[02honda02]

Center roller sliding door repair under $5.00!

I fixed the broken roller today for under $5.00.

I took the panel off, unbolted the assembly, left is still attached to the 2 actuator cables. One of the rollers were completly gone. There were the reminants of a small snap clip that held it in place. I used wire cutters to cut it off. After you do that, you will see that there is a groove in the pin that the roller will go over. Once you put the new roller on, it will accept a new snap clip.

I went to Lowes and bought the following:

Nylon Spacer: 1/2 x .194 x 1/4. They are in the hardware section in the pull out bins or go to your local Ace hardware etc.

5/32"e-clips. They are in the same section. They are round and will snap right into the groove of the pin.

The nylon spacers are a little bit too long so a bench grinder, file, sandpaper etc can shorten them up a little so the clip can fit.

Look at some of the other excellent threads to learn how to pull the rear light out, and slide the small body panel out. It is no big deal. I had to run to Lowes a few time to get the right side clips and rollers but next time I can do the entire job in about 30 minutes.

I paid $1.29 for each bag so $2.58 plus tax.

I hope this helps. Take care everyone.

 

[Naim]

Pictures?
Wish this would have been know 1 year ago...
Oh well.

 

[dcandmc]

We've had a problem with both sliders on our '03 EX for a while now. The wife (who is the main driver) finally got fed up and threatened to take the van to the dealer for repairs. Ouch $$$$. So, I got motivated and read through many threads last night. When asked to close, the right door moves in violent jerks, and usually gives the three beeps and then retreats to the open position. Based on what I've read here, it sounds like a busted roller, although I haven't confirmed that yet. I happened to be at Lowe's today, so I picked up the parts mentioned above by 02honda02. Grand total was $2.19, plus tax. See attached photo. If the problem is a busted roller, I will attempt to repair with these parts and report back here. If not, the parts go back to Lowe's for a refund and I will continue to diagnose.

The left door I'm not sure about. It opens and closes fine when commanded by either the dash buttons or the button on the remote, but it rarely reacts to a pull on either the interior or exterior handle. I'm thinking that the handle mechanism itself may have a short or otherwise be defective. Has anyone else had a problem with an EX slider like this?

DC

 

[02honda02]

dcandmc:

I am glad you found the parts and took some pictures of them. I should have done that.

When you get the body panel off, open the door all the way, remove the bolts that hold the roller assembly to the door, and push the door closed about 1' or so, just enough to get it out of the way. Dont close it all of the way. It is not heavy so you can lift it and move it forward a bit, and set it on some blocks or floor jack. You will need to clean up the roller assembly a bit to see what you are doing. If the old roller is completely broken off, the shaft will be left with a tiny ring that used to hold the roller on. I used some wire cutters to cut it off. It is made of some soft material, but it does take a bit of finesse to get it off. The new roller is a little long so keep gringing/filing it until it is the correct length. You will know this because when you put it on the shaft, it is slightly lower then the groove that the new clip goes on. Once you got the roller, and the clip on, clean up the tracks with a clean rag, and relubricate. I used wheelbearing grease and the thing works great.

No need to mess with the cables! The assembly will just lift up and out. Kind of like lifting up on an old can opener.

I hope it goes well for you.

 

[jejeking]

Dear 02honda02,

I am faced with what I think is the same problem. The other day I heard a big snap when closing the driver side sliding door on my odyssey 03 and found a half roller on the ground. At the time I had no idea where it came from but knew that this was bad news.
Since then the door still closes and opens ok but it's jerky and more importantly, the roller assembly part scraps the end of the small body panel and the paint is starting to come off.
I tried to look with a flaslight to see if I could see a missing roller but they seem to be both on. I try to compare it to the other side and it looked the same. So since I only found half a roller, I may be seeing the other half left. I am going to have to take the panel off and look at it, unless there is another way to make sure that's the issue before going through hoops to take the panel off.
If that's the problem, I will go to Lowe's and get the parts you mentioned.
Thanks for the tips!
I got worried after reading the other threads about this issue and having to loosen the cables and having to re-calibrate the door in the worst case scenario. Hopefully, your trick will work fine!...will add more posts when I get to do the repair.

 

[dcandmc]

Repair Complete

Last night I tackled the door roller repair on the right slider, using the parts obtained at Lowe's pictured in post #3 above. Once I got everything taken apart, sure enough, it was obvious that the rollers were the problem. One of the two was completely gone, and the other one was so shot that it could just be lifted off the post, and probably would have fallen off soon on its own. See the link below for a picture of what I found.

When I took off the trim panel that covers the slide track, I discovered that the bracket that the panel bolts to at the front was no longer attached to the van. It's a spot weld that is supposed to afix the bracket that had failed at some point. The van has 146k miles on it, so I'm not surprised. It shouldn't be a problem, as the trim panel can still be securely attached with the two screws in the back and three plastic fittings along the length of the track that fit into keyways on the back of the panel.

I had a bit of trouble when I unbolted the roller mechanism from the door. I had a floor jack positioned (with a piece of 2x4 and padding) under the back corner of the door, but the door slipped off the jack. If possible, I recommend having a helper to make sure the door is secure and stable during and after the unbolting.

 

[dcandmc]

Getting the old retaining clips off the roller posts was relatively easy. One was so rusted that it was a simple matter to clip through it with wire cutters. The other took some bending with needle nose pliers before it came off. I used a small piece of sandpaper to clean corrosion off of the roller posts. All this was done while the roller mechanism was still attached to the motor cables. There's no need to mess with anything insde the van. You might want to put a rag or something similar between the roller mechanism and the van to avoid paint scratches.

