Sliding door closure problem

[motacyclist]

Our van has a manual door with an electric motor which pulls in the rear end of the door, I'm sure all SE owners are familiar with them. The problem is that on occasion the motor does not activate and we have to slam the door really hard to shut it. After that, the door works normally again.

I have a feeling that the problem is that when the door is released the motorised mechanism is not unlatching and therefore when the door closes the the mechanism "thinks" it's already shut ...

The van is only a few weeks old, but I know when I take it back to the dealer it will work perfectly, so I was wondering if anyone else has any experience of this?

Colin

 

[Hotel California]

I find it a dumb system that system to close the last few cm by electric motor.
Makes an anoing noise , specialy leaving the Cali at night ( toilet visit)at a campsite with neighbours arround
Try to film it with a smart phone so you can show it to the dealer

Is it not that accidently you pushed the close button on top of the door and then try to close...
Don't know , just a guess

 

[motacyclist]

Try to film it with a smart phone so you can show it to the dealer

Good suggestion!

 

[Maud]

Did you get to the bottom of this, Colin? I have had this happen too - and, like you, shutting it with a fairly forceful slam (at least for me) then seems to trigger the electric closure ready for the next time. I remembered you saying about it and wondered if you had taken your Cali into the dealer about it?
Maud

 

[motacyclist]

Hi Maud, sorry to hear you have the same problem.

No, it's not sorted as it will mean leaving it the dealers overnight because usually, but not always, it's the first time I open it in the morning. It's a minor annoyance but will need sorting eventually, but I don't want to put it in just for that.

At the front of the door you can see some brass contacts which probably have something to do with it, but there seems to be nothing amiss with those. As I said earlier, I have a feeling it's something to do with the logic, the door thinking it is already shut. Maybe someone will come up with the answer.

 

[sue.h]

Same happens here. If we close the door gently, trying to be quiet in the night, the motor doesn't click in. It work fine if you are more forceful

I never thought it was a problem.

 

[Maud]

No, it's not sorted as it will mean leaving it the dealers overnight because usually, but not always, it's the first time I open it in the morning. It's a minor annoyance but will need sorting eventually, but I don't want to put it in just for that.

Thanks for your reply, Colin. I agree, it is a minor annoyance and has only happened a couple of times on mine, so I will leave it for now and just a 'keep an eye' so to speak.

It would be interesting to know if anyone else has also had this happen as it would seem odd if it is only our two!

Maud

 

[motacyclist]

Same happens here. If we close the door gently, trying to be quiet in the night, the motor doesn't click in. It work fine if you are more forceful

I never thought it was a problem.

My problem is that the motor won't kick in whether it's done gently or not; it just won't work at all until it has been slammed shut really hard then it behaves itself

 

[WelshGas]

Those contacts on the leading edge of the door and on the pillar between sliding door and front door power the electric motor that pulls the sliding door into position. Make sure they are clean for a good connection. I would suggest wiping them with some alcohol or spirit to make sure you have a good connection.

 

[sue.h]

Those contacts on the leading edge of the door and on the pillar between sliding door and front door power the electric motor that pulls the sliding door into position. Make sure they are clean for a good connection. I would suggest wiping them with some alcohol or spirit to make sure you have a good connection.

Thanks for the advice. We just thought it was how it worked.

 

[motacyclist]

Managed to catch it on video now, first door opening of the day as is usually the case.

Notice that the first time it is opened there is no noise from the motor as it releases, and subsequently the auto door latching doesn't work until it is slammed shut, after which it works normally; and at the end of the video the motor can be heard as the door latch releases.

http://1drv.ms/1BPVpD1

 

[sue.h]

Managed to catch it on video now, first door opening of the day as is usually the case.

Notice that the first time it is opened there is no noise from the motor as it releases, and subsequently the auto door latching doesn't work until it is slammed shut, after which it works normally; and at the end of the video the motor can be heard as the door latch releases.

http://1drv.ms/1BPVpD1

O dear, that is definitely not the same as ours, and looks like a fault. Ours only exhibits that problem if we close the door very quietly, deliberately to be quiet.

 

[Maud]

Notice that the first time it is opened there is no noise from the motor as it releases, and subsequently the auto door latching doesn't work until it is slammed shut, after which it works normally; and at the end of the video the motor can be heard as the door latch releases.

That is exactly what mine has done, Motacyclist :/

 

[WelshGas]

Are the contacts on the leading edge clean and does the male plug on the door move as it should be spring loaded to make a good contact with the female socket on the pillar.

 

[motacyclist]

Are the contacts on the leading edge clean and does the male plug on the door move as it should be spring loaded to make a good contact with the female socket on the pillar.

