Frozen window! What to do?
 

So the sub-zero temps are here. Not happy about it, but it is what it is.

Anyways, I drove my car through the entire winter last year, through that crazy cold snap and everything, with no issues.

This morning, the first sub-zero morning this year so far, my driver's window malfunctioned.

I unlocked the car, and opened the door. The window moved down as it normally does. Got in, and started the car to warm it up. Got out to have a smoke, closed the door behind me, and noticed the window did not go back up like it's supposed to.

Opened the door and noticed the power window buttons on the driver's door were blinking (the back-lighting). Tried the switch, and the driver's window moves up and down fine. Perfectly normal. However, I now have no control of the passenger window from the driver's door. Passenger window switch on passenger door works just fine.

Got in the car after my smoke, closed the door, window still did not go back up. However, I was able to put the window up using the switch so that I didn't freeze on my drive.

Stopped at Tim's before work, parked, turned the car off, opened the door, and the window retracted (moved down) as normal. However, I closed the door behind me, and the window remained down about 1/4 of an inch. It is not pulling itself back up to form the seal.

I purposely parked my car behind my dealership today because that gap is big enough to get a slim jim into to unlock the car. Normally I park off-site but didn't want to leave my car there all day with the window partially down, just in case. I work in Georgetown but you can never be too safe.

Keep in mind that this happened this morning when it was still very cold, but is this something that will fix itself once warm, or will I need to bring the car in to get looked at? Is it something that will keep happening as the temperatures continue to drop?

This worries me, as my bumper to bumper warranty expired in early August.

I've heard that this is a somewhat common issue, but have never experienced it and just want to know if there's anything I should do, or if I should bother taking it in at all. This surprised me considering, again, the car made it through the entire super-cold winter last year without doing this. This morning barely dipped below freezing and now it decides to rear it's ugly head.

I'm going to go have a smoke now and try it again to see if it is still doing it. *EDIT* tried it out and it's still doing it.

Thanks for any help or advice! :party0030:

Lower the window all the way and hold the button down for 10 seconds and then raise the window all the way up and hold the button for 10 seconds. Do also with passenger door but using the actual switch on the passenger door

THANK YOU!

I'm at work so didn't search first. Probably would have found that answer pretty quick but didn't want to be on here for too long if my boss walked by. :D

I will try this when I leave to go home.

@tinma knows all about the frozen windows ;)

Love those -40C days

There is a service bulletin the catch is you have to have it occur at the dealership as this happened to me and I couldn't get it to occur at dealer they advised me there was a service bulletin and kit to fix but because they didn't witness it they couldn't proceed .I don't use my car in the winter so I just gave up on the issue .Got love dealers

Weird I told my dealership about my freezing windows and they ordered the replacement parts the same day and everything was changed that week. I do have to give a warning though... If you want to put visors on in the future, with this tsb your window will hit the visors because they do not lower enough anymore

My dealership did the same. It wasn't even cold out yet but I was getting the squeal so pointed out the TSB. They ordered in the parts and did it right away. Even when covered with ice last year I never had an issue.

What parts get replaced? I've been able to overcome freezing windows by making sure the felt guides at the base of the window get thoroughly cleaned in the morning, but this has led to some of the flocking coming off...... wondering if this would replace them...

Thank you times a million to tinma for the fix. It worked first try!

Regarding a service bulletin on this - the last time I was at Subaru Brampton for an oil change, I mentioned my squealing window on the driver's side. they didn't seem to know anything about a TSB, because all they did was "lube some components". It went away but came back again.

My driver's window is now scored (scratched) from this, and my window squeals like a stuck pig when it's damp outside.

And now on top of all that, I'm getting the freezing issue.

If it happens again, I should just take it to the dealer ASAP so they can see it happening? My bumper-to-bumper is done and I'm worried they won't do anything for me now because of that, but if I can show the problem happening, this might increase my chances...

The scoring on the window is noticeable, and it follows the tracks of where the window "lifters" would be.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21868

Go to that link and you can find the frozen window TSB that you can download the PDF and find everything they do to fix it

Also for the scratches on the window there is a TSB for that....I actually had it done on my car as well and they replaced my window. I had to take pictures for them to send to subaru canada for subaru canada to approve of the fix. I cant remember where I found that TSB.

Even though out of warranty the dealer should (should not will) still do the repair since you have a service record completed from before. This is the TSB here. I have not heard of one for window scratches but this will fix that up as well anyway. May be out of luck for the actual scratched window but still worth a visit.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1392053726

Thank you Tcoat and tinma. this is invaluable information.

I will print out the TSB and bring it with me on my next visit to Subaru.

The service manager at Brampton seems to be easy to deal with and has helped me out huge in the past, so I might be able to speak to him directly about the scored window and see if he can do anything about it.

Thanks again, guys. Much appreciated and I owe you both!

I've lived with the squeeky window and frozen window pretty much since i got the car in 2013 (got in Oct)...i just treat it as the part of the FRS ownership experience haha...the frozen window thing only happens once in a while and everytime i forget how to correct it hahaha i tried different combinations like door open then put the window all the way down...close the door and and then bring it up...etc...but eventually i do get it work properly before i go into the office.