As 02honda02 noted above, the nylon spacers from Lowe's are a bit too fat (or tall) to fit correctly on the roller posts. I used some coarse sandpaper to sand down the rollers to the correct height, so that the groove at the top of the post (that the retainer E clips fit into) was visible when the new roller was put on the post. The link below has a picture one of the nylon replacement rollers sanded down to the correct height, an unmodified replacement roller, and one of the original rollers.

From reading other threads with questions about replacing just the rollers and not the complete roller mechanism, I think that earlier vans may have a different version of the mechanism that doesn't allow for the installation of new rollers on the posts. My van is an '03, and the retaining clips in the grooves at the top of the posts make it relatively easy to swap out rollers and then install new clips.

 

[dcandmc]

Once the replacement rollers were made the correct size, they were placed on the posts and the new E clips were installed in the grooves at the top of the posts to keep the rollers in place. I used a pair of needle nosed pliers to get the E clips in place. I also sprayed some WD40 on the posts and the rollers to make sure that the rollers were turning easily. The link below has a picture of the new rollers and the clips in place.

Everything went back together without a problem, and the door seems to function as it should. Before I unbolted the roller mechanism from the door, I outlined it with a Sharpie so that I could get it back on in the same place. This worked well, as no adjustment was required after observing the door open and close.

It will be interesting to see if this repair, using non-standard parts, stands up to the test of time. If not, I can look at where the failure happened and try to come up with a better fix. But for now, with the door working once again as it should, and for two dollars and change, I'm happy. Thanks to 02honda02!

 

[02honda02]

Nice work dcandmc

Thank you for the excellent write-up and the pictures.

I am glad you found the information useful and it worked for you as well. With the savings and the relatively easy fix, I can afford to do this procedure if the new rollers break. I will still be very much ahead.

 

[joe_odyssey]

I did the same for 0$..well my dad did...

My dad and I took apart the right sliding door on my ody and had the roller problems, after Honda said the parts were hundreds of $$, my dad started looking for some parts around my house, he ended up finding a steel rod about the right size, cut, grinded, driller and made two new rollers, they were too snug the first fit, so a little sanding and they were perfect, he even made 2 snap clips to hold them on. He's a retired industrial mechanic, but it goes to show you can fix anything with a little inginuity!

The fix is still working well after 20K

 

[02honda02]

Thats Excellent!

I try and fix before I replace. Some things are a bit more then I can handle. If my tranny blows, I would like to pull it out myself and pop a new one in there, however, I have not replaced a transmission in a front wheel drive before.

Great work guys!

 

[madboysx]

More Odyclub Joy!

Thanks so much for this fix. I found the parts at Home Despot for $2.04. Two hours in the driveway (the old clips were fused to the post), and my doors operate just as new.

I think I may have even impressed my kids.

 

[02honda02]

Great Work

Impressing the Kids are even more important than fixing the rollers, especially when your kids get older. It seems that you were very sucessful in both areas!

Nice Job.

 

[kjholiday]

Great Post!

Best advice I've gotten online in quite a while. Found the parts mentioned above at Lowe's. Took about 30 minutes. Glad to have $400 in my pocket.

I even bought extras to do the others when they break.

While I was at it, I also fashioned a new bump stop for the passenger door as the factory one had fallen out. Found a small rubber furniture foot at Home Depot, used a nut, bolt and washer that I had... no more beeping when the door finishes opening.

Great post!

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[02honda02]

Beeping

Nice work Kevin and for the tip on the door bumper. I am sure that will come in handy for the next person!

 

[vintagemusic]

Anyone have any idea where or how I can get these two parts in Canada? Lowes.ca doesn't sell anything online...

Thanks

 

[New Dad New Van]

Try Home Depot, Home Hardware or Kent's Building Supply or any nuts and bolts kind of store. I you do find them, please report back the part #s.

 

[jejeking]

I finally got around to do the repairs. The front roller was gone. I found the parts at Lowes. I could not find the 5/32" e-clip at home depot. They had e-clips but they did not have the small of an e-clip.

Taking the rear light was a breeze. You need to have the sliding door half opened to access the bolt that holds the rail side panel at the front. I used a sharpie to outline where exactly the roller assembly attaches to the door. I found a strong storage box exactly the size to fit under the door so it holds it after I take the assembly off the door. I did not need any help.

The biggest job was to get the existing clip off the pin. A combination of pliers and wire cutting pliers did the trick.

I used sand paper (coarse 80) to grind down the nylon spacer a little. I cleaned the roller assembly bit and used some WD40. Now the roller does not rotate as freely as the other one but I did not think it would be a big deal in the long run.

I re-attached the door to the roller assembly. I was thankful I outlined it on the door before taking it off.

After re-attachig everything, the door opens and closes very smoothly! The roller assembly doesn't scrap the rail side door panel anymore. I think this is something I'll have to keep my eyes on in the future to see if this repair holds after multiple daily openings.

Thanks a bunch for this blog and sharing techniques to repair those type of issues. I saved a bunch of money. I can't even imagine how much this would have cost at a mechanic and even worse at a dealer!

And you get to impress the wife, the mother-in-law and the kids!

 

[02honda02]

Nice Work

After several open/closes I think the rollers will loosen up a bit. The old rollers were too loose for the pin, either because of wear or just poor tolerance from the factory.

Lowes seem to have a better selection of bolts,washers, etc than Home Depot.

 

[mkawasmi]

Strange but funny...

Three years ago I did a similar fix to my rollers. I did not know where to find the nylon spacers, so took them from the a broken microwave support tray (The one that is under the glass tray)...

I did not use a clip to hold it in place since I could not think of any (Also my roller post was worn due to friction), so I just relied on the gravity....

Still working after three years :stupid: