Ok, so I wasn’t going to post on this anymore, but the weirdest thing happened the other day. To recap, the cog connecting the motor to the gear “railing” that runs the length of the door is removed, effectively making it a manual door. A passenger got in, and when he pushed the button, the door closed automatically! WTF?
In any case, there is one flaw with converting to manual. Those who open the door with too much gusto can make the rollers come out of the track. Then you have to remove the end stop to get it back in place. I’m thinking of repositioning the stop a little forward, as the problem is the rollers get too close to the end where the track is open, and a forceful opening of the door pushes them past the rubber stopper.
Many thanks for posting your “how to convert to manual” and your recent lesson learned (on your DIY fix). If wondering, my current 2009 mini-van is manual sliding doors (yes, I purposely bought it this way) and love it. Especially fir my Special Needs son and his need to keep things “manual”. Especially when it comes to mini-vans and sliding doors. I’m currently in the midst of buying a 2016 Dodge Caravan and am amazed that many dealers don’t know how to convert its factory “default” sliding doors to manual mode. Many thanks for posting your newly gained knowledge - to disable power doors. I don’t think your DIY adjustment to manual mode is a “hack job”.
The one time I took an Uber, before the CEO started making news about what a miserable jerk he was and before it came out how badly Uber was hurting cab drivers by not following the rules cab drivers must follow, and before it was widely known that Uber drivers generally do not carry insurance to cover liability to their customers should they screw up and injure/kill them, I was picked up in a 15 or so year old compact car.
It was still in good shape because it wasn’t in a rust state, but it certainly wasn’t upscale. I think they have a “black car” program that has more stringent requirements for age and quality.
J_Papple, your welcome. After removing the wire harness I confirmed it was intact, so obviously the problem lies in the motor. While I would like to put it back to automatic, I’m not prepared to sink the money and time in it for that. I don’t know about the newer Caravans, but the one thing I do note is that the button to manually open the door is ergonomically flawed. Most people reach up with their right hand (because, it’s on the right side), but then you are coming at it at a slight angle instead of perpendicular to the door. This makes it hard enough to push that I’ve seen strong men have difficulty with it. Usually, I tell my riders to open with the left thumb, which is practically effortless. Or if they ignore my suggestion, I simply reach over and do it myself. As for it being a hack job, maybe it is, maybe not. In any case, I don’t really visit the Car Talk site anymore. I thought it would be a good place to find people who might be able to provide some insight to issues beyond the normal maintenance. But it’s mostly a few individuals who need to inflate their egos by belittling others, so I don’t bother. Actually, I find YouTube to be quite sufficient. It seems somebody had done it and put it on video. Good luck with your new Caravan.
Thanks! But,I just now cut both cables at both ends and it works now as a
manually operated sliding door. With the binding cable out of the way it
works pretty darn good. Only fault is that it does not hold in place at
the fully open position. But. I can live with that. Opens fine from
inside and outside and locks and unlocks as well. It is good enough for
what I want it for.