black label

We had some pretty harsh weather over the weekend in the New England area. A good amount of snow followed by a freezing rain. This is what happened....

04 TL 6MT, not buried in snow, a small amount around the wheels but nothing serious. Put the car in reverse to back it out and let the clutch out, the engine is reving, but the car isn't moving and the tires aren't spinning (VSA was off). All we can smell is clutch. I've lived in New England for 27 years and I've never seen this before.

So here's the question...

Has any one ever had this happen, were the clutch is slipping because the tires are literally frozen to the ground?

Aman

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the car couldnt rip through it? i guess that would damage something, so you can either somehow crack the ice, melt it, or wait.

oh, and

lusid

lol... happened to my boss's audi after a heavy snow storm, and after it was left in the garage over night.

Ilya

Nope...never happened to me. That's crazy. I'd imagine if you gave the car gas the tires would break free...but wow.

blueracer17

We had an airplane frozen onto the ramp once, we had to use hot water to melt it so we could tow into the hangar. I would try how water, definately don't want to burn up your clutch.

black label

Sorry no pics, it was resolved yesterday.

We eventually rocked it free, leaving it where it was wasn't an option. I think the problem was reverse, for what ever reason it didn't have enough torque to do the job. When we put it in 1st and had people push, we heard a crack and the car moved forward. We were able to back it out after that. Once the car was out, you could see about 3/4" to 1" hole in the ice where the tires were.

There was about 5 seconds of clutch burning fury before we realized what was happening. Fortunately for me, it's not my car.

whitetiger5

wow...that sucks..worst damage I have ever experienced was the oil in my rear view mirror leaked out due to extreme heat.

HQTL6SPD

iron shovel usually does the trick

just make sure you don't miss the ice

clsdave

I've had that happen many years ago in a different car and not quite as bad (on Long Island). I can imagine it being worse with wheels being so open these days.

Wind is probably blowing snow/sleet/rain into and through the wheel then it freezes. Without waiting for it to thaw by itself, probably a long time, helping it thaw or chopping and digging could end up with lots of damage.

I hoped the clutch would fared a little better. But if the wheels wont move something will that shouldn't (or burn)!

chfields

Since coming of driving age, I haven't lived where it gets anywhere near that cold, however, having spent 20 years in Phoenix, Az, I have had tires melt to the asphalt....

6MTrules

I came back from a business trip to the west coast to DC to find my car totally encased in ice in the airport parking lot. Good news: All the ice on top of the car came off pretty well, and the parking lot attendants chipped down the bump that the plow pushed up in front of my car. (Fortunately I was facing out.) Bad news: The dang wheels were frozen in over the rims. One attendant asked if I wanted him to have him drive it out. No WAY! I didn't want to smell clutch like the OP. So I drove while they pushed, and don't you know it popped right out. I think because it was perfectly dry when I parked, and the wheels were still sitting on dry pavement. Other bad news: There was a huge <crunch> when the undercarriage made it over the frozen plowed bump. I was expecting to various pieces of muffler laying on the ground. But after a year, all is well.

steve9207

I used to work in a call center where drivers would call in for roadside assistance. This happened to someone before - we had no idea what to do! (this particular vehicle was near a fire hydrant that broke during one of the BELOW 0 DEGREE Chicago winters, so the ice was halfway up the wheels, haha).

Never heard of it before. They were adament about getting their car out, haha. Our only suggestion was trying to take hot buckets of water and try pouring it on there. But with the ice that high up the wheels, we told them, you'll need a lot of people doing it quickly, otherwise by the time you get to the second wheel (forget the third and fourth) the first is going to freeze in this BELOW ZERO degree weather, haha. Don't know what ever happened...

BG74

Yikes...I live in CT also, and my 6MT has been sitting outside covered in ice for almost a week. I've got a Wrangler for this kind of weather.

Maybe I'll just wait for it to melt??

Manach

HaHa that actually happened to me this past weekend after a bunch up freezing rain, sleet and snow fell. I had to use hot ass water to melt out the wheels, then had to rock it out.

BG74

I moved it this morning...I first tried to turn the wheels side to side before trying to back out. The power steering pump groaned and the wheels stayed put. I turned a little further, and they "popped" loudy loose from the ice. Thanks to the OP's story, I likely saved some clutch.