Thanks for that. Yes they're bright as a new pin and spring works ok. I think the problem occurs in the opening phase, the motor doesn't unlatch therefore it thinks the door is still shut from then on. There must be a faulty sensor somewhere ...... The final slamming of the door must wake it up.

It would be better if it did it all the time instead of now and then, would be easier to trace the fault.

 

[MarkW]

Hi All,

I have a week old California and have the same issue as above (started today in the rain).

Previously when you opened and closed the sliding door you could hear an electric motor (and you could shut the door very softly).

Now the only way to get the door to shut is with some brute force.

Did anyone get this resolved?

 

[snowy55]

Ours does this sometimes, bl@@dy stupid modern electric complications for not much gain only pain when it doesn't work, if this type of over complication wasn't fitted in the first place you wouldn't have missed it!
Fog lights that come on when going slow around bends, what the f... use are they, whose idea were they, they should be made to fix this sort of thing for free for the entire life of the vehicle! !
Ahh....that feels better now.

 

[motacyclist]

Did anyone get this resolved?

I think there are two threads on this but I can't search very well at present 'cos I'm using a smartphone

Mine is intermittent and hasn't done it for a while. Another poster had a similar problem and VW tech sorted it by switching the ignition on while the door was open, which apparently resets it. So that's worth a try.

 

[MarkW]

Motacyclist you are an absolute star Sir

As you mentioned I found the other thread and Tea&Cakes (Tracy & Tim) post...(link below)

"The door initially behaved in the same way for the VW technician as it did for me with no power latching. That was until he turned the ignition on and tried the door again, which then worked perfectly".

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/door-not-locking.323/#post-94187

 

[tea&cake]

The problem with the power latching unfortunately happened again whilst enjoying an overnight stop in the New Forest last weekend. This was after my previous post that Mark has provided a link to above. I tried what I thought fixed it the last time by turning on the ignition whilst the door was open and then closing it, but it did'nt work this second time and so I'm beginning to think that it might just have been a coincidence that this solved it the first time. I managed to get it working again by a slightly more forceful close. Each time the power latching has stopped working is when I'm staying overnight and trying to close the door more quietly at night or in the morning. This might be the problem, but I'd be interested to know how others get on and if anyone can pin down what exactly is going on with the door when this happens.

 

[larrylamb]

The problem with the power latching unfortunately happened again whilst enjoying an overnight stop in the New Forest last weekend. This was after my previous post that Mark has provided a link to above. I tried what I thought fixed it the last time by turning on the ignition whilst the door was open and then closing it, but it did'nt work this second time and so I'm beginning to think that it might just have been a coincidence that this solved it the first time. I managed to get it working again by a slightly more forceful close. Each time the power latching has stopped working is when I'm staying overnight and trying to close the door more quietly at night or in the morning. This might be the problem, but I'd be interested to know how others get on and if anyone can pin down what exactly is going on with the door when this happens.

The power latching is quite noisy in my opinion, not sure it's a good thing.

 

[itscalledbob]

Our van has a manual door with an electric motor which pulls in the rear end of the door, I'm sure all SE owners are familiar with them. The problem is that on occasion the motor does not activate and we have to slam the door really hard to shut it. After that, the door works normally again.

I have a feeling that the problem is that when the door is released the motorised mechanism is not unlatching and therefore when the door closes the the mechanism "thinks" it's already shut ...

The van is only a few weeks old, but I know when I take it back to the dealer it will work perfectly, so I was wondering if anyone else has any experience of this?

Colin

Has anybody resolved this issue? Having same intermittent problem with 3 week old T6? No pattern to it!

 

[motacyclist]

Ours seems to have healed itself. Hope I haven't spoken too soon

There was a cure seems to work for some people. IIRC switch ignition on and open/close the door. It's on here somewhere.

 

[itscalledbob]

Ours seems to have healed itself. Hope I haven't spoken too soon

There was a cure seems to work for some people. IIRC switch ignition on and open/close the door. It's on here somewhere.

Thank you for your reply.

I've tried the ignition on/off with no joy. Will see how it goes.

 

[Days out]

Ours does this sometimes, bl@@dy stupid modern electric complications for not much gain only pain when it doesn't work, if this type of over complication wasn't fitted in the first place you wouldn't have missed it!
Fog lights that come on when going slow around bends, what the f... use are they, whose idea were they, they should be made to fix this sort of thing for free for the entire life of the vehicle! !
Ahh....that feels better now.

The fog light coming on when going slow is the cornering light feature and it's supposed to do that. It illuminates the kerb when you turn. I find it really useful and I think it's a very clever idea using the built in fog lights. Far less complex that actually rotating the lights like Citroen did with the DS! Surely that's progress.

With regard the door problem I've experienced this too but over all the power hatch reduces the slamming and noise so he rather have the feature even if it only works 95% of the time.