[albaby]

I don't think the rubber molding has any sensors. The door senses an obstruction because of the increased current caused by the blockage. That what causes it to reverse, as I understand it.
Also, the reverse feature is inactive the last few inches of travel-just before it shuts, to allow the door to cinch down.

There is no reverse feature on opening if you used the door handle. The key fob or dash button will reverse the door on both opening or closing. Buttttttt---- guess what? My doors worked fine on reversing etc. until I tried the above methods-then they would not reverse from the closing direction without extreme force, almost enough to push me backwards (I weigh 200 lbs.), however-once I forced them to reverse-they required very little effort on subsequent trys.

I may play with this again tomorrow.

 

[albaby]

I checked my Odys doors again. They are not consistent in their method of operation (reversing) I could not come up with a repeatable scenario which caused the doors to function properly> they definitley do not operate as they did when I first bought it. I demonstrated the operation of the doors several times when I first bought the van and they were consistent then.

I called a Honda dealer and he said there was no problem with the doors. He offered several excuses as to why the operation was proper, including the reverse feature isn't active when they first start to close and at the last few inches of movement. When I explained that I was aware of that,but had tried the doors in several configurations, he still would not believe there was a problem. I then suggested I bring the van down and show him the problem. He agreed this would be a good idea even though he didn't think it was necessary.
I then asked if an evening appointment as I wanted him to bring his grandchildren and place them in the path of the doors to test their operation. He said that was ridiculous. Imagine that. No faith in the product?

It's due for service in a couple of weeks and if the problem is repeatable I'll let you know the results. In the meantime, I'll look up the NHTSA site and see if there is anything on them there.

We need to keep after these people, but if this works out as well as my "crossbar" problem, then it's a waste of time.

CMT4- The operation of the doors was just my guess,however, I did not notice any sensors. I'll try and see if my Service manual can give any input. It would seem that they would want something that would sense an obstruction anywhere in the doors path-not just in the plane of the sensors.

Regards
Al

 

[albaby]

There are eight complaints on the 2001 Ody doors on the NHTSA website. I think that's a lot considering that few people will go thru the trouble to fill out a complaint. Let's all add ours-for our kids, pets, and safety sake in general. Maybe enough numbers will make them listen. (That may be what they mean when they say there's safety in numbers).

In edit-there are 21 complaints on 00 models,20 on 99. I'm sure a personal injury lawyer would find these figures interesting. Heaven knows I have little respect for P.I. lawyers, but the Honda dealer I talked to today said: "We have no reports of any injurys from them(the doors). Was anyone injured by your doors? When I said "no", then his attitude was a "then what's the problem"type.
Maybe lawsuits are all these people understand. They deny problems until they can no longer ignore the evidence.
I'll be adding my complaint to the file at the NHTSA.
End of rant.

Regards
Al


[This message has been edited by albaby (edited 10-24-2001).]

[This message has been edited by albaby (edited 10-24-2001).]

[This message has been edited by albaby (edited 10-24-2001).]

 

[albaby]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by pummal:
I have heard that the doors approximate the force that they need to close during the first few seconds of operation.

This way, if they are on a hill, they can still close. So, my guess is that after they have "figured" out how much force is needed to keep them moving, but before they get close enough to latch, they will reverse if they encounter enough opposing force.

When I had my '01, I tested and concluded that this theory was likely to be correct.

Sounds like a lot of trouble. Why can't we just have a lip on the door that easily retracts and actuates a switch to reverse? The lip could be positioned so that it does not hit anything when it closes w/o obstruction. Like elevator doors.

Then any slight collision would cause a reverse of the door.

The current system is a bit dangerous -- if there is an obstruction early in the door closing process, the doors will use great force (thinking that they need to), and will take even greater force to reverse. This could cause bruising or even break some bones -- but I still think it is safer than having a slider slammed on you.

</font>

I tried the doors at least a dozen times on level ground (in my garage),form several different closing positions and could not come up with any consistent operation. The closest it came to being consistent was at the last 8-10 inches of closure where it reversed several times, however, in one instance i considered myself lucky to escape with my fingers intact. I'll use a block of styrofoam next time.
I found that these doors could result in more than pinched fingers. I was leaning over the second row seats retrieving a package when I thought what could happen if I were a small child doing the same thing and the door started to close. or a kid that had his/her foot in the lower track and the door started to close. Of course, these rae all hypothetical cases, but I'm sure there are others that could result in worse injury. I agree nothing is perfectly safe-but these doors don't meet my expectations.

Another theory-without much basis. These doors have a revolution counter on their motors that tell the door where it is at in the opening or closing cycle. If these counters are defective, then the door would not know whether it is just starting or finishing the opening cycle, in which both cases, the reverse feature is locked out-as I understand it for now-until I get better information.

Regards
Al

 

[albaby]

OK-here it is-straight out of the Honda Service Manual.

OBSTRUCTION DETECTION FUNCTION

When opening the sliding doors: ( I think it should read "closing")

"A sensor in the sliding door motor outputs pulses at a constant rate. When something is pinched in the sliding door, the pulse rate changes. The control unit detects this and then stops the motor, sounds the buzzer 3 times, and reverses its direction. The door will then open automatically at the same rate it would normally open."

It also says-under a different heading-the pulse sensor determines the fully open position by counting the pulse of the slide motor.

Also-under "Fail safe function" "When a power sliding door is in the half latched position, the obstruction detection function is off. If the corresponding power sliding door control unit recieves any signal from the dash switch,the remote control switch, (inner or outer door handles), or the factory keyless reciever while the in the half latched position, the control unit sounds the buzzer three times and activates the release motor. The release motor pulls the failsafe lever to mechanically disengage the closer motor from the latch. Once the latch and closer motor are disengaged, the slide motor will partially open the door".

I could not find any reference to the motor having to seek any special inputs during the first part of the open or close cycle, such as torque requirements that may be different if vehicle was facing uphill etc. Looks like it's number and speed of the rotational pulses. Might be there, but if it is-I missed it. Page 22-244

Regards
Al