guess, NET - the Honda engineers did a decent job at balancing all the different factors.

 

[DrDrew]

I hope Honda finds a solution for those of us with the fuel doors not sitting flush with the rest of the car. Having water getting into that gap and then freezing sucks.

Mine was also delivered with the gas door gap too wide for my liking, so I brought it back to the dealer and had them fix it. It requires bending the bracket that attaches it to the body. Minor thing, but it was driving me crazy every time I looked at it.

 

[insightfully]

First snowstorm with the Insight and it came with rain. So now it has tons of ice and frozen snow. I was able to remove most of the frozen snow after waiting for the car to warm up. The door handles are still covered in blocks of ice. Worried about the sensors(on the 2 front doors) and paint if I use the ice scraper so I might just warm each door handle by hand.

While skimming the manual today, I came across Honda's "official recommendation" for warm water around door edges to melt the ice. It's obscurely listed under "Exterior Checks Notice" in the "Before Driving" section. Nice that Honda is so comprehensive in what they list. But then again... I think we came to conclude warm water being good solution anyhow.

 

[RcLab1]

It's cold outside. First thing I do is remote start the Insight Touring. I get to my car and the driver side door is frozen stuck.

I remote open the car locks and it automatically switches back & forth (lock unlock lock)????

It seems the internal door locks are dozen too:-(

I.get in the passenger seat and work my way into the driver seat. I try to pull the lever to open driver-side door and it's stuck too.

I driver for 20min and the door warms up and unlocks.

Is there a way to prevent frozen locks (I don't have a warm garage)

 

[Xiaodongplayer]

Here in Montreal, we have -7C(19.4F) today but lucky my door are not freezed. Do you have freezing rain there?

 

[andrew28]

It's cold outside. First thing I do is remote start the Insight Touring. I get to my car and the driver side door is frozen stuck.

I remote open the car locks and it automatically switches back & forth (lock unlock lock)????

It seems the internal door locks are dozen too:-(

I.get in the passenger seat and work my way into the driver seat. I try to pull the lever to open driver-side door and it's stuck too.

I driver for 20min and the door warms up and unlocks.

Is there a way to prevent frozen locks (I don't have a warm garage)

Sounds like water got in between the door seals and froze your door shut. You might need to lube up those door seals with Honda's Silicone Grease.

Heat the end of a key with a match or lighter, and then insert it in the lock.

^This might work if you pull the key out of the keyfob if it's due to frozen door lock.

The only thing that froze on my Insight last winter was the fuel door due to the gap issue letting water in. I had the dealership bend the latch to close it as much as possible the other day. I will see how much that helps this winter.

Here in Montreal, we have -7C(19.4F) today but lucky my door are not freezed. Do you have freezing rain there?

I had freezing rain yesterday and my doors opened normally. I ended up with a ton of ice beads on my car.

 

[insightfully]

Is there a way to prevent frozen locks (I don't have a warm garage)

Some suggestions are above, from related incident/question last winter. The lock/unlock scenario sounds to me like there was ice on the 'door lock sensor' (the ridges on the top side to lock/unlock the doors).

The 'official' recommendation from Honda (via Owners Manual, Exterior Checks/Notice) when doors are frozen shut is to use warm water around the door edges to melt ice, then wiping dry to avoid additional freezing.. Forcing the door is not recommended, to avoid damage to the rubber seals.