Alphard Sliding Door Maintenance

[mikedraperuk]

I've had an issue yesterday where the electrical rear passenger door went really slow trying to close and eventually reversed a reopened. When I switched it to manual the door was ridiculously stiff to close, however the cable was not broken. I then tested the driver side and found that one to be really stiff also but not quite as bad. Today I got the door open a little and sprayed some WD40 on all the runners and wheels on the three tracks. I then cleaned and degreased them using clutch and brake cleaner spray then dried them all down with plenty of blue roll. Then I re-applied a tiny amount of WD40 lubricant to the bearings of the wheels on the runners....it's important not to use a grease or anything that will leave any sort of sticky residue on the tracks as this will make dust and grime stick to it rather than it running freely. The bottom runner just needed a really good clean with a microfibre cloth and degreaser and a tiny bit of lubricant in the bearing of the wheels that run on the tracks. I also found that the door would stick slightly when trying to open. I found the rubbers door seals around the perimeter of the door opening had gone slightly sticky and were grabbing at the door. I cleaned the door surfaces (hard to do the upper section without a hop-up) and rubbers using a dry PTFE spray. The doors on manual became silky smooth albeit still heavy but now both operate very quickly and quietly using the electrics.

 

I suspect that over time the runners and wheels seize up with dirt and gunk and cause additional stress to the motor and cables and will eventually cause cable or motor to give up. I recommend doing this as a preventive maintenance job once a year to save yourself the aggravation and inconvenience of busted cables in the future. Whilst I had all the lubes out, I lubed all the hinge points on the front doors and tailgate too.

 

Total job took about 1 hour including cleaning up the bodywork from drips and oversprays. I used an entire roll of blue roll, plus an entire spray tin of clutch and brake cleaner, 1/4 can of dry PTFE spray and 1/2 can of WD40 with the straw.

[Alph-bard]

I see on my 2007, similar symptoms. I also noticed the cables on both doors that are exposed to the outside of the vehicle in the recess beneath each rear side window, have perished. We'll that's to say, the sheath has worn or deterioration occurred. I will need to replaced these, I wonder does anyone know where to buy those top cables? Or am I being too optimistic and its time to buy an assembly part? Thoughts please 🙏 

Edited February 28 by Alph-bard

[Picasso]

You can not buy just the cable it's a complete unit if you give me a reg no. Private message me if you want I will give you the part no. And drawing where it located which side you looking for