HELP. Fiat Ducato soft close sliding door mechanism has died on me (1 Viewer)

[Red Shoes]

Hi,
We have the (infamous) soft closing mechanism on our Fiat Ducato PVC. It's died on me and I can't get the catch back into a usable position.
I've checked that it has power to it. I've tried to take the black cover off, but nothing's giving. I'm guessing a fuse has gone or some other component has failed, but how do you access without taking the whole thing out?

Anyone got any suggetions?

Mr Red Shoes

 

[Mikeco]

Just give it a slam

 

[Red Shoes]

Just give it a slam

Tried that. The catch is fully retracted, so the door can't catch onto it. I need to manually bring the catch forward, somehow!

 

[Garfields]

There should be a fuse behind the kitchen drawers.
Also check the pins on the small switch at the rear of the door are not stuck in.

 

[Red Shoes]

There should be a fuse behind the kitchen drawers.
Also check the pins on the small switch at the rear of the door are not stuck in.

I thought it would be a fuse, but having tested at the connector just before the unit, I think it's a dead unit. I'll probably just replace it with a static catch, if I can manage to source one!

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[GeoffnDee]

If it is any help www.coastalmotorhomes.co.uk list the standard Fiat Ducato sliding door locks etc

 

[Minxy]

We had similar with our Globecar after a leisure battery change, they hadn't put the fuse back in properly, I think it was under one of the cab seats.

 

[Garfields]

I'll probably just replace it with a static catch, if I can manage to source one!

Available on Flea Bay etc

 

[Red Shoes]

We had similar with our Globecar after a leisure battery change, they hadn't put the fuse back in properly, I think it was under one of the cab seats.

Hi. Thanks for that. I wondered about a fuse, but there's power going into the unit itself. I think the unit has expired. I'm looking to buy a fixed striker so that I can remove the unit and either fix it, buy a new one, or not bother!

 

[Andy MacD]

This is just a thought as I don’t know however with my one when you have the ignition on and drive away the “power” lock disables. Similarly if you close the door with the engine running the mechanism doesn’t engage. Could there be two feeds, one to work the mechanism and one to engage it?

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[Red Shoes]

Hi.
Thank-you for all your help. I've ordered a static catch/striker from coastalmotorhomes.co.uk, thank-you GeoffnDee.

I found that the striker is secured on the moveable shaft with a hex bolt. To access it I needed a small allen key as there's only about 15mm above the bolt to get the allen key in. The only allen key that I had which was that small actually fitted and was about 4.7mm (it was probably 3/16th", but the bolt will be metric?). I found that adding three washers underneath brought the striker far enough forward for the door to catch, so I now have a van that locks again! The photo shows the catch with three washers bringing the striker far enough to the left for the door lock mechanism to catch onto it.

When I get the static striker I can try to remove the soft close mechanism and see if I can fix it. I'm not sure I'll be buying a new one if I can't get this one working, though!

Thanks again.

 

[Andy MacD]

So is it the striker that’s the problem or the soft close mechanism? Having one myself means I’m interested in a fix should mine fail.

 

[Garfields]

have you checked the micro switch below the catch in your picture is working?
We like the soft close but having seen the cost of a replacement unit a while ago I could bye a lot of wine instead

 

[Red Shoes]

So is it the striker that’s the problem or the soft close mechanism? Having one myself means I’m interested in a fix should mine fail.

Hi Andy,

The soft close mechanism has stopped working, and failed with the striker back into the van, so I couldn't get the lock to catch on it, which meant it wouldn't lock! That is happened while I was at home is a blessing. For it to happen whilst we were away would have put us in a very difficult position. For something like that to not "fail safe" is a really poor bit of design!

Moving the striker forwards with the washers has allowed me to close and lock the van. Getting a new static striker will allow me to take out the soft close mechanism and investigate. I'll certainly post back here what I find and whether the patient recovers or not!

 

[Andy MacD]

Cool, thanks. In France just now, week 4 of 12 so something like this scares me. Mine failed once, I gave I a firm shove from the outside on the catch and it snapped in and worked thereafter.

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[Red Shoes]

have you checked the micro switch below the catch in your picture is working?
We like the soft close but having seen the cost of a replacement unit a while ago I could bye a lot of wine instead

Hi,
Thanks for that. Yes I did. Before I managed to bring the striker forward a bit I had to keep that micro switch closed in order to lock the van! A cable tie holding down a piece of plastic with gaffer tape to hold it all together. Heath Robinson would have been proud!
I agree with you about the replacement cost, though. There's plenty of other things I'd spend my money on!
I'll let you know whether I manage to fix the faulty unit.

 

[Xris999]

Hi,
We have the (infamous) soft closing mechanism on our Fiat Ducato PVC. It's died on me and I can't get the catch back into a usable position.
I've checked that it has power to it. I've tried to take the black cover off, but nothing's giving. I'm guessing a fuse has gone or some other component has failed, but how do you access without taking the whole thing out?

Anyone got any suggetions?

Mr Red Shoes

My soft close stopped working and wouldn’t let the door shut properly. My problem turned out to be a break in the wire (a black twisted pair of wires) that runs between the sensor and the top of the motor. As the ends of the wire are inaccessible, I cut the wire at the break point and inserted a new section of wire. Problem solved.

 

[Xris999]

Hi,
We have the (infamous) soft closing mechanism on our Fiat Ducato PVC. It's died on me and I can't get the catch back into a usable position.
I've checked that it has power to it. I've tried to take the black cover off, but nothing's giving. I'm guessing a fuse has gone or some other component has failed, but how do you access without taking the whole thing out?

Anyone got any suggetions?

Mr Red Shoes

Hi. I had the same problem. Luckily I was able to solve the problem. The problem was the twisted pair of wires that run from the sensor on the inside of the van into the top of the motor. They are the switch wires. The wires on mine seemed under tension and had possibly been pinched by the fixing bolts. One of the wires had broken. As I couldn’t get to either ends of the wire, I cut the wire at the break point and patched in an extension. I marked which wire was which before cutting. The problem was immediately solved and the soft close has worked perfectly since

.

So it seems there are a number of reasons why the mechanism might fail.

 

[Russell's Dad]

My previous Globecar had the standard catch in a bag of spares, I presume this was just in case the soft-close failed ( it didn't fail during my ownership).

 

[Garfields]

My previous Globecar had the standard catch in a bag of spares, I presume this was just in case the soft-close failed ( it didn't fail during my ownership).

We carry a spare catch though I may not have anything to fit the torque screws to change it over
Ours behaves fine most of the time

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