A new running board problem...

[Franklin Jones]

Sigh.

So today, on the coldest day of the year, I went ahead and tackled my running board problem again.
To recap:
1. Old driver running board would not retract
2. Tried to replace just the motor, but could not drive the old motor from the hinge and destroyed the hinge by mistake.
3. Bought a replacement hinge/motor assembly and installed it... but it was for a short wheelbase and would not connect to the “bar” that runs to the rear hinge.
4. I tried extending this pin by tapping and screwing an extension into it, but it failed upon assembly - the twisting mostion caused it to unscrew, despite the threadlocker.

So today I drove that pin out completely and replaced it with a section of 3/8 round steel rod (zinc plated). The OD of this rod was ever-so-slightly smaller than the pin I drove out, so I drilled a screw through the hinge into the new pin so it would twist with the hinge, and drilled a screw through the pin and the rod, and had success! It works! Deploys when I open the door, retractS when I shut the door. Two dozen times without fail!

Until I drive to Walmart.

On my way, while driving down the road, I hear the board deploy, and retract 2 seconds later. A few minutes later, this repeats. And so on and so on, every few minutes it deploys and retracts without warning while driving down the road.

Idling in the parking lot, no issues.

Open the door, and it deploys.

I go into Forscan, and there are old codes for the board, so I clear those, thinking it might fix it, but knowing it wouldn’t.
it didn’t.


So it almost sounds like a short somewhere, but as far as I can tell the connections are good and wires look in good shape.
Ive seen reports of odd behavior caused by a faulty door switch, but I don’t have any other symptoms (like lights on, radio off, chimes, etc)

Any thoughts?

 

[G213]

Sigh.

So today, on the coldest day of the year, I went ahead and tackled my running board problem again.
To recap:
1. Old driver running board would not retract
2. Tried to replace just the motor, but could not drive the old motor from the hinge and destroyed the hinge by mistake.
3. Bought a replacement hinge/motor assembly and installed it... but it was for a short wheelbase and would not connect to the “bar” that runs to the rear hinge.
4. I tried extending this pin by tapping and screwing an extension into it, but it failed upon assembly - the twisting mostion caused it to unscrew, despite the threadlocker.

So today I drove that pin out completely and replaced it with a section of 3/8 round steel rod (zinc plated). The OD of this rod was ever-so-slightly smaller than the pin I drove out, so I drilled a screw through the hinge into the new pin so it would twist with the hinge, and drilled a screw through the pin and the rod, and had success! It works! Deploys when I open the door, retractS when I shut the door. Two dozen times without fail!

Until I drive to Walmart.

On my way, while driving down the road, I hear the board deploy, and retract 2 seconds later. A few minutes later, this repeats. And so on and so on, every few minutes it deploys and retracts without warning while driving down the road.

Idling in the parking lot, no issues.

Open the door, and it deploys.

I go into Forscan, and there are old codes for the board, so I clear those, thinking it might fix it, but knowing it wouldn’t.
it didn’t.


So it almost sounds like a short somewhere, but as far as I can tell the connections are good and wires look in good shape.
Ive seen reports of odd behavior caused by a faulty door switch, but I don’t have any other symptoms (like lights on, radio off, chimes, etc)

Any thoughts?

Might seem rudimentary...but have you tried disconnecting the battery and jumping the positive and negative leads to drain the capacitors? That sounds like a software issue to me, since you aren't getting any other door chimes or dome lights, (so every other system thinks the door is closed).

Note that performing this will reset other systems and remove adaptive strategies such as the idle trim and shift points. There's a procedure on youtube for how to properly re-train the idle trim and shift points will be relearned as you drive.

 

[Franklin Jones]

I was able to determine that it does it consistently when accelerating from a stop - usually between 5 and 15mph.

I’ll fiddle with disconnecting the battery again probably this weekend.

 

[bobmbx]

Time to break out that rubber mallet. With the car idling, start tapping firmly on various parts of the board from as many directions as you can manage. The idea here is to determine if you've got a short or a loose connector somewhere on the board. Be particularly biased around the motor. If it deploys while your banging in a certain area, you're close to the cause.

 

[turtle019]

Sounds like it might not be registering that the board retracted properly. I've noticed on mine that if the board is still down for whatever reason when I start driving it will try to retract a couple times

 

[1111ExpyEL1111]

I just wish there was an easier solution to the "running boards not retracting" issue! Like grease fittings or something!

 

[Gruffskipper]

I would check the door ajar switch...it may be shorting saying the door is opened...even though it isn't. You would think that it would register on the display whatever door is ajar but it might happen to fast.

 

[Jay Surprenant]

Just a thought, you could try to rule out the door switch. Next time it deploys, if you can stop the vehicle while it’s deployed, take your seatbelt off. If the car goes into park, then it’s seeing the door open signal. If not, then it’s probably a bad ground or other faulty connector. But don’t take your seatbelt off while you’re rolling or you might be fixing other stuff too .

good luck.

 

[star-art]

The power running boards are designed to remain deployed above 5 mph even if set to OUT mode. Whether there's a problem with the door ajar switch or not, they should not deploy while driving above 5 mph. If yours are deploying above this speed it sounds like a problem with the Power Running Board Module rather than a mechanical issue. Do you have a factory service manual? Refer to Section 501-08.

 

[07navi]

You can buy those 2 huge red factory service manuals on Ebay which are invaluable and should have all you need to know about that. They cover Navigator and Expy and are year by year. I paid $40 for my 2007 model.