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Electric Sliding Side Door Will Not Stay Closed

29K views 35 replies 17 participants last post by  ggooding 
#1 ·
Has anyone with an 07 Entourage had a problem with their electric sliding side doors? Mine recently started to not close when told to do so.

What happens is when the door is told to close (via remote or any other door button, or external handle) the door attempts to close, closes, clicks a couple of times, then automatically opens back up again.

It is now to the point that when this happens (does not happen every single time) it takes anywhere from 5 - 10 attempts to get the door to close and stay closed.

- Anyone have this problem as well?

...and yes I have taken it back to the dealership, but like everything else, it wont do it while they have it, so they cant fix it :clap:
 
#2 ·
My 2006 Kia Sedona (exactly the same vehicle as the Entourage), is exhibiting the same problem (and has been for the past 5 months). It only occurs with the passenger side, and not all of the time. I've found that it usually happens when the vehicle is parked on a downwards slope (even a slope of less than 10 degrees will cause it to happen).

The door will attempt to close, try to latch and then either just pop open and stay in the closed position (but unlatched) or fully open and beep a few times. I've found that by applying upward pressure on the door handle when it is about to get ready to latch, it will close properly. From what I understand, the latch has to be adjusted.

The dealer that I bought it from couldn't replicate the problem (even after I showed them a video capture of it). I'm taking it to a new dealer next week.
 
#3 ·
this is really interesting that it happens when the door is latching (the literature I had during training called it "cinching" FWIW). I say that because during the latching, the safeties are disabled, so there shouldn't be any false signal causing the door to go into safe mode and open or stop. That really has me stumped... glad I'm out of the business lol
 
#6 ·
Well - I went to another Kia dealer today and they couldn't replicate the problem! They were rather snotty nosed about it as well. Just before I left, I asked them why other people were experienciing the same problem, they gave me a sarcastic answer (which has escaped me at the moment) and also told me that I'd have to live with it (like other things in life)!!!

When I got home, I opened the passenger side sliding door and then closed it 30 seconds or so later. It would start closing and when trying to latch, it made a horrible straining sound, gave up and opened again. I tried closing it several times and then eventually turned off the power to the automatic doors (via the button by the map lights) and closed it manually.

Kia and Hyundai have to be made aware of this problem (that is - if they don't already know about it!). Please call their respective 800 numbers and open support cases.

I'm going to try another dealer in Central NJ in the meantime.

I realize that this is an Entourage board, but Sedona is exactly the same vehicle except for several cosmetic differences (even the shop manuals are the same!).
 
#7 ·
I have now picked up my van for the second time without a repair. the service manager informed me that he contacted some sort of service god at Hyundai and they have never heard of this issue ever happening. The manager told me he attempted to close my door over 250 times and could not reproduce yet when I got home from the dealer and tried it myself low and behold it did unhinge and also not report as opened in my console. i see this as a seriouse risk to my childrens saftey and will continue to urge Hyundai to find a solution.
 
#8 ·
I'm sorry about the length and lack of clarity of this post!!!!


I received a phone call from the owner of the dealership a couple of days after the useless visit to them to try and have them diagnose and fix my Sedona's Power Sliding Door problem. He was making sure that I'd give them an "excellent" review if I receive a survey. He told me that if didn't give him full marks, he'd lose a lot of money.

Well, I decided to tell him how unhappy I was with his service department's attitude and inability to diagnose the problem. He asked me to give him a second chance and to make things right (but not to give him a negative review on any survey I might receive). So, I think I'm going to take it into him again next week.

This evening, I spent 10 minutes or so trying to find out what causes the sliding door not to close properly, and I think I can replicate it now (maybe we all can!). It appears as though it has nothing to do with the vehicle facing up or down a slope. It is the angle at which the vehicle is leaning (left or right) that determines whether the door will have a problem or not. Try and picture this... If the door that is having the problem is leaning into the van (it is at the higher end of the slope) or ]\ (The backslash is the passenger door and the right square bracket is the van), then the door won't close properly (even when it's at a very slight angle).

I usually park my van facing towards the street at the edge of my driveway (where the driveway seems to have a slight incline), so when I look at the van from behind (from my garage), it appears to be leaning slightly to the left (towards the driver's side). The lean (although minor) is enough to cause the passenger side sliding door not to close properly.

Please would someone try and confirm that the problem is due to the vehicle leaning left or right?
 
