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2005 Sliding Door Roller Replacement

271K views 266 replies 128 participants last post by  hottossey 
#1 ·
I replaced the driver side sliding door roller assembly yesterday.
After days of pouring over the different threads and reading the how-to's, I figured out that it isn't really as hard as mentioned in the old threads.
No need to take any of the interior paneling off, no need to take the door off. Although I started out trying to do all this and wasted about 1.5hrs.

My steps to replace the sliding door roller assembly;
part #72561-SHJ-A21 Male Hinge $67.14 in Burnaby BC, Canada

Turn off power door switch!

Open door manually and support bottom with jack and soft cloth to protect paint. You may have to grab the hinge and keep it straight while opening the door so it won't bind.

Remove rear brake light housing with two bolts at rear and then slide housing to the rear to release male/female connector towards the front. (I used a piece of cereal box cardboard to protect the paint and hooked a paint can opener to the front edge of the light and pulled backward)

Remove the sliding door rail cover (body trim) by removing the 12mm bolt under the brake-light housing and the front screw visible in the open doorway when looking towards the rear of the vehicle. Slide the cover towards the rear to release the mounts.

**Important** Liberally apply masking tape to the auto paint surface in the area of the hinge. Top, double layer below hinge, inside door etc. You don't want to scratch your baby!

Mark the position of the bracket on the door with a felt tip pen. You'll want to mount it in the same spot later.

Remove the two 14mm bolts attached to the inside of the door and tilt the hinge upwards to release from track.

Now comes the fun part of getting just the right angle to release the rear cable. It hooks in like a bicycle brake cable. I used a pair of needle nose pliers. I also wrapped the wire with some masking tape and attached my vice grips to the cable. This allowed me to pull hard on the cable to get some slack. There should be just enough slack - no extra.

Once the back cable is off, it is easy to undo the front cable and remove the assembly.

Remove the pin from the hinge; Use a short socket (16mm or so) underneath the pin, remove the C-clamp washer and then whack it with a hammer. Put the new male hinge part on and replace pin and C-clamp washer noting the position of the spring as on old piece.

Attach the front and then rear wires. Attach bracket to door.
Re-attach body trim and tail light.
Close door manually

Go ask wife for reward. :D :D :D ;)
 
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#3 ·
Colnago,
Q) how did you know?
How did you know you needed to replace the rollers? What were the problems?

A) It was pretty obvious; the grinding, door stopping. You can see the hinge move crooked in the track. Then if you look from a low angle, you can see there is one of the small rollers missing.

Q) Where did you get the parts?
A) Local Honda Dealer. I shopped around as there was about $10 difference between some shops. It was a special order part that came in the next day.
 
#4 ·
GreyGhost said:
Colnago,
Q) how did you know?
How did you know you needed to replace the rollers? What were the problems?

A) It was pretty obvious; the grinding, door stopping. You can see the hinge move crooked in the track. Then if you look from a low angle, you can see there is one of the small rollers missing.

Q) Where did you get the parts?
A) Local Honda Dealer. I shopped around as there was about $10 difference between some shops. It was a special order part that came in the next day.
Yikes...something external must have caused such an impact to the sliding door..! I sure hope that this not due to "normal wear and tear". Any idea what caused it..?

Thanks in advance

Kandiah
 
#5 ·
kandiah said:
Yikes...something external must have caused such an impact to the sliding door..! I sure hope that this not due to "normal wear and tear". Any idea what caused it..?
Normal Wear and Tear!
The only trauma the door has witnessed would be from stopping and starting it mid track. Something 6yr old kids and Mom's do almost everyday.

On the old part I can see that the other of the two rollers was about to fail; loose on the post and with slight flat spots on the surface.

It looks like a nylon roller. Not sure why they wouldn't use a steel roller, but I guess the nylon is quieter. :confused: :confused:
Unfortunately these rollers wear out...about the same time as the regular warranty. I wonder if Sienna owners have the same problem?
I've had this Ody about 6mos and I'm not impressed. We used to drive a 99 Pontiac Montana/Transport and NEVER had any problems with it, seriously. The Montana had lots of nice convenient features too; like auto headlights, auto locking doors and the doors would all lock - even if one was slightly ajar - like the hatch.
 
#6 ·
Thanks a lot for the info/comments GreyGhost!

I'm having exact same issue, though on pax side. Based on your comments, I'm going to have a go...

Questions:

1) Was this assembly that you replaced at the top of the sliding door or at the bottom (in the gap between floor and underside)?

2) Sounds like a simple-enough fix/project. Anything out-of-the-ordinary that wasn't mentioned (or that you'd do differently when you fix the other side)?

Thanks again!
Trev
 
#7 ·
univmichwolv said:


Questions:

1) Was this assembly that you replaced at the top of the sliding door or at the bottom (in the gap between floor and underside)?
The roller I replaced is in the middle of the door on the black hinge. Don't rip anything apart until you confirm the problem is with the small rollers on that assembly. Pic of fixed hinge attached-if it works...

2) Sounds like a simple-enough fix/project. Anything out-of-the-ordinary that wasn't mentioned (or that you'd do differently when you fix the other side)?
I posted my comments after I finished, so I covered all points relevant. Good luck!
 

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#8 ·
I'm a noob, but I've searched, to no avail. This is the closest post I could find.

I'm good with everything in GreyGhost's post, except the 'cables' that attached to the roller have completely retracted back (had to manually disable while awaiting parts).

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to 'loosen' the cables to reattach to the bracket.

Again, apologizies if my post could have been avoided with a better search ...

Mike
 
#9 ·
santore said:
I'm a noob, but I've searched, to no avail. This is the closest post I could find.

