Trident sliding door sticking

Hello all,

The sliding door on my VW T4 seems to be sticking and not closing properly. If you slide the door shut it will just bounce back and not close, in order for it to close you have to lock the door and unlock it again using the key, then it will close properly. The door also has to be locked at all times when driving as it has previously just opened when the vehicle has been moving, luckily the door didn’t slide back fully. I’m not sure if any of you have experienced a similar issue with your transporters, with any lock or whether this is unique. Although as this is van based and has not got anything to do with autosleeper I would not expect you to know how to overcome this. I would appreciate any knowledge on this topic.

Many thanks,
Alex Ingham 

Alex Ingham wrote:Hello all,

The sliding door on my VW T4 seems to be sticking and not closing properly. If you slide the door shut it will just bounce back and not close, in order for it to close you have to lock the door and unlock it again using the key, then it will close properly. The door also has to be locked at all times when driving as it has previously just opened when the vehicle has been moving, luckily the door didn’t slide back fully. I’m not sure if any of you have experienced a similar issue with your transporters, with any lock or whether this is unique. Although as this is van based and has not got anything to do with autosleeper I would not expect you to know how to overcome this. I would appreciate any knowledge on this topic.

Many thanks,
Alex Ingham 

Alex you might try one of the dedicated VW T4 forums there are several

Alf

Alex, although the lock release handle is at the front of the sliding door, the catch mechanism is at the rear of the door.  I would hazard a guess that a 2002 T4 lock might have some internal  corrosion. 
I recently decided I needed to get some lubricant into the lock and accessed it by removing the lining panel from the inside of the door.  I used a silicon pressurized can and a longish flexible tube. It worked and the release was much easier.
Keith

Thanks for that. I think that I will have a look at some of the VW T4 forums. However last night I did apply some WD40 to the locking mechanism and the door seems to be opening and closing perfectly fine, so we will see how long that it will last! If it starts to happen again I think I will take your advice, Keith and have a proper look at the locking mechanism. Thank you both for your help with this topic.

Many thanks,
Alex Ingham 

Alex Ingham wrote:Thanks for that. I think that I will have a look at some of the VW T4 forums. However last night I did apply some WD40 to the locking mechanism and the door seems to be opening and closing perfectly fine, so we will see how long that it will last! If it starts to happen again I think I will take your advice, Keith and have a proper look at the locking mechanism. Thank you both for your help with this topic.

Many thanks,
Alex Ingham 

Alex have you checked the door card ( the ply lining ) T4 and T5 suffered bad window leaks the leak goes in the door above the door lock usually the bottom of the door card feels wet.

Alf

I have had a look at the door card and I cannot feel any damp, I would also expect the bottom of the sliding door to be rusty or show some signs of water damage. I appreciate your help with this topic although after oiling the lock and lock mechanism the problem has become much less common. Unless this gets worse, I expect that I will just leave the door as it is for now!

Many thanks for all of you help with this topic,
Alex Ingham 

...make sure the door card is put back as far as possible onto the door - there is very little clearance between the door and rear bodywork when open, due to the thicker AS door card compared to the standard VW one. It took me some time to puzzle out where the slight paint rub had come from.

Thanks for that repoort, I have not actually removed the door card I have just had a feel around the Autosleeper door card and tested it using a damp meter and no signs of damp. If the problem becomes frequent again in the near future then I will most likely remove this panel to have a look at what it going on!

Many thanks, 
Alex Ingham