#9 ·
Honestly I have had this problem with both doors now and even on flat ground. I am completely unhappy about it because other than this I really don't seem to have any issues and that is just so sad. I am going to print out these posts and send them to Corporate headquaters and see if I can get some resolution it would be helpful if everyone who has posted could give me the names and locations ofthe dealers they purchased the vans from manybe it is a certain shipment of parts or something. :460: look a dancing elephant for no reason at all
 
#10 ·
I feel bad that I'm posting about a Sedona in the Entourage forum, but it it is the same vehicle.

davidjlane if it helps at all (I doubt Hyundai Corporate would be interested - but you never know)... I bought the 2006 Sedona at Cherry Hill TriPlex, NJ. They couldn't diagnose it, nor could Coleman Kia in Ewing, NJ. Colonial Hyundai (also in Ewing, NJ) hadn't heard of the PSD problem with any of their Entourages (I have a 2006 Sonata and I was there getting it service and asked).
 
#11 ·
I took my Sedona into the dealer again on Monday - spurious air bag light and still having the Power Sliding Door problem. They found a problem with the charging system and replaced the alternator. They still can't find replicate the problem with the Power Sliding Doors! They thought that it was related to the alternator though.

I now have a feeling that the track and or latch is slightly out of alignment. I've found that while closing the door when it's having a problem cinching/latching and putting some upward pressure on the door handle (essentially lifting the door very slightly), it will close.

I'm going to take some video of the door having a problem closing and also some of me "helping it close"). I'll then show it to the dealer.

Can anyone else please try applying the upward pressure when it's having the problem?
 
#13 ·
The airbag light turned on a couple of times during the week when starting the vehicle first thing in the morning. Turning off the engine and turning it on again cleared the light. The dealer said that the computer had quite a few error codes stored in it regarding the charging system. That prompted them to change the alternator.

davidjlane - Please post your result of applying pressure to the door when you get a chance - many thanks!
 
#14 ·
Mine passenger side has failed to close twice. Both times while both doors were closing. Based on that, it sounds like an electrical problem to me. The door motors aren't getting enough juice to push the door past the latching mechanism. In some cases, it could be worse on a slope if the slope causes the connection to behave differently (weight of the wires/harness).

RG
 
#15 ·
I have tried applying pressure to recreate the issue and still could not replicate the problem. I did however try again when the door was having the issue and was not able to help it close, but when i pushed the door on it's way back open the automatic function release the door completely and I had to close it manually. This is even more confusing. After having this issue looked at 4 times now the doors are now very slow has anybody seen this I am afraid that the testing the garage did to replicate has caused this which doesn't prove the automatic doors to be a very durable feature. I also have noticed that the acceleration is now very sluggish as well. I am having very serious doubts about the van now and am sorry I didn't just get the toyota.
 
#16 ·
I took my Sedona into the dealer yesterday to have them to look the passenger side Power Sliding Door and to get the Timing Chain tensioners and A/C hub replaced.

This time, I took a DVD containing video of the problem occurring in my driveway. They kept the vehicle for the day and managed to see the problem happen only once. When I spoke to them before picking it up, I was told that it is operating as per design and no adjustments can be made.

I'm completely fed up with the whole thing. The door sometimes appears to be closed but isn't and that's extremely dangerous. I'm going to pursue either an exchange for a brand new vehicle or a refund via NJ's Lemon Law. It's been in the shop more than 4 times for the door and I've given them a fair chance to fix it. It's a great vehicle apart from the power sliding doors!

How can this vehicle be "The safest minivan ever built" when one of the doors doesn't close properly?
 
#17 ·
There seems to be a few different scenarios of malfunction with these doors on my van.

1. The door closes, does not latch properly and slides back open a bit.
2. The door closes, does not latch, opens and tries again.
3. The door closes, latches but the closing motor keeps trying to close it for 5 seconds after closure and latch is done- does not sound good.

The dealer cannot replicate it but they don't get all sarcastic on me.

It is extremely annoying because it can look closed in case 1, but the alarm does not arm and that's the only clue I have that the doors are not all closed. I bought PSD's because I wanted to carry stuff and babies without worrying about doors...it is still very useful but I cannot trust it to work reliably without watching it every time.
 
#18 ·
Originally posted by JEakin@Aug 23 2007, 11:42 PM
There seems to be a few different scenarios of malfunction with these doors on my van.

1.  The door closes, does not latch properly and slides back open a bit.
2.  The door closes, does not latch, opens and tries again.
3.  The door closes, latches but the closing motor keeps trying to close it for 5 seconds after closure and latch is done- does not sound good.

The dealer cannot replicate it but they don't get all sarcastic on me. 

It is extremely annoying because it can look closed in case 1, but the alarm does not arm and that's the only clue I have that the doors are not all closed.  I bought PSD's because I wanted to carry stuff and babies without worrying about doors...it is still very useful but I cannot trust it to work reliably without watching it every time.
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JEakin, your scenarios are exactly the same as mine. Your post also highlights my concerns as well. I constantly worry about the doors, and dealers just don't seem to care.
 