I'm good with everything in GreyGhost's post, except the 'cables' that attached to the roller have completely retracted back (had to manually disable while awaiting parts).

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to 'loosen' the cables to reattach to the bracket.

Again, apologizies if my post could have been avoided with a better search ...

Mike
Don't worry Mike. You at least tried the search and more importantly posted in an existing thread to ask additional questions. That's all I'd look for in a noob. You belong to the rare group of noobs who don't NEED a thread of their own (a new trend is that hey I searched and even found posts but this particular question was not answered so here is my question in a NEW thread).

:)

Thank you for helping us keep things a bit tidier.

:) :) :)


I will see if someone has posted something to help you out.

** Edit **
http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35833&highlight=roller+and+cable
 
#10 ·
I'm not sure how the cables completely retracted.
I guess you missed the first step in the procedure? TURN OFF THE SWITCH.
It also sounds like you took it apart without having the new parts ready.
I can't help you, you'll have to go visit the dealer with your tail between your legs.:rolleyes: :confused: :(
 
#11 ·
My problem is that the roller completely broke off (long term impact of a minor fender-bender a year back) and couldn't close door while it was attached so I disabled the entire unit and closed the temporarily unhinged door.

I just assumed (you know what they say), that I'd let the cables retract rather than have them dangle while waiting for the new parts and then in manual mode, pull 'em back out. Doh!

I'm okay with going to the dealer (or leaving it manual), but when they tell me I need a new motor because the cables can't be untaut, I want to know if I can call their bluff ... :)

BTW,GG, good initial post. While I didn't read these until after I had done it, I got up to the 'attached front and read wires' when I realized I had a problem ... hence no reward from wife ... and she doesn't believe my commentary that the door is better in manual mode.
 
#12 ·
You might...stress "might" be able to grab the wire and pull while activating the power door switch. Just have one person responsible for the switch and turn it off quick if it doesn't do what you want.
There is also another thread on the forum where they took all the interior paneling off to reveal the motor. This may be where you have to start.
I started down this path, but soon realized it was more work than was needed.
 
#13 ·
Great instructions!

My driver side middle roller was too wobbly and would jam w/o power. Under power, the sliding door would close partially, stop and then open again.

I followed your instructions and it worked! These are very concise and complete instructions for this problem.

I bought the 72521-SHJ-A21 part from here:
http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_P...isDisplayAll=False&pageName=Slide+Door+Motors

The service manual also indicated to grease the bend portion of the middle roller rail, but I used white lithium grease over the whole rail and it is very smooth.

Thoroughly cover the painted surface near and below the roller like he said, or it will get scratched.
 
#14 ·
I just took the left side track cover off and found the same thing: severely worn rollers.. The right side is not as bad, probably because it is used less. It seems that 72561-SHJ-A21 goes for about $33 on line. If it's $40 or less at the local dealer, it looks like I'm swapping it out tomorrow night.
 
#21 ·
In the 99-04 Odyssey forum this has been discussed and it is a wear and tear item.

I believe that someone figured out what to get as replacement rollers (can't remember if it was steel or nylon) from a hardware store instead of buying the whole assembly.
 
#23 ·
05 Ody slider rear roller asmbly

Looks like I'm heading for roller replace .. . my rollers are all still in place but both doors are real hard to push/pull by hand and sound like they are really dragging on the rear roller assmbly.
It seemed to me they were always pretty stiff to operate since we owned the car w/ 13K. I always assumed the "idle" cable drive had to be turned by hand - inherent friction. Now at 105K w/ gravel roads daily - dust or mud most of the year.
The inside of the car has seen it's share of dust, I'm wondering what's under all that plastic that needs a cleaning or lube.
My issue: Driver side closes at which point the closing drive sucks the rear edge in obviously way too hard - doesn't sense when to stop ... about 3 seconds and things relax. So now the buzzer is sounding off when in gear. Turn off switch and drive. Interior lights stay off and door feels secure if I get inside and push hard.
No brainer to change roller assmbly first, anybody else been here?

Just called local dealer ... about $57+ each side - guess I'll go shopping ... Thanks for all the knowledge, I'll post my results here when I get to it , Merry Christmas
 
#24 ·
Brief update, just ordered L + R assmblys from South Bay Honda --- www.hondapartscheap.com --- $32.70 ea. side + S+H = $80.34 delivered for both sides.
I am also not real impressed w/ Honda on this one, seems the doors would be engineered to go the miles that Honda is famous for! When I bought the car, my only reservation was indeed the complexity of the sliders, and "I bet those are a problem someday....".
If Honda offered a manual door(LX?) with all the other options found on EX, I would rather have that one. Never had a problem opening my own door. ( my little rant!)
Has been a great car so far otherwise, only other issue so far was power steering, was a fairly inexpensive fix. On my old '89 Voyager, the slider was about the only thing that did not fall apart after 180K. Merry Christmas
 
#25 ·
Not sure if this thread is still alive but my latest : new center rear rollers replaced on my bad door ... old ones were not completely gone but well on their way. They would have needed to be replaced soon. (Honda, are you listening?) The procedure was real simple thanks to you guys with photos and all. The door is smoother but it did not solve my latching issue.

This thread describes like my problem now that the rollers are taken care of:
http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54192 Titled:2005 Ody LS sliding door latch, last post May '09
My exception is my dash warnig light for door open stays off, buzzer sounds until it is switched to manual mode, door feels and looks latched.
So, I guess I'll head this new direction, hoping not to have spend abundle of $$ to remedy. Took the middle seats out and the interior trim off the door tonight for a look - whew! Amazing what can be designed and manufactured these days.
Ideas out there?

Also, general posting advice, please ... is it better to "revive" the above referenced thread or start a current(new) thread?

thanks in advance, Gerry
 
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