Temperamental side hab door on Ducato PVC

Sixty-nine Chevy

Sixty-nine Chevy

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May 2, 2019
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Since summer 2019
Hi all. The sliding side door on our Ducato PVC almost always needs a bit of an inward push from the outside when closing, otherwise it doesn't shut properly and won't lock. From the inside, this means that it needs a good sliding slam in order to close with us inside. Is this typical of the Ducato side door, or does our's need attention? I see that there is what looks like an adjustment 'thingy' visible from the outside when it is open, but I cannot find any mention of this online. Owner's manual makes no mention of it. Any comments appreciated. Thanks! Ian.
 
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It will need a tweak of adjustment by the sound of it. A builders van door is much lighter, with no window or upholstery. This can cause the door to drop a few mm over time and the runners to wear quicker
 
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Hi our van goes in for first service next week and one of the faults is the sliding door will not close from the inside handle ? We have to go outside then slam shut after jumping in .
 
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mike mcglynn said:
Hi our van goes in for first service next week and one of the faults is the sliding door will not close from the inside handle ? We have to go outside then slam shut after jumping in .
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Sounds very much like our issue. Our van is still under warranty and so I would be very interested to hear how you get on. Thanks!

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If it's under warranty, I'd leave it to the dealer, as it can be quite complex to realign. Just keeping the rollers and linkages lubricated can make a tremendous difference though. I use silicone spray grease.

Lubrication of the lower track rollers and mechanism is actually a service item, but I wonder how many dealers actually bother.
 
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Gaston aires said:
It will shut if you leave a skylight open. Air pressure prevents it closing.
Phil
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I was just about to say exactly what Phil has highlighted.

Our door has always required a 'good slam' to close it fully, but it makes a significant difference if a roof light, window or cab door is open. In which case it closes more easily.

Has always been the same from new.
 
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Yup, the sliding door closes more easily if you leave a cab door open and the cab door closes more easily if you leave a rooflight open and the rooflight will close more easily if you leave the plug out of the sink.............
;)
(..............but I don't know why she swallowed a fly).
 
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Spriddler said:
Yup, the sliding door closes more easily if you leave a cab door open and the cab door closes more easily if you leave a rooflight open and the rooflight will close more easily if you leave the plug out of the sink.............
;)
(..............but I don't know why she swallowed a fly).
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Thanks all for the air pressure comments. Yep, I thought of that and it does close a bit easier if a cab door is open but I would still expect it to be easier.

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It is possible to fit a strap on the inside of the door, nearest the rear of the vehicle, which makes it much easier to pull it shut without slamming. Although I just grab the edge of the window and pull. The frame hasn't fallen off yet. :)
 
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We have the soft close on our van
It works well but was a PITA to begin with until I sussed it out
As already mentioned plenty for lubrication on seals rollers and locating tongues
 
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Like the idea of the auto closing system, but the box position wouldn’t work with our layout.
 
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With my old tribute I used to slide the door and just as it was about to close I popped the passenger door open to allow the presure to escape, it became second nature
 
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My wife was having trouble closing the door from inside. I had a look at what I would call the “ privet point “. I established that if one could pull it closed from the centre back that would help.
I took off the bottom panel and worked out what position to pull from ( our V Line has a fly screen ) so I had to allow for this. I drilled a larger hole where the centre location screw is in the inner panel of the door, I put a penny washer to a 6mm bolt, approx 3cms long, pushed the bolt through the newly drilled hole, another penny washer and then tightened up with a 10mm nut ( the washers should spread the pulling load ) then opened up the corresponding screw hole in the covering panel, fit the panel over the extended 6mm bolt and then refit all the panel’s screws and decor caps. I put another penny washer on the bolt. I had already found a 4cms wide ( wife’s old belt ) nylon strap, I cut it to a comfortable length, the frayed ends I heated up to avoid loose strands, folded over and ran two holes through and pushed over the bolt, another penny washer and tightened up with a domed headed nut.
The door can now be quietly closed to about 9 - 10 inches, pull on the strap and with very little effort it closes. By only closing it from such a small area there is not so much air to displace as a full pull, this gets over having to open a roof vent or window.
I had prior to this spent quite a considerable amount of time adjusting the door to get a satisfactory fit, there are quite a few adjustment points and used a lithium oil on the rollers.
This has proved to be one of the successful mods I’v ever done.

BernieT

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I think it is just one of the Ducato features, our sliding door has needed a healthy pull shut from new and always fails to close properly if you attempt to close it gently (quietly). I clean and lubricate the rollers fairly regularly and have checked the alignment but nothing has improved things. I am going to fit a handle or strap when I get round to it, I'm surprised there isn't an aftermarket part available?
 
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