Power Latching of Sliding Door in "Camping Mode"

[sidepod]

Update on this. Just scanned this……
Sliding door latching motor fault.
I’ve cleared it. I’ll check again in a few days to see if it returns.

 

[KC83]

Mine does this (73 plate ocean).
Sounds like it’s not a fault generally - due a service imminently though, so I’ll ask them to take a look, just in case.

 

[sidepod]

More on this. The fault is repeatable but only at night! I can close the door , barely latching and it works fine during daylight. Once dark, 3 latches every time. That makes no sense unless it’s somehow tied into the door lights switch and or photo cell somewhere?

I’ll strip out the door contacts and inspect/clean.

 

[sidepod]

Update on this. So I did manage to get the fault to repeat in daylight so, my darkness theory was a load of old bollox!

The power latching is done at the rear of the door so it’s down the the adjustment of the striker catch in the C pillar relative to the door when it’s almost closed.

Operate the door from the outside, close the door very gently till it’s almost engaged but not quite.
Push the rear of the door by the latch inwards till you hear the first click. This will activate the cinch motor and close the door.

By doing this a few times you’ll learn just how much force is required to get it to work correctly.
Once inside, place your finger tips in the sliding window track at the rear of the door and pull it inwards till you hear the click.

If it’s still tricky then you may need to loosen and adjust the striker latch on the C pillar. Mark it first with tape before doing this.

I’m beginning to suspect the fault is logged when it has to 3x cinch, so not necessarily a motor fault
but more a maladjustment indicator?

 

[66tim99]

Update on this. So I did manage to get the fault to repeat in daylight so, my darkness theory was a load of old bollox!

The power latching is done at the rear of the door so it’s down the the adjustment of the striker catch in the C pillar relative to the door when it’s almost closed.

Operate the door from the outside, close the door very gently till it’s almost engaged but not quite.
Push the rear of the door by the latch inwards till you hear the first click. This will activate the cinch motor and close the door.

By doing this a few times you’ll learn just how much force is required to get it to work correctly.
Once inside, place your finger tips in the sliding window track at the rear of the door and pull it inwards till you hear the click.

If it’s still tricky then you may need to loosen and adjust the striker latch on the C pillar. Mark it first with tape before doing this.

I’m beginning to suspect the fault is logged when it has to 3x cinch, so not necessarily a motor fault
but more a maladjustment indicator?

View attachment 139494View attachment 139495

Sounds plausible Sidepod, much more convincing than VW who didn’t know there was a 3 cinch mechanism, and signed mine off as working perfectly. Of course the door didn’t perform on cue though, refusing to demonstrate until I camped that weekend…
That’s the point isn’t it though? If the striker latch is maladjusted it would 3 cinch every time?

 

[myvanrodney]

my money is still on 'roof up' or engine battery voltage (/charge)... but id love someone to solve it!

 

[sidepod]

my money is still on 'roof up' or engine battery voltage (/charge)... but id love someone to solve it!

I reproduced the 3x today with roof down. Engine battery fully charged after a 100 mile drive yesterday.

 

[sidepod]

So I cleared the fault codes and can’t get it to repeat, which is nice.

One other theory popped into my head today.

Levelling blocks and/or uneven ground.

It’s fairly obvious the Cali isn’t the most torsionally rigid vehicle on the planet what with that enormous hole cut in the roof and a door on all sides!

If it’s parked on uneven ground or on levelling blocks slightly out of alignment it’s reasonable to assume the body has some twist in it.

This could be enough to upset the latch alignment.
It may explain why it’s so hard to repeat at home parked on the flat drive?

I might pop a jack under one wheel to see if it misbehaves.

 

[sidepod]

In the meantime, a bit of background watching. This guy really wanted a soft close !

 

[Victor_Tango_]

Thanks for all your research @sidepod

It’s fairly obvious the Cali isn’t the most torsionally rigid vehicle on the planet what with that enormous hole cut in the roof and a door on all sides!

This might also explain why it seems to happen more often with the roof open (though I have had it happen occasionally on level ground with the door closed.

In my opinion, it’s simply a case of getting the initial closing force correct. Too little and it three x cycles, too much and you may as well just slam it.
Get it right and it just soft closes once.
Best method, two hands. One at the front, one at the rear pulling inwards slightly.

To me this slightly defeats the purpose of soft close, which to my mind is a luxury feature that's supposed to idiot-proof the door somewhat and make sure it closes correctly no matter what amount of pressure is applied. (Admittedly the 3-cinch mechanism does this, just annoyingly and overzealously...)

Breeze Van Centre in Poole did take a look at mine a while back and it did go away for a few weeks so I will see if they'll tell me what they did. Might give us another clue...

 

[sidepod]

Ok so this morning I induced some body twist to see if that is the issue.
I jacked one rear corner up so I could fit a fist between tyre and ground.

Jumped inside and closed the slider as feebly as I could. Nothing. The soft close functioned perfectly 10 times.
Repeated with the other rear corner jacked. Same Perfect operation.

Repeated with Camping mode activated. No change.

So that’s my theory in the bin.

