2001 T&C - automatic door stops working

Hello,

I have a 2001 Town & Country Limited and we've had repeated problems with the automatic doors. Right now one of the doors starts to open when triggered but stops as soo as it releases from the lock. It appears to be related to cold weather as we don't have this problem (as much) in warmer months. Does anyone know why we're having this problem and what a permanent solution is? The dealer has not been able to perform any permanent fix. I'd like to be able to perform the adjustments and part replacments myself as this appears to be one of the weakest points with this car and I'm tired of bringing it in for service.

Thanks, Luke

Reply to
Luke Packard
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One of 2 things wrong, The door latch has switches on them to tell the door module if the door is opened or closed. If one of the switches is bad the door will not know what to do when it pops open, so it just doesn't move in any direction. A scan tool will be needed to see what the inputs and outputs are doing to verify this. The other common problem is the harness that runs inside the bottom door track may have a broken wire, (Normally the ground wire. Black wire). You would have to disconnect both ends of the harness, using an ohm meter check to see if there are any broken wires in the harness.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Reply to
maxpower

Hi Glen,

I think I posed this same question, only to find out that my chrysler dealer, no matter how many times I took it to them, could not scan and find any problems.

But, it definitely has to do with the cold weather. And mine is a 2001 as well, not that that means anything.

Reply to
ng_reader

I believe the "child protection" is built into the motor,when the motor detects resistance it stops as if something is in the door. in colder weather the grease inside the motor causes too much resistance and stops the motor. if I remember correctly there was some info from Chrysler that said the auto doors may not operate at all in temps below 32F.

the OP's issue could be the latch as Glenn suggested. to add to Glenn's suggestions I believe there are more than one technical service bulletin for changing the weather strip at the back of the door to an updated weather strip (I haven't seen this fix the issue) and on some a door adjustment is needed because the door glass hits the rear window glass when opening. I also have lubricated the door opening weatherstrips (on the body) and stopped this issue on doors that don't get used much.(the weatherstrips stick to the door)

Reply to
TNKev

There was a TSB that called for removing excess metal from the body, this corrected a problem when the door was closing it would pop back open again. The temp that will not allow the doors to work when cold is alot colder then

32 degrees, I think it was like 17 degrees or colder. The motors do not have grease in them but the bearing will seize up and cause the doors to be very stiff when opening them or closing them manually
Reply to
maxpower

Reply to
philthy

If the motor had a clutch problem the OP would not only complain about the door not opening, he would be hearing the motor constantly spinning.

Reply to
maxpower

Thanks for all the replies. The slider unlatches but then stops. Once open it will automatically close properly most of the time but sometimes it doesn't fully complete the final latch/lock operation. Could this be related? It seems to start giving us problems when the temp drops into 40s. Maxpower's comment about the the bearings seizing up is interesting. I have noticed the door is more difficult to open/close manually in colder weather as well.

Does this theory make sense? The air temperature drop increases the bearing lube viscosity which creates enough resistance trigger the safety mechanism which stops the door from automatically opening? Could the same stiff bearing condition also explain why the door fails to fully latch when closed automatically?

It's interesting to note that this is only happenning with one of the sliding doors.

Thanks for the continued interest in helping me sort this out.

Luke

Reply to
Luke Packard

My email address is real, in case you ever get a definitive answer. I think we are in the same boat.

Just when you *didn't* want to get out of the car on that frigid day to close the door, is exactly *the* day when you have to.

Reply to
ng_reader

a lot of the time when there is a clutch issue the door is difficult to open as well.

Reply to
TNKev

If you are mechanically inclined, disconnect the connector on both ends of the track harness. (you don't need to remove the harness) and using an ohm meter check continuity at all 3 (black) ground wires in the harness. (checking for broken wire) you do not have a motor problem.... you cant check the switches on the latch because you have no scan tool. The start is going to be checking the harness.

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

interesting.

replacments

One of you guys are going to have to get on your knees and check the harness and e mail each other for the findings

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

it isnt the clutch problem that makes the door hard to open, its the bearing seizing up. The next time you have a motor that is stiff, take it aprat and see how it works. The clutch is nothing but a magnet engergized and holding the clutch wheel. when no current is flowing to the magnet the clutch freewheels. The bearing is stiff causing the door to be hard to open

Glenn

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Reply to
damnnickname

Hi Glenn,

I read both your posts.

While cleaning recently I saw the chain that looped underneath, but that's not the harness. So, Perhaps I better look closer for it. As for electrical issues. I don't have an Ohm meter. I'd like one, but, I'm even sure what an ohm is. I know what an "owe-me" is. That's when you do a favor for someone and they owe you one back.

But, I am pretty sure these are dis-similar.

Look, I've lived like this for 2 years now. If it gets worse, I will get more pissed off, sure.

Reply to
ng_reader

The chain that looped underneath is the wire harness. The purpose of the track (chain) is to keep the wires in a nice roll as the door opens and closes. The harness is inside the chain.

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

Reply to
philthy

Thanks Glen.

Maybe I will secure myself a digital multi-meter slash dwell meter to take those readings you suggest.

Or, maybe, I'll just wrap it around a tree and collect the insurance.

Check out all those airbags, you know?

Reply to
ng_reader

Dwell meter? You have some real old vehicles?

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

the author more so than the auto.

Reply to
ng_reader

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