Sliding door contact replacement

[Richard Casto]

Really sorry if this exact issue has been documented. I searched, but couldn't find a post with my exact issue. This is for a 2000 Odyssey EX that has about 96K miles on it.

First, I am aware of the door reset process and have used it.

Ok, here is my problem (which I don't think is a door reset issue). After doors have shut and you are driving, usually on a bump or when turning (chassis flex?) you get the alarm buzzer. Turning off doors via switch obviously kills the buzzer, but I would like to fix the problem. This has been going on for a few years at this point. I assume this is an issue with the door contacts (bad connection), but am not sure?

I "think" that previously I would just clean the contacts and that would fix the problem until the contacts would get dirty again. But that was a few years ago and I can't remember for sure. Anyhow, a few years ago, I went to clean the contacts and saw that someone had attacked them with some sandpaper and had sanded off the plating. I suspect it had been done by one of a handfull of people who had done some service work on the car, but since it could have been that way for awhile I didn't know who to blame. Anyhow, I stopped trying to clean them as I don't think they really will ever be the same again due to the loss of the plating.

So assuming that it most likely is an issue with the contacts, I amm considering buying replacment contacts and doing the job myself. Is there any tips on this? Anyone have a writeup on how this is done? Can you do the replacement without removing the door or removing the interior panel?

[Richard Casto]

Bump...

Someone let me know if this is something that has been covered like a 1000 times and nobody is replying because it is such a newbie question and I just need to search more in older posts.

[egads]

Gee, there are three pages of hits when you enter "sliding door contacts" into the search here. I can't remember anyone ever changing them themselves. At some point in 01 or so they changed the design of them. At that time several members got new ones under warranty at the dealer. Among all those search hits were some having to do with random sliding door beeping. Do some reading there and feel free to post to an old thread that closely resembles your problem. That will notify members who have been there who may never see this thread.

[Richard Casto]

egads, Thanks. I feel I am a wizard at times with Google searches, but usually I have crappy luck with forum searches and finding quality threads. There have been times that I have even used Google to search forums and had better results than the forum search results! Anyhow, I will try again to find some threads.

[osx-addict]

So -- it's been 2 years.. Did you end up replacing the contacts after all? While we've generally never had any issues with the doors misbehaving, the contacts are in very poor shape and the outside black metal/plastic casing that holds the contacts is falling apart on both doors.. I suspect I'll have to replace them in the near future but the doors still work and do not beep while driving like others have reported. Anyway, just thought I'd ask! Thx!

[odcouple2]

So osx-addict, are you thinking about replacing yours? Contacts that is. Is the plastic just cracking up?

[New Dad New Van]

After checking for bad continuity for both the sliding door junction switch (contacts) or the body sliding door junction switch (contacts), you need to remove either the sliding door interior trim or the center pillar trim to access the switches for removal.

[osx-addict]

Originally posted by odcouple2
So osx-addict, are you thinking about replacing yours? Contacts that is. Is the plastic just cracking up?

Yes.. It looks like some of the individual contacts will actually fall out of the outer plastic casing at some point.. They don't appear to be causing problems yet, but I don't think it will last in the current state..

[Richard Casto]

Originally posted by osx-addict
So -- it's been 2 years.. Did you end up replacing the contacts after all? While we've generally never had any issues with the doors misbehaving, the contacts are in very poor shape and the outside black metal/plastic casing that holds the contacts is falling apart on both doors.. I suspect I'll have to replace them in the near future but the doors still work and do not beep while driving like others have reported. Anyway, just thought I'd ask! Thx!

No I have not. I actually ordered parts about a year or so ago but didn't install them. I have them boxed up and can't remember the exact roadblock, but if remember correctly (could be wrong) I think you can't just remove unscrew them, disconnect and then reconnect. I think the connector is buried deeper in the car.

I still have the car and still have issues with the door. Generally what I see is that occasionally if we flex the body or drive it on a rough road it will trigger the door buzzer and I will have to turn off the door on the dash. I think it is a contact alignment issue that is greatly aggrevated by the bad condition of the contacts.

Replacing it is on my list of things to do/try, but not very high at the moment.

[osx-addict]

Well.. If I beat you to it, I'll let you know how painful it is/was..

[jcr_enf]

I got the same problem; the dealer just filed the contacts and the noisy buzz disappeared

[chiody]

Originally posted by jcr_enf
I got the same problem; the dealer just filed the contacts and the noisy buzz disappeared

Should keep an eye on the "filed" contacts as oxidation may now progress quicker due to exposed raw metal which would lead to problems...again. Hopefully they weren't too aggressive?

[jcr_enf]

Thanks, I’ll keep checking that.

[osx-addict]

By the way.. Had the van in the local dealer for an unrelated issue (idle control system malfunction - code P505 -fixed for $500 P&L) and asked them to give a quote for fixing the crappy contacts on the side doors.. They came back with a price of $56+$80 for each half of the right door contact pair + $210 labor... They also suggested doing both doors at the same time (go figure!). Needless to say I declined.

Now, I was working on the van (I had to replace the left rear quarter window motor -- siezed up -- another $100 + my own labor) and took off the female (if you can call it that) on the right door pillar and it should be VERY easy to replace. In my case that is all that needs replacement -- the contacts on the door side (male?) that slides look just fine to me.

Interestingly enough, if you remove the connector on the pillar, the contacts all map to individual wires that are screwed in to posts -- as long as you replace one wire at a time (or take good notes) anyone with a philips screw driver should be able to swap out the pillar connector easily.. Anyway, in the coming weeks I'll probably do that since ours is ready to fall apart -- I'll take some pics when I do the work..

[Dougatoms]

Similar issue with my drivers side sliding door. Pillar contact has holes around one of the contacts. Passenger side appears fine. Looks like I'm in for the same repair. No operational issues yet.