Clunky closing mechanism rear sliding door

[aestivator]

Hi,

 

I have a 2005 Alphard 2.4 and have just replaced the cable and retractor mechanism due to the original one peeling off the cable coating and jamming the pulley.

All seems ok in terms of the mechanism except when closing there is a loud clunking noise as the rear locking mechanism takes hold and puuls it in to the frame. It wasnt there before. Ive greased the u-bolt and what I can see but doesn't seem to make any difference. Is there some sort of adjustment I am missing.

Also the power mechanism doesnt seem to activate (open or close from the outside) works fine from inside and from the dash button.

 

Any clues?

[Derek G. Marshall]

Hi aestivator... 

By coincidence I've just had my remote cable unit replaced on my rear n/s passenger door (the cable had tangled and snapped) and I had to take it back because the soft-close was at first very clunky and then it failed totally along with the remote opening and closing.... It seems that the soft-close mechanism had been disturbed and that was causing both faults.... Following a slight adjustment everything is now working fine. 

If the problem persists, let me know and I'm sure my friendly mechanic would be happy to talk to you about it. 

[aestivator]

Thanks Derek. I didn't realise there was a soft closing mechanism but that makes sense. I should be able to make the adjustment myself if someone knows how to do it.

Looks like you are a long way from me.

[Ian Moncur]

Hi Aestivator,

I recently replace my sliding door cable and had a similar issue. I removed the door cover again and the cause was one "end of the Bowden cable wasn't seated correctly in its cup" . It was only out by 3 to 4 mm but enough to make the door noisy and stop working correctly. I seated the end of the cable into its cup and it did the trick. Hope this helps.

[aestivator]

Thanks Ian. I'm sure it is something like that. I will have a look later, I'm just about to a fit a new actuator motor so still got trim off.

Thanks for your help, I will report back onced issue resolved.

Regards,

 

John

[Firemalc]

On 6/8/2023 at 6:47 PM, Derek G. Marshall said:

Hi aestivator... 

By coincidence I've just had my remote cable unit replaced on my rear n/s passenger door (the cable had tangled and snapped) and I had to take it back because the soft-close was at first very clunky and then it failed totally along with the remote opening and closing.... It seems that the soft-close mechanism had been disturbed and that was causing both faults.... Following a slight adjustment everything is now working fine. 

If the problem persists, let me know and I'm sure my friendly mechanic would be happy to talk to you about it. 

Could you let me know where to purchase new cable etc

[aestivator]

It seems that the cable seating was the problem as per Ian's post above. I jiggled it about a few times and the clunking has now stopped (been a couple of weeks now so I guess I'm in the clear).

Relatively simple job to replace the cable gear and I got it from here https://gt4-play.co.uk/shop/alphard-power-sliding-door-cables-genuine-toyota Genuine part and quick service.

The door actuator if you need it came from https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175754591858

 

More tricky to fit as there is a wierd screw arrangement that I ended up having to cut the heads off and replacing with a nut and bolt. Works fine now though. Contact me if you are doing it and I will talk you through the issue in more detail.

[dickie]

Hi, I've just replaced the cable on my door and I have 2 issues.

 

1. The electric door doesn't work, even though before I started the motor turned.

 

2. I have the dreaded soft close clunk. What cable was out when you did it?

 

Thanks!

[aestivator]

I think it is the blue one. There seems to be some kind of auto correcting mechanism that adjusts it after a while. I read somewhere that turning the door off and back on again at the dash triggers it. Mine came good after a few of pen and closings. Regarding the motor. Have you replaced the whole unit? If not you may need to as they seem to very prone to the cable outers degrading and jamming them up for which there is no cure except replacement of the entire unit.

[dickie]

When the cable failed there was a crows nest of wire and the black enclosure holding the drum / spindle had to totally fallen apart. When operating the electric door before the new cable mechanism was installed, you could hear the door motor turning.

 

After replacing the cable mechanism, I tried the door but there is nothing, and to make matters worse the soft close mechanism either doesn't work, ie the door sits ajar. Sometimes it is pulling itself in but clunks if in manual or auto closing. You can see the whole door vibrate / click when it shuts and it makes a horrible noise although does at least close the door.

 

I've tried to disconnect and reconnect the battery to 'reset the doors'. The other side and auto boot both work and beep when you press the button. The drivers side there is no beeping and no motor sound.

 

I was pretty careful when putting the new wire mechanism in. I've been sat looking at the thing for 4 hours this afternoon and cannot fathom what is wrong. I've checked the door wires are seated correctly which they appear to be.

 

It's a bit of a head scratcher. Even if the electric door couldn't be used I wouldn't be that annoyed. Its a classic thing that I've done previously, which is fixing it worse. I wish all jobs went well! 

 

Thanks

[aestivator]

This is a possibility. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186372873113?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=75rXqOGzTym&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=LtHODjOIT5m&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Just remembered I had to replace mine \as it wasn't locking in properly on the motor. The actuator, when you pull the handle, can get lazy and eventually fail.

Pain in the Ass but all seems ok now.

Good luck

[azule]

hi aestivator, just asking here, may i know how you dismantle that blue wire part? my door doesn't get closed tightly and i suspected that part is faulty. Thanks you in advance sir

Edited September 27 by azule