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You probably love your minivan a lot. But, if recently, it has been frustrating you with problems with the door opening and closing you might not be liking it near as much right now!
Have you started hating your minivan because of this issue? Well stop! You don’t need to hate it anymore as there are some things that you can do to try and fix the issue! You can continue to love your minivan as there are steps that you can follow to correct the minivan door not closing issue.
Is your minivan older?
If your minivan is older and was produced between 1999 and 2011, you might find a door control button in your vehicle. Try using this button to correct the door not closing issue. If it does not work, you might have to replace the bumper that is present between the door and the rail. Just in case, your vehicle is newer than 2011 and you are still facing issues with closing the sliding door, you should check the toggle switch. At times, it can disable other buttons that are required for closing your vehicle’s door properly.
Are you interested in learning more about the door closing issues in a minivan? Then, please read on! In addition to explaining the fixes for this issue, I will also mention the common issues that the owners of minivans face with their doors and what can be done about them.
What to do when the minivan’s door does not close?
The sliding door is the staple of minivans and is really the one thing that sets them apart from all other types of vehicles. These sliding doors are incredibly convenient when they work properly.
However, when the doors start to show signs of problems, you will likely start thinking that traditional doors are better than sliding doors.
But, this is not the time to start second guessing yourself!
The door not closing issue is something that is typically quite simple to fix in minivans. What you have read is right! You often don’t even need to take your vehicle to the mechanic to correct this issue either. Most people can handle fixing it on their own by simply knowing what they need to do.
On the basis of the age of your vehicle, there are different fixes available for this issue.
Older vehicles
If your vehicle is older and was produced before 2011, there are two main issues that could be keeping your minivan’s door from closing.
The first of these two things is easy to check as well. Simply get into your minivan and sit in the second row of seats. You will see a handle inside near the sliding doors on both sides.
Once you find the handle on the door you will want to try pulling it and seeing if that allows the door to come loose and close all of the way. Sometimes the manual handle can just get stuck so simple pulling on it and getting it loose again can fix the issue.
Now, when you try closing your minivan’s door, the door shouls close. But, if nothing happens don’t start to worry just yet.
You can just move on to the next troubleshooting method.
The next thing you will want to check is the toggle switches or push buttons to make sure that they aren’t stuck in a position that they shouldn’t be in. If you have automatic sliding doors this can happen because of dirt build up or also just from age as well.
It’s a good idea to push all of the buttons on your minivan at least a couple of times to see if that fixes the issue or not.
What if it does not work?
At times, the door still does not close even after pressing the door buttons or moving the handle manually. Is that the situation you find yourself in?
Then, there is still one more solution you can try. Just get near the door that is not closing and look at the opening especially near the top of the door. You should find a rubber bumper there between the rail and the door.
Are you thinking there is nothing like that present in my minivan?
This is actually pretty common as this rubber bumper that came with your vehicle when you bought it would have become dry and brittle as the years passed. It’s possible that the rubber seal might have fallen without your knowledge and you will typically only realize that it has fallen off only when you face issues with the sliding door.
It’s also possible that the rubber strip has become deformed over time and that is the reason why the door won’t close.
So, to resolve the door-not-closing issue, you will have to replace this rubber bumper.
The good thing here is that it will not cost you very much and you can even replace it yourself as well in most cases. You will just have to search for the rubber bumper/seal online for the specific model and year of your vehicle and place your order.
Once it reaches your home, you can replace it yourself quite easily.
Rubber bumper/seal replacement
When you get to replacing the rubber bumper, you just need to take the bumper and place it in such a way that its hook edge is facing the rail. When you do this, you will find that the bumper should slide in easily.
Now, try your door, it should open and close properly without any issues.
What if your vehicle is a newer model?
If your vehicle is newer, you can use the sliding door buttons in your vehicle to try to close it. When you do this, your minivan might beep at you or the door might not close entirely.
But, if nothing happens to the door and it still does not close, what should you do?
Just get into your minivan’s driver seat and search for a toggle switch somewhere around your steering wheel. You will find that this switch can move up or down. If you can push it up, it will instantly prevent your door-closing buttons from working. So, now, the solution is to switch it down again. This will resolve the minivan-door-does-not-close issue without having to take your vehicle to a mechanic.
What Other Problems Can Happen With Sliding Doors?
In addition to the door not closing issue, owners of minivans will also face other issues like the doors not opening. Of course, the doors not closing is a problem but when they do not open it can be even more frustrating. But, there are solutions to these problems as well. However, that is an article that I will save for another day.
Conclusion
You don’t need to be super concerned about the minivan doors not closing properly as often the Fox is a pretty simple one. You can find a solution by just following a couple of the steps above.
If nothing works out, of course, you can take your vehicle to a mechanic to get the right solution to this issue but that can get expensive so most people will try to fix it themselves first.
Your mechanic will also be able give you tips to prevent the issue in the future as well.