#19 ·
Just had mine in for the dealer to look at the passenger side sliding door. I had an infrequent closing problem just like those posting in this thread. According to the tech, there is a fix for this. Apparently, the doors are traveling just a little too far forward and the latch isn't engaging properly. The fix is to place a piece of vacuum hose somewhere into the door mechanism to limit the forward travel of the door slightly. I haven't had a problem since this fix was done but I've only had it for a day. I checked out the door when I got home and couldn't see where they put the piece of hose but I got this info directly from the technician who worked on the van. :beer:

Anyone having this problem should make sure the dealer is in contact with Hyundai corporate techs about this.

RG
 
#20 ·
Originally posted by Rob22315@Sep 15 2007, 12:49 AM
Just had mine in for the dealer to look at the passenger side sliding door.  I had an infrequent closing problem just like those posting in this thread.  According to the tech, there is a fix for this.  Apparently, the doors are traveling just a little too far forward and the latch isn't engaging properly.  The fix is to place a piece of vacuum hose somewhere into the door mechanism to limit the forward travel of the door slightly.  I haven't had a problem since this fix was done but I've only had it for a day.  I checked out the door when I got home and couldn't see where they put the piece of hose but I got this info directly from the technician who worked on the van. :beer:

Anyone having this problem should make sure the dealer is in contact with Hyundai corporate techs about this.

RG
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Rob22315 would you be able to post your dealer's name, town & state? I can't imagine that my Kia dealer would call Hyundai Corporate, but may call another dealer.
 
#21 ·
Yes, I bought my van from Fairfax Hyundai in Fairfax VA. They've been very professional and attentive so far. I had a two minor things fixed - the straps on one of my rear seats wouldn't return back into position so they replaced the seat back. Also fixed the passenger sliding door. :clap:

One minor problem I fixed myself - the button near the driver seat that opens the rear hatch would stick in the 'pressed' position. A squirt of silicone solved that. :bwekk:

Unfortunately, my van is having power steering problems that haven't been fixed after two visits. I'm going back for a third but I've already filed with the Hyundai warrantee folks.

We love this van. If the power steering would only work properly . . . :crying:

RG
 
#22 ·
I had this problem with my van and it was fixed by my columbia hyundai in cincinnati. It had a bad latch assembly and limit switch in the door. I have found that if the van is parked facing down on an incline that it will sometimes reopen when closing. Through the help of a Kia dealer mechanic whom happens to be a friend we have come to the conclusion that the limit switch that senses pressure(hand, finger, arm in the way) is very sensitive. If and when you go to close the door and it happens to roll forward quickly before the drive system catches it it will take that sudden jolt as an obstuction is in its path and reopen as it is designed to do. We pretty much remedy the situation by adjusting the little black cable that opens and closes the door when power is turned on. Other than this minor problem it has been a perfect vehicle (knock on wood). Just remember when you are at your dealership. If you go in with a **** poor attitude you will recieve it in return, it is only human nature.
 
#23 ·
I have a 2007 Entourage SE, at least once a month, the sliding door will open. I have taken it to the dealer several times.
The door opened once when I was driving....... thank god I did not have my kids in the car that day.
I am very careful to make sure the doors are locked before I pull off now.
My car doors open on flat surfaces, were I live there are no hills or inclines.
I am a very loyal Hyundai buyer I have 2 Hyundai, but this is a serious problem.

Hoping for a closed door.
 
#24 ·
Originally posted by Rob22315@Sep 15 2007, 07:57 PM


We love this van.  If the power steering would only work properly . . . :crying:

RG
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Update on the power steering problem - it went back a third and a fourth time all four catastrophic power steering failures. The fluid kept leaking out of the system even after replacing most of the parts. Filed with the BBB when it went back the fourth time. Hyundai replaced the vehicle under arbitration from the BBB with a new 2008 model. Picked it up yesterday. Kept the tan interior but went from white to red. The red is a much nicer color for the exterior IMHO. RG
 
#25 ·
We sometimes have the problem that door does not entire close and than opens again. A few times it would not close on 2nd and 3rd time, but when I helped the door along, it would close. I think we see this problem when the car is parked on an uneven surface and the only thing I can think of would be that the chassis is slightly torqued due to the uneven surface, though that does sound pretty crazy.

I discussed it with the local dealer when I brought the car in for maintenance, he said they could not reproduce it, had heard the complaint several times and had heard from Hyundai that they are working on a TSB for it.
 
#26 ·
I have a 2008 entourage. The back automatic door does not close properly and sometimes as it is closing it will spontaneously re-open. It is currently at the dealership where they have 2 other entourages with the same problem (an 06 and an 07). The dealership tells me that the computer definately shows a problem but they cannot figure out how to fix it. The manufacturers have suggested a change of parts which have not worked., They are stumped. Meanwhile, they have told me to take my car home until they figure out what works on the other vans. GET THIS-they cannot guarantee that the door won't open spontaneously while driving! They say that we should keep the doors locked while driving. Easy to forget when you are used to driving vans which lock automatically upon ignition.
I'll keep you posted.
 
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