# Soft Close Doors- Driver Door not closing



## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

Hello All-

I have a 2005 Phaeton V8. 69k miles...not one issue until today when she was about to recieve her saturday bath-

I got into the car to back out into the drive- and noticed that the door didn't close all the way- I had to pull the door to get it closed. I went around assesing to see if the other doors would close- and they all do just fine. The power trunk works properly- Just this drivers door- So after she got her bath- shes been garaged and I dont want to drive her risking somethings wrong. 

Any Ideas? Is there a fuse to pull to reset the pump? Do I dare disconnect the battery (I've never had to do that on this car yet)

Please let me know -I'm open to all ideas- Just wanting to avoid a trip to the dealer-


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

Attached is a wiring diagram that describes the soft close door function.

It appears to me that there are no fuses that are specific to the driver door. In other words, there are fuses involved, but they power the whole system, not each individual door.

So - my guess is that there is a problem with the closing mechanism for the driver door. The next step in the troubleshooting process is to have a diagnostic scan carried out. If there is a fault present, it will be reported on the diagnostic scan. For example, an open circuit, or a defective mechanism.

Michael


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## steveskinr (Oct 31, 2007)

One door on one of my 2005 Phaeton's had a soft close door that failed intermittently. When it got bad enough it was fixed under warranty. Somewhere on this site I posted the price of the warranty work.


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

is there a fuse tho that controls all the motors? Vaacuums? Like on BMWs and Mercs?


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

I do not believe that the system is vacuum operated, I believe it is 100% electrical. But, I am not absolutely certain of this, because my car is not equipped with this option.

Michael


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

Fuse 7- in the manual says "vacuum" Do I dare pull it for a few seconds?


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## steveskinr (Oct 31, 2007)

It has nothing to do with vacuum. The mechanic talked about three components and none of them was vacuum related. He changed all three which I thought prudent as long as he had the door apart. Again the prices are listed in another thread which I will try and find when I have more time.


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

off to star motors I go- 

thanks for all the input!


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

ngsherf said:


> Fuse 7- in the manual says "vacuum"...


I'm kind of lost and confused here.

The wiring diagram for soft close doors (posted above) only shows the following fuses:

*SB2 -* (powers the J386 - Door control module, driver side; J657 - Door Closing Control Module; J388 - Door control module, rear, left)
*SB3 -* (powers the J387 - Door control module, passenger side; J657 - Door Closing Control Module; J389 - Door control module, rear, right)
*SC23 - *(powers the W3 - Luggage compartment light; and Illumination for E406 - Rear Lid Lock Button [in luggage compartment])
*SC43 - *(powers the J605- Rear Lid Control Module)

'SB' series fuses are located in the fuse panel underneath the steering wheel. 'SC' series fuses are located in the fuse panel above the left battery, in the trunk.

So, if the object of the exercise is function-test fuses, and the problem that the car presents with is that the driver door soft close function does not work, the following logic path should apply -

SB2 is OK because the left rear door soft close function works,
SB3 is OK because the passenger side doors work,
SC23 can be proofed by seeing if the trunk cavity lights work, and;
SC43 can be proofed by seeing if the trunk lid operates (unlocks) remotely.

If these 4 fuses check out, then - in the absence of a diagnostic scan, which I still think is the most efficient way of checking things out - the logical presumption is that the door closing module on the driver door is U/S.

I kind of doubt if the two SC fuses supply 'essential' power to the soft close door system, I suspect that they are only shown on the wiring diagram because they round out the description of a tangentially related system (the trunk controller, J605, is a slave of controller 46, the central comfort controller).

*ngsherf*, we usually operate on a first-name basis here in the forum (because doing so keeps things friendly and sociable), please introduce yourself...

Michael


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

well thanks for the imput- ironically the door worked fine this morning... just when I headed over to my mechanics- 

Im actually getting ready to sell the Phaeton- So i want to make sure everything is in top notch order for the next order-

And aswell- My names nick. I'm here in Kansas City- I think theres a total of 3 phaeton owners here. 

However- Im not selling due to fear of my crossing over 70k miles- I just don't need such a large sedan- Im making room for a nice little porsche in the garage- 

I will price out the estimated modual tho- just in case!


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

would this also be why if the car has been sitting over night- the battery has been drained the next morning? The motor is continuously running?


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## Paximus (Aug 26, 2011)

If the Comfort battery is going flat I'm surprised that your only problem is a door closer... expect 'convenience' mayhem.

Chris


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

what is the comfort battery?

the battery thats on the left side of the car checks out ok (the big one under all the fuses)


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

The term 'comfort battery' (as opposed to 'starter battery') is sometimes used to refer to the left side battery. The right side battery is dedicated exclusively to starting the car.

Michael


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## steveskinr (Oct 31, 2007)

Nick

Here is the information that I posted in another thread on this subject.

1 of 8 soft close doors was bad. (It was intermittent and got gradually worse.)

Drive Unit $205
Latch $205
Cable $62
Labor $185
Total $657

Covered by VW Fidelity warranty sold by Chris Farnham


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## ngsherf (Oct 23, 2011)

thank you for your input, much appreciated.


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## sabchev (Nov 19, 2017)

hi,
how can i open the attachment?


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## Paximus (Aug 26, 2011)

> hi,
> how can i open the attachment?
> 
> sabchev


Hi,

Do you mean the wiring diagram PDF in post #2?

Clicking on the thumbnail using a desktop browser will open a pop-up asking if you want to download and open the document in your PDF viewer. Tablets and smartphones may not activate the download, but that depends on their browser or interface.

Anyway, here is an alternative link:
32 Power closing assist.pdf

Chris


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## igorenya (Sep 12, 2021)

I have a similar problem. It started from driver's door. Soft closer stopped working. I can hear the sound but door are not willing to close by soft drive. Then trunk lid stopped operating from any of buttons (logo, driver's door, remote control). I can open it only by the key, mechanically. After all got a warning that I should check the stop light. I have checked. The stop light on the lid is not working. It flashes when I'm opening the lid (bad contact I assume).


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