My door is working fine now. No matter how I close the door, as long as I get the first quiet click from the rear latch, is operates as it should.

The only thing I’ve done is give the B pillar and door contacts a good spray with contact cleaner.

Worth noting from the above video, the 6.1 has a different system. It’s the door latch that does the work not the C pillar motorised striker.

Next camping trip in two weeks. Time will tell.

 

[sidepod]

To me this slightly defeats the purpose of soft close, which to my mind is a luxury feature that's supposed to idiot-proof the door somewhat and make sure it closes correctly no matter what amount of pressure is applied. (Admittedly the 3-cinch mechanism does this, just annoyingly

You’re correct, I agree. Now I’ve cleaned the door contacts, it doesn’t seem to make any difference where I close the door from, as long as it’s close, it works.
Hopefully it was just dirty contacts. To be fair, the VCDS fault did say Electrical Malfunction.

 

[myvanrodney]

... the saga continues!

 

[myvanrodney]

Ok so this morning I induced some body twist to see if that is the issue.
I jacked one rear corner up so I could fit a fist between tyre and ground.

Jumped inside and closed the slider as feebly as I could. Nothing. The soft close functioned perfectly 10 times.
Repeated with the other rear corner jacked. Same Perfect operation.

Repeated with Camping mode activated. No change.

So that’s my theory in the bin.

My door is working fine now. No matter how I close the door, as long as I get the first quiet click from the rear latch, is operates as it should.

The only thing I’ve done is give the B pillar and door contacts a good spray with contact cleaner.

Worth noting from the above video, the 6.1 has a different system. It’s the door latch that does the work not the C pillar motorised striker.

Next camping trip in two weeks. Time will tell.

howe about inside air pressure?... I must say, I cant remember the last time it happened when weren't camping, so Im still inclined to include 'roof up' in the equation (two vents plus the flexibility of the bellows)?

 

[sidepod]

Update on this. Since the last post a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been in and out of the van almost every day, moving it several times etc. Each time I’ve checked the operating of the door and it’s been perfect.
Yesterday we drove 800k across France, pitched up and what does it do? Three x closing!!! WTF?

It’s either just a dodgy motor or some freaky condition induced by camping mode and or roof/darkness.

It’s showing a fault so it’ll need a strip and check new motor.

 

[myvanrodney]

Update on this. Since the last post a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been in and out of the van almost every day, moving it several times etc. Each time I’ve checked the operating of the door and it’s been perfect.
Yesterday we drove 800k across France, pitched up and what does it do? Three x closing!!! WTF?

It’s either just a dodgy motor or some freaky condition induced by camping mode and or roof/darkness.

It’s showing a fault so it’ll need a strip and check new motor.

maybe there is a connection with camping mode ??!!

 

[JuanVecino2023]

So I cleared the fault codes and can’t get it to repeat, which is nice.

One other theory popped into my head today.

Levelling blocks and/or uneven ground.

It’s fairly obvious the Cali isn’t the most torsionally rigid vehicle on the planet what with that enormous hole cut in the roof and a door on all sides!

If it’s parked on uneven ground or on levelling blocks slightly out of alignment it’s reasonable to assume the body has some twist in it.

This could be enough to upset the latch alignment.
It may explain why it’s so hard to repeat at home parked on the flat drive?

I might pop a jack under one wheel to see if it misbehaves.

Think this theory may have merit.

Mine was particularly bad when parked on the concrete ramp outside of my garage, which slopes upward and side to side.

 

[lohr500]

Ours does the same thing and it does seem worse when in camping mode with or without the roof raised.

The only real concern I have is if it is symptomatic of a looming problem whereby the door won't latch close at all. Leaving no option but to call out VW Assist or carry out some form of "get me home" field repair.

 

[sidepod]

Ours does the same thing and it does seem worse when in camping mode with or without the roof raised.

The only real concern I have is if it is symptomatic of a looming problem whereby the door won't latch close at all. Leaving no option but to call out VW Assist or carry out some form of "get me home" field repair.

I think the good old slam option will still close it.

 

[myvanrodney]

Ours does the same thing and it does seem worse when in camping mode with or without the roof raised.

The only real concern I have is if it is symptomatic of a looming problem whereby the door won't latch close at all. Leaving no option but to call out VW Assist or carry out some form of "get me home" field repair.

Naa, i think it's just a sensor problem. Door doesn't pull hard enough for some reason... tries twice before it pulls with sufficient force to close it. Always able to latch normally if you give it a hand, but that defeats the whole point! Having to assist, the assisted close system

 

[myvanrodney]

In my opinion, it’s simply a case of getting the initial closing force correct. Too little and it three x cycles, too much and you may as well just slam it.
Get it right and it just soft closes once.
Best method, two hands. One at the front, one at the rear pulling inwards slightly.

yes... i've noticed that if it's too little, doesn't matter if you then help the second close by pushing hard at the rear outside of the door it's still won't latch until the third 'extra' try

 

[sidepod]

I’m booked in next month to have it sorted, whatever that entails?

VCDS log

 

[myvanrodney]

I’m booked in next month to have it sorted, whatever that entails?

VCDS log

View attachment 140850

interested to hear how you get on