Sliding door roller replacement
- Thread starter davidkehoe
- Start date
Hi. I stand by the 'dead easy' note. It really was. The door is fully open when you prop it (not partially) and they are spline bits. Can't remember the size as when trying to find out on the internet there was conflicting opinions on what size. I bought a cheap small set. think it was M12?
If I recall there was one tricky bit - the bits can be REALLY tight so you have to be carefull that the bit is fully seated in the bolt head (clean it out with apin if necessary and WD40 the bolts) before 'cracking' it. Also, I think I had access issue to one of the bolts (one nearest the door I think) - the head of my rachet fouled the door before it could fully seat in the head so I had to put vice grips on the bit. I t was fine though.
Yours looks like it has the cable for electric door (mine does not) and the part I got has the piece you connect that to, which I just left there.
youtube vid on roller replacement
that is the video I followed. There's a few out there and this was the best one for me.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
I have this set which is hex (allen), torx and spline bits. They sell a much cheaper spline only set. In an emergency, an allen key will fit a spline bolt (6 points Vs 12 points)
www.machinemart.co.uk
Clarke CHT144 40 piece Torx® Spline & Bit Holder Set - Machine Mart - Machine Mart
www.machinemart.co.uk
Hi, thanks very much for your detailed advice. I will buy a set of bits, I'll spend the extra money on high-quality bits as in my (admittedly limited) experience high quality bits fit the bolt heads better and have less chance of damaging them. While I'm waiting for the bits to arrive I'll clean the head and soak the bolt in WD40.
Anyone have experience of doing this for the "electric door"? Added later: Oh, I see that there are sliding doors that are fully motorised, mine just gets the final motorised pull in when it is nearly closed. I don't know the proper term to describe this.
[An aside: I'm very happy with the various motor assisted features until they go wrong, in my opinion all doors and windows should be operable manually if the motor isn't operating for whatever reason. My tailgate external release failed a few months ago and the tailgate couldn't be opened from the outside, a safety hazard in my opinion - and expensive to get fixed. I'd love electrically operated sliding windows for my passengers (dogs) so I could open and close them on a hot day, but only if there they could also be manually operated. I'm old enough to remember the early days of electric windows on cars which still had manual operation - then reliability became very good so that was dropped, but nothing is 100%, and a flat battery might leave you with windows stuck open.]
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice, I'll look at those.I have this set which is hex (allen), torx and spline bits. They sell a much cheaper spline only set. In an emergency, an allen key will fit a spline bolt (6 points Vs 12 points)
Clarke CHT144 40 piece Torx® Spline & Bit Holder Set - Machine Mart - Machine Mart
Actually the two spline bolts are M8.
First step successful, I was able to loosen both bolts holding highlighted in my picture above. I also found that for the second bold my ratchet head fouled the inside panel of the door, but with an extension on the ratchet (parallel to the axis of the bolt) it was just OK with the ratchet head pressed into the door panel a bit.
Also loosened the two bolts in the piece of metal that has to be removed before removing the roller/hinge assembly (also M8 spline bolts).
(My current van is newer/less rusty than those on the YouTube videos, so loosening the bolts wasn't difficult - though my previous T4 was very old and very rusty here).
Second step, installing the new roller/hinge assembly is awaiting its delivery from Germany - I finally ordered a (hopefully) superior part from Autodoc, (based in Berlin despite it's misleading UK domain), made by Topran, £19.12 + delivery £8.45 = £27.57 incl. 20% VAT.
(Initially I had ordered a cheap part from Ebay, but after I had paid for it the seller told me it was out of stock, order cancelled and refund given.)
HELP! New part from Autodoc finally arrived, looks good. Removed two bolts holding roller assembly to the bracket attached to the door, and also removed two horizontal bolts which hold the horizontal piece that should slide out to allow rollers to be removed from / inserted into the track. However, unlike in the all of the Youtube videos that I have watched, the latter piece is still solidly in place after removing the two horizontal bolts, so I can't insert the new roller assembly (the old part came out, as the roller had fallen off its axis). Does anyone know what else I need to do in order to remove this, or have a diagram of the whole assembly?
I can see now that the short cable that runs diagonally in my photo above is not electrically operated - it releases a latch which stops the door sliding closed from a fully open position, operated mechanically by pulling on the sliding door handle. (My vehicle does have the electrically operated soft close mechanism, but this is nowhere near what I am working on.) So the assembly is a bit more complicated, a small spring pulls the latch inwards and the cable pulls it open. The cable is in a guide that sits above the roller assembly, and is held by the same two bolts that hold the roller assembly to the bracket attached to door
Thanks,
Roger
I can see now that the short cable that runs diagonally in my photo above is not electrically operated - it releases a latch which stops the door sliding closed from a fully open position, operated mechanically by pulling on the sliding door handle. (My vehicle does have the electrically operated soft close mechanism, but this is nowhere near what I am working on.) So the assembly is a bit more complicated, a small spring pulls the latch inwards and the cable pulls it open. The cable is in a guide that sits above the roller assembly, and is held by the same two bolts that hold the roller assembly to the bracket attached to door
Thanks,
Roger
Ah, it just needed one more small bolt removing, which holds the small pillar which the latch hook latches. I didn't realise that pillar holder is also bolted to the horizontal part which I couldn't remove. Now removed, roller slid in and horizontal part replaced. Just trying to get the small spring back in place, very fiddly.
I need to replace my lower door roller as its very broken 
current part number is 7E0-843-397 however i cant find a direct replacement.......Just campers have the part listed 7H0-843-397/AA but i cant work out if its a compatible part. Anyone able to enlighten me? also what size torx head do i need to remove?
www.justkampers.com
current part number is 7E0-843-397 however i cant find a direct replacement.......Just campers have the part listed 7H0-843-397/AA but i cant work out if its a compatible part. Anyone able to enlighten me? also what size torx head do i need to remove?Search results for: '7e0843397k' | Just Kampers
www.justkampers.com
Autodoc shows t5 and t6 part are interchangeable:
I've just ordered this for VW TRANSPORTER T5 sliding door roller guide hinge bottom left 7H0843397 AA | eBay as mine isnt as smooth as the other side. Ill advise how it goes.
Yeah i just ordered the one from just kampers as the roller has sheared off mine....looks like its been gone a while back in its day as a hire van as the guide is a right mess, may have to clean it up and coat it with something........
good price, assume not oem, as that is more, good spot
The sliding door is not quite as smooth as I’d imagined it should be. I’ve noticed that the lower hinge wheel is only intermittently spinning when I slide the door. And it’s rubbed the paint off.
The hinge itself is pretty rusty.
I’d like some advice if anyone else would just replace the lot or should I try adjusting the door as maybe it’s dropped and not lined up properly?
Replace it. And spray the wheels liberally with a dry ptfe airosol spray
