Winter observations

[CrazyOldMan]

No major brilliant insights, but first snow/sleet of the year this afternoon. Door handle DEFINITELY sticking now (I “fixed” it a few weeks ago with graphite powder)- like 3 times today. So I think temp is a factor - I thought so before, but this seemed pretty obvious. Also, the OEM side runners SUUUUUUCK in sleet/freezing rain. I was wearing Salomon hiking boots - might as well have been ice skating. Shockingly bad. Drier snow and slush might be better, but frozen sleet - fail. The ones looking best to me for ice traction would probably be Buzz or Blacksheep. It’s gotta be something “spiky.” Surface texture won’t do squat with sleet. I’m going to need to figure this out if I don’t want to lose some teeth.

 

[bikesandguitars]

No major brilliant insights, but first snow/sleet of the year this afternoon. Door handle DEFINITELY sticking now (I “fixed” it a few weeks ago with graphite powder)- like 3 times today. So I think temp is a factor - I thought so before, but this seemed pretty obvious. Also, the OEM side runners SUUUUUUCK in sleet/freezing rain. I was wearing Salomon hiking boots - might as well have been ice skating. Shockingly bad. Drier snow and slush might be better, but frozen sleet - fail. The ones looking best to me for ice traction would probably be Buzz or Blacksheep. It’s gotta be something “spiky.” Surface texture won’t do squat with sleet. I’m going to need to figure this out if I don’t want to lose some teeth.

Graphite powder in the presence of moisture is highly corrosive to aluminum. Your doors and many of your door parts are aluminum.

 

[CrazyOldMan]

Graphite powder in the presence of moisture is highly corrosive to aluminum. Your doors and many of your door parts are aluminum.

At this point my fix is banging on the door under the handle

 

[anand]

At this point my fix is banging on the door under the handle

Have you tried to adjust the "surround" around the button?

 

[CrazyOldMan]

Have you tried to adjust the "surround" around the button?

No - what do you mean?

 

[anand]

No - what do you mean?

Look at the button when it gets stuck (like, get on its level and look at it in plane); you can then see which side of the hole it is stuck on/tight to.

Take your palm, or a mallet and block, or any similar tool and give the surround a whack in which ever direction it needs to go to increase the clearance; almost always this is fore or aft on the vehicle. If you need to move it forward, open the door and you can hit the surround/trim; if you need to move it backwards, use the "hoop" of the exterior handle as the striking location. Usually one good hit is all it takes, but, as with all things, your mileage may vary, and use progressive aggression.

This was part of my morning walk around nearly every day on the PTO2 tour (we switched vehicles daily) to ensure no button sticks. By the end of the tour all 20 of the vehicles were free of stuck buttons... Well, until they were sent to the crusher

 

[255/85]

Temps here dropped and we got the sticking buttons but only on the passenger side. A little LPS2 lubricant eliminated the issue. We'll see if the fix holds. if not the the soft faced hammer will come out.

I would add here that the cooling system on the petrol models must be pretty robust. Running unloaded at freezing temps the HVAC system takes a while to start really putting out good heat. Grenadiers are capable of hauling a trailer across the Outback in summer so it makes sense. I may jerry-rig a winter front of some sort to see if that helps. Baby steps of course. We're too far from a dealer to have the blend door function inspected easily.

 

[Quartermaster]

Look at the button when it gets stuck (like, get on its level and look at it in plane); you can then see which side of the hole it is stuck on/tight to.

Take your palm, or a mallet and block, or any similar tool and give the surround a whack in which ever direction it needs to go to increase the clearance; almost always this is fore or aft on the vehicle. If you need to move it forward, open the door and you can hit the surround/trim; if you need to move it backwards, use the "hoop" of the exterior handle as the striking location. Usually one good hit is all it takes, but, as with all things, your mileage may vary, and use progressive aggression.

This was part of my morning walk around nearly every day on the PTO2 tour (we switched vehicles daily) to ensure no button sticks. By the end of the tour all 20 of the vehicles were free of stuck buttons... Well, until they were sent to the crusher

Brilliant! Seems to work, WD-40-like grease did not.

 

[CrazyOldMan]

Look at the button when it gets stuck (like, get on its level and look at it in plane); you can then see which side of the hole it is stuck on/tight to.

Take your palm, or a mallet and block, or any similar tool and give the surround a whack in which ever direction it needs to go to increase the clearance; almost always this is fore or aft on the vehicle. If you need to move it forward, open the door and you can hit the surround/trim; if you need to move it backwards, use the "hoop" of the exterior handle as the striking location. Usually one good hit is all it takes, but, as with all things, your mileage may vary, and use progressive aggression.

This was part of my morning walk around nearly every day on the PTO2 tour (we switched vehicles daily) to ensure no button sticks. By the end of the tour all 20 of the vehicles were free of stuck buttons... Well, until they were sent to the crusher

Got it - thanks Professor

 

[CrazyOldMan]

Look at the button when it gets stuck (like, get on its level and look at it in plane); you can then see which side of the hole it is stuck on/tight to.

