[Honda4Kids]

The power sliding door on my 2001 Odyssey crushed my hand.

When I was considering buying it, the salesman showed off the safety feature of the power sliding door by inserting his hand in the path of the door. The door sensed his hand in the way and immediately retracted. That was enough to sell me on the safety feature for my kids.

After we bought the van, the door would not close all the way. Then the door got stuck and did the buzzing thing. we manualy closed the door and turned the switch off to keep it from buzzing.

We took the car to the dealer for a fix. After it came back, the door seemed very aggressive. I replayed the demonstration the salesman did for me (foolishly), BUT THE DOOR DID NOT STOP! The door ended up crushing my hand, but I was able to pull it out before any real damage was done. Just soreness and reddening of the skin.

This got me thinking that if it could do this to my hand, it could do some serious damage to our kids.

We called the dealer and over the phone the service technician said it was supposed to be like this. The door should stop at 16# of resistance and they will perform a "crush test".

My question is:

1) Does anyone have tech bulletins on power sliding door issues that I can review to assure that I am being told a straight story?

2) Has anyone heard of a crush test for the door? I doubt it involves now the salesman putting his hand in the door

3) Does anyone have any advice when I take the van in to make sure this gets fixed correctly and SAFELY?

 

[sinbad]

Before the door makes contact with the jamb, it should stop when it meets resistance.

After that, the last 2 inches or so, the door is committed to closing. Is this when/where you inserted your hand?



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2002 TW EX; Weathertechs; Splash; 4X Pioneer 1695's w/ Blaupunkt Casablanca head unit; Hella Supertone Horns; Hitch w/ Transmission & Power Steering Coolers; 2001 Five-spoke Alloy Wheels.
2000 Honda CBR 929 RR
Honda "Masters" GXV140, 135 cc. mower

 

[Honda4Kids]

My hand at the time would have been in the 2" range. The salesmans's hand was within this range as well, if I recall.

In addition, after several inches of travel on the way shut, the door can not be stopped, either by lightly lifting the door handle on the outside or even by REALLY tugging the handle in the reverse direction. Again, my fear is that when this things starts to close, it is a vise.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by sinbad:
Before the door makes contact with the jamb, it should stop when it meets resistance.

After that, the last 2 inches or so, the door is committed to closing. Is this when/where you inserted your hand?

</font>

 

[MommyOdy]

Iam very concerned about this problem. I have been hurt by my door a couple of times.I worry about me son getting hurt with it.They really need to make the doors safer!!!

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2002 MB EX-L

 

[Maugham]

I've seen many a mashed hand in non-electric doors. It is much more likely that a hand would get in the wrong place if the child has to close the door manually.

 

[Steve Pert]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Maugham:
I've seen many a mashed hand in non-electric doors. It is much more likely that a hand would get in the wrong place if the child has to close the door manually.</font>

I would agree. Plus, consider the speed (and force) that people use to shut manual sliding van doors compared to the speed that the automatic doors close. The manuals would cause more damage I suspect.

If your door is not auto-reversing, it may need adjusting. I have tested mine and it doesn't take much for the door to reverse. Keep in mind that they will not reverse unless it meets an obstruction within something like the last 18 inches or so.

 

[Honda4Kids]

Thanks for some great comments on the topic.

Power doors are pretty new on a van-sometimes people don't know the doors are powered. I've watched as people interact with mine. Sometimes I think they think the door is rolling in a track on it's own and they intend to stop it (which on mine will not work too well).

The remote key fob can trigger the door to close (of course) and this can be tripped accidentally. Something to watch out for.

- I've had people try to shut the door when

 

[Honda4Kids]

We talked to our service department over the phone about the excessive force our power door has.

We were told that a 16lb force would be needed to make the door retract and that they can perform a Crush Test.

We took our van in for service and while they were very nice and professional, the Crush Test was placing someone's body in the path of the door to see if it would stop.

My wife tried it and she had to put her arm, shoulder and much force into it to stop and was frankly a little scared that it would not stop. The service man tried it (he was larger build) and he had to put an arm and his weight into the path of the door to get it to stop.the door.

She was told that the door seemed to be functioning correctly, but my wife still suggested that the dooor closes too aggressively.

They then tried a 2002 model and found that the door could be stopped with much less force. This caused the service man to rethink his conclusion and agreed that the door needed too much force to stop it. He said that he would call Honda and find out more information. To his knowledge, he was not able to fix the problem without firther assistance.

While leaving, an Odyssey owner who had overseem the demonstration stopped my wife and told her that his door behaved more like the 2002 model (requiring much less force than what he saw my wife go through).

While this was going on, I called the Honda Zone office and was transferred to a 800 Customer Service #. While professional, they seemed more interested in reading excerpts from the manual than hearing me recount how my hand was crushed.

Their reply was that the power doors can cause death and dismemberment. Hmmm. That I knew. They said they would call the dealer on my behalf and make a note of my safety concern, but I got the feeling that they were not taking this too seriously.

If anyone has any information that I could pass on to the service department I would appreciate it. Sorry for the long post...hopefully if another club member has a similar issue they can breeze through it better.

 

[Jerry O1]

I don't know the age of any of your kids, but, if they were mine, they would be in their seats and buckled down before those doors went anywhere. Young children should not be allowed to operate the doors, at any time, just as they are forbidden to use other types of motorized items. Just my two cents.....

Jerry O.

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2001 Odyssey GG LX