When it is cold out ( <25 F) my 95 ls400s driver side door gets stuck shut. The thin metal strip that runs along the base of the door jam warps due to the cold and prevents me from easily opening my door. If I pull up hard and out on the handle I can open the door but this is annoying and I dont want to break the door handle.

I dont think I can get glue in the crack and I doubt glue will bond to anything that smooth strong enough to stop the warping..
Any easy fix short of screwing it to the piece below it?
Does anyone know what this piece or metal is for and if simply removing it will cause me problems down the line?

Picture 1: this is the metal strip

Picture 2:Its about 50 degrees outside but you can still see the distortion.

Pictures 3 and 4:
The strip has slipped forward 2 or 3 mm but I dont think that I would only have this problem in the cold if this was the cause.


any ideas?

 

buy a new sill from a wrecking yard, if they're charging you >$15-20 (high end too) then they're wasting your time.

 

by sill do you mean the metal strip or the whole plastic piece?

 

you wont find just the metal piece, replace the whole shebang.

 

I've had to climb out the passenger side twice this week but I think the culprit is the used door actuator I put in last month.

 

dang i would think a temp changes will warrant some expansion but not that much to hinder movement of the door! you can remove the trim piece as it's just there for aesthetics, so you can at least get out of the car normally. are you sure it's not the actuator itself?

 

Is the door correctly centered or off some? Same with striker, is it binding or closing smoothly?
My shot is that the door needs to be aligned.

 

To TImmy: its not expanding it is shrinking in the cold temps. This will make it have waves like in the 2nd picture only more pronounced and that is what catches. Are you sure it doesnt provide a better seal or anything? Removing will cause me zero harm untill I can have it replaced?

To RA40: the door doesnt open or close as smoothly as the others but it is still better than most older cars. Plus this only happens when it is below freezing and I park under a carport so its not frozen shut. So I dont think it is out of alignment or the actuator or anything.



If all else fails it will be warm soon.

 

lube the latch in the door and the post in the jamb with some silicone lubricating spray (NOT PETROLEUM) to see if the latch is involved. could have some crap in there gumming it up when it gets cold.

 

I am 100% postitive that it is catching on the metal strip due to it warping in the cold.