door problems
 

Hello. I need help. I own a 2004 Ford Freestar. It has less than 13, 000 miles, and has caused me so many problems that I have lost faith in both Ford and the service department at our dealership. Here's the deal. We have the option of the automatic sliding doors on both van doors - two little kids, and this becomes a necessity! In March, the driver's side door starting having problems closing correctly. I actually thought my 5 year old was somehow causing the door to re-open once it was closed. Not the case. The door continues having troubles. It would attempt to close and engage the gears to lock the door into place, but would then pop back open. Took it to service, they adjusted the hinges and sent us on our merry way. Great! Until the door started having the same problem again at a more frequent rate. Back to service we go (now into June). Service seemed surprised that it was still happening - they themselves had not yet witmessed the problem. Hinges tweaked again. Now into July. We tried tracking when the door opened to see if it had something to do with the humidity, the temperature, the cycles of the moon, whatever. NO rhyme or reason, but the door still popped back open, inevitably when I had two hands full of groceries, the kids were whining and it was a rush to dinner time. BACK to service we go. THe can stays for 3 days, with service suppossedly checking the door repeatedly. Hinges get a lube. Go to pick up the van, and the door is sitting open in the lot, unnoticed by service. Did not pick up the van, service kept it for (cannot remember) I think 2 more days. Swear it is fixed. Right.... Now into August, going on vacation, 2 small kids, and a door that is now opening quite frequently. Back to service we go. Make sure manager is aware of the problem. They give us a rental care (tiny), and keep the van. Witnessed at service observe the problem. Keep the van for a week, then say it is fine. Hubby goes to check it out. Takes service guy to the can, hits the door open button on the keychain. The door slides open. He hits the button again to close the door, and loe and behold, the door does not close, but open right back up! Service keeps the van, and now wants to consult with the Ford engineers on how to solve the problem. Two more weeks go by. Now service says it replaced the face plate and sensor parts, door is fine. I go to take the rental back, pick up the van. yeah! Next day, you guessed it. Door not closing properly, now worse than ever. BACK to service, and again with the rental car. Now get this. Service says there is now nothing wrong with the van. That aparently this is within "normal opperating procedures" for the van. They will no longer attempt to fix a problem they do not acknowledge. Called the 1-800 number for Ford, talked to a rep, who then conferenced with the dealer. Said the same thing. NOW we have the van back, with a door that is still not staying closed. NO WHERE in the manual does it state that this is normal for the door. NOT ONCE during our purchase of the vehicle was it stated that this might be a concern. NOT ONCE during the months of dealing with the service department or manager of the dealership were we told that this was NOT a problem, but a normal occurence for the door. The service department had NOT idea that it was suppossedly normal.

HAS THIS OCCURRED BEFORE? HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM? Am I alone in my complete frustration? Does anybody else see this as a safety concern? HELP!!!!!

RE: door problems
 

I have a 2004 Freestar (SE version with automatic sliding doors) too and I've seen this problem randomly. It hasn't become as critical as you describe.

I guess I can't tell you much to help you but the first time I saw the problem I remember we tried to open one door while the van was not in "parking", then I went to the users manual and it mentioned that that may be an issue. I have seen it several times and I reported to the dealers when we took it to service. I know they didn't do much to fix it because they just mentioned that it was very dirty on the sliding rail.

After that I've been careful of not trying to open it if the van is not completely parked. However, I've seen it a few times anyway. My guess is that the door "thinks" there is an object blocking its way. This is an issue that worries me because it may become critical as you experience.

Hope you find someone that can really help.

RE: door problems
 

I had noticed my doors were getting flaky. My kids were pulling on the handles to physically open the door vs activating the system. I have gotten them to us the handle to activativeonly do not pull and this seems to have cleared up the sensativity issues.

RE: door problems
 

Due to the shear fact of safety, I beleive I would be consulting a lawyer. This sounds like a problem that should have been taken care of under lemon law. If not trade in vehicle to Ford since door is appearantly not a problem they should want it in their used car inventory.