That is very common this time of year, but all me vehicles do that. It seems that once the car gets thouroughly warmed up they work.

 

Have the same problem. I just Open the door slowly untill i can get my hand in there and try to knock it out of the way. Dam Winter!!

Another Excuse to try and move when are lease is up to someplace that has a Garage.

 

Happened to me too about a week ago. The car was sitting outside , got snowed on (i was driving the truck since the snow/ice was too bad for my lousy Michelin tires )and then melted somewhat. The driver's door opened up a bit and then the ice built up kept it from opening more.
Since i did not need/want to drive it for a while , i let it melt off.

Did not want to mess with opening it anymore ,not knowing what the ice would do.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I didn't see any solutions posted to this issue in this or the parallel discussion. I just got my HHR in November, so this was my first winter dealing with it. As others have recounted, ice buildup next to the front door hinges is brutal, and threatens to damage the door. I studied the drainage flow, and figured out the flaw: it's at the top of the door, not the bottom; the rubber rain gutters/door seals (that run from the roof along side the windshield/door) end at the base of the window, which is coincidentally just over the problem area. Any runoff from the roof ends up in this channel. The simple solution: extend the gutters to redirect the water/ice to another location. I decided to try an experiment, using some 1"x1/2" weather stripping:



Using two layers of the weather stripping creates a 1" block that will form to the shape of the hood (as you can see in the picture), redirecting the water flow into the front fender instead of the door hinge. It should theoretically be possible to extend this gutter the whole length of the hood (to empty out at the bumper), or to redirect it into the cowl, but I decided to start small. I also debated using a sturdier material - sugru came to mind - but I wanted something temporary and dirt cheap for the proof of concept. I don't know what the long-term impact will be, but so far I've had no ice in the door whatsoever since installing this hack - just blown snow that is easily removed and poses no danger. As this has been a record setting winter for snowfall, I consider that a good sign!

 

Nice, I have always thought to do something similar when it's icy and cold out, but seem to forget about the ice after the thaw, so maybe some aluminium chanel to direct the water away from the hinge area, hhmmmmm!

 

Thank you CultureofOne

The girls bent the door on my panel getting it open. It was an easy repair but...........

You can bet I'll fix mine this summer, now that I know the trick. Like most of us I always said I would try to fix the problem when it warmed up but always forgot when the weather got nice. (like old blue)

I saved your post and photo in MS word for future use.

Thanks again

Boydie

 

May have to try the weatherstripping mod...may just take care of the issue?

 

I have fabricated a trough to take the water past the hinge area to the fender.
I used a 5 1/2 inch long by 1 3/8 inch piece of high tech thin gauge aluminium ( pop can )
Bent length wise with my duck bill Visegrip pliers to form a 1/2 x 3/8 x 1/2 inch trough, I used 3M body side moulding tape and it worked quite well, next winter will be the true test!!!

 

@OldBlue

Does it have to be a pop can or will a beer can suffice?

 

any sort of thin walled high performance aluminum can will suffice, pop, energy drink, beer, wine cooler, spritzer, well you get the picture!! LOL