Bongo Fury

Our sliding door soft-close motor stopped working on a recent trip. I closed the door, and it made the usual “whirring” noise, but it sounded kind of weak, and the door didn't fully shut. The central locking also stopped working on the sliding door.

I checked the fuse, cleaned the contacts on the door and pillar with contact cleaner, and inspected the area behind the contacts for any loose connections.

I pulled the door card and found the motor stuck about 70% of the way through its cycle. I assumed that meant the motor was dead, so I ordered a new one. I got the new motor installed, but it still isn't working.

Any ideas? Thanks

A good clout usually fixes it, low down on the inside with a slap from a flat has been known to do the trick. Watch yer digits as it goes quick when it kicks back to life....

Have a similar problem, although not replaced the motor. Checked all contacts and fuses etc; very occasionally it comes back to life. I have now assumed it's a problem with the electrical loom in the door itself, but never got around the stripping things down to check.

You mention you were on a trip and slow working, maybe your leisure battery is/was flat? This has the same effect leaving the door only partially closed and slow to operate. Otherwise clean the contacts on the leading edge of the door and the frame, but be aware that at least one pin will be live so use a plastic scouring pad to clean the contacts.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Still no luck.

During yet another internet search, I came across this forum post from 2010:

https://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum ... =39801#top

After a bit more investigation, I've found that the microswitch by the locking mechanism at the top rear of the door is definitely what triggers the motor, rather than pillar contacts touching. However, as these are what delivers the power to the door, a dodgy contact will certainly stop the motor running.

When the door is closed such that the catch does the first click, a lever presses on the switch & this activates the motor. The switch has 3 wires: common, normally open & normally closed. It buzzes out fine with a multimeter. I've given it a squirt of switch cleaner, but it appears to be a sealed unit, so not expecting much (if any) to make it inside. The lead from this connects to the control unit in the middle of the door. This has 2 other connectors: a couple of power wires from the pillar spring contacts & the power out to the motor. The other wires from the pillar contact go up to the central locking motor. All connections have been re-seated & are clean & tight so hopefully it will settle down now.

Now I'm wondering if maybe this is my issue, the central locking for the sliding door stopped working at the same time as the motor.

Its always possible, but with out using a meter to check the state of the contacts and any resistance its not possible to give you a positive yes/no, but its a possibility. Are you certain that the Leisure battery is in a good condition and supplying greater than 12v when static, have you tried running the engine so that your powering it from the alternator rather than batteries? Remember if your parked up for a while then both batteries maybe less than expected.

Yes, have tried it with the van running. I fear this is becoming too complicated for my simple brain to comprehend at this point.

I just wish the door would shut all the way without the soft close. We have a long drive coming up this weekend, and it's a real pain to have the gap at the back of the door.

Have you tried a plastic scouring pad on both sets of contacts door frame and door itself?

g8dhe wrote: Fri Jan 16, 2026 5:16 pm Have you tried a plastic scouring pad on both sets of contacts door frame and door itself?

Yes, tried that. Thanks.

I've been further poking around and discovered that I can manually trip the switch to the motor at the rear latch using a long screwdriver. I had the original motor installed, it came back to life and completed its cycle when I did that, but the door still won't latch in the rear.

Not sure what this means, haha. The rear latch is gubbed, maybe?

The rear latch as I recall is driven by a cable from the rotating discs which you will see when you remove the door cover and plastic sheet see here https://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/ ... mgno=.html just what has failed needs to be seen, often the little plastic clamping blocks are the problem as they snap. In the past I have had a similar problem and once the rear clamp is made to operate then it returns to normal operation, sometimes a big slam of the door is sufficient other times it has required poking around inside, keep your fingers away from the rotating disk however as it snaps back on its own use a long screwdriver to poke with!!