Take your palm, or a mallet and block, or any similar tool and give the surround a whack in which ever direction it needs to go to increase the clearance; almost always this is fore or aft on the vehicle. If you need to move it forward, open the door and you can hit the surround/trim; if you need to move it backwards, use the "hoop" of the exterior handle as the striking location. Usually one good hit is all it takes, but, as with all things, your mileage may vary, and use progressive aggression.

This was part of my morning walk around nearly every day on the PTO2 tour (we switched vehicles daily) to ensure no button sticks. By the end of the tour all 20 of the vehicles were free of stuck buttons... Well, until they were sent to the crusher

Did you do the event in North Carolina? Maybe we met - maybe you were my instructor for all I know. That’s what did it for me - I had already reserved mine but was 100% sold after that.

 

[anand]

Did you do the event in North Carolina?

NorCal, LA, San Diego, South Florida, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, and Illinois on the working side; and Ontario as a reservation holder/customer so yes, definitely possible

 

[G-Man]

We've had a week of snow and sub-zero temperatures here in Scotland and the truck has been brilliant: Very planted and confidence inspiring.

Only gripe is that the upright windscreen and slab sides are salt magnets, keeping the glass clean enough to see out properly is a bit of a challenge. In particular, when you use the washers to clean the salt off the front windscreen, it just slinks off round the corner and dries on the front driver/passenger windows instead. I find that I have to regularly clean the side windows to be able to use the wing mirrors, which is important as you can't see jack sh1t through the rear windows and rear view camera once there's a sniff of salt on the roads

 

[CrazyOldMan]

We've had a week of snow and sub-zero temperatures here in Scotland and the truck has been brilliant: Very planted and confidence inspiring.

Only gripe is that the upright windscreen and slab sides are salt magnets, keeping the glass clean enough to see out properly is a bit of a challenge. In particular, when you use the washers to clean the salt off the front windscreen, it just slinks off round the corner and dries on the front driver/passenger windows instead. I find that I have to regularly clean the side windows to be able to use the wing mirrors, which is important as you can't see jack sh1t through the rear windows and rear view camera once there's a sniff of salt on the roads

Yep - I hit a blizzard coming back from Chicago last March - same issue with windscreen. It was also “sticky snow” so blocked all the sensors and the top of the windscreen where the ADAS camera is located - so alarms were going off like church bells. I just turned all ADAS and parking sensor controls off on the drive home. But yesterday - those side runners - that was kind of the new surprise. Really garbage.

I think the Grenadier will be fine between -25 and 28 F. It’s that 28-35 F space where it’s got problems - the snow is stickier, and you get freezing rain / sleet. It’s hard on many models - not just the IG. I also noticed a little boot scoot boogy yesterday on a turn with some sleet. Still running the stock K02’s. I’ve got the winter wheels and tires waiting at the shop - will do those in the next few weeks and we’ll see what that does for handling.

 

[trobex]

C

Graphite powder in the presence of moisture is highly corrosive to aluminum. Your doors and many of your door parts are aluminum.

Copied from google search!

But real issue is only salt water - and sometimes. Tests for this go both ways and without ion transfer will not an issue in most situations. Especially as the doors are (coated). So, we are told anyway!

 

[CrazyOldMan]

C

Copied from google search!

But real issue is only salt water - and sometimes. Tests for this go both ways and without ion transfer will not an issue in most situations. Especially as the doors are (coated). So, we are told anyway!

I’ll try the “handle whack” protocol from @anand. He’s usually right anyhow - what an insufferable jerk.

 

[Dan L]

No major brilliant insights, but first snow/sleet of the year this afternoon. Door handle DEFINITELY sticking now (I “fixed” it a few weeks ago with graphite powder)- like 3 times today. So I think temp is a factor - I thought so before, but this seemed pretty obvious. Also, the OEM side runners SUUUUUUCK in sleet/freezing rain. I was wearing Salomon hiking boots - might as well have been ice skating. Shockingly bad. Drier snow and slush might be better, but frozen sleet - fail. The ones looking best to me for ice traction would probably be Buzz or Blacksheep. It’s gotta be something “spiky.” Surface texture won’t do squat with sleet. I’m going to need to figure this out if I don’t want to lose some teeth.

I have problem with sticking button on three doors. Talked to dealer (Seattle); they have a bulletin on this issue and they have ordered parts to fix mine.

 

[CrazyOldMan]

I have problem with sticking button on three doors. Talked to dealer (Seattle); they have a bulletin on this issue and they have ordered parts to fix mine.

Yeah - a technical service bulletin was issued and posted on this forum - I took mine down to the dealer and they took care of it - but with the cold snap yesterday, it’s back. Sorry to be the party pooper. I think @anand is on the right track - this could be remedied with some scientific handle thumping. I’m going to try that since I already went the dealer / TSB route.