Cabin door does not slide well

Peg_O_My_Heart

This is a great place for answers.  The cabin door on my 2002 310 FV does not slide well.  There was some grease in there, but little fingers kept getting in there and leaving themselves all over.  What is a good way to lubricate the sliding door?

Willhound

Silicone spray. The carrying agent evaporates quickly leaving a dry lubricating film that doesn't attract dirt and is safe with pretty much any material. Also great for house and car door hinges, garage door rollers etc. I even use it on my canvas zippers. Oh, and on car door seals, if you live where there's winter it keeps them from freezing.

Michael T

There was a lengthy thread on this a few years ago. On my 2013 EC 310 the "trucks" (roller mechanisms) at the bottom of the door did not move freely in the track. I did some shaving and realignment, others added shims (I believe) and all of us achieved success. Lubrication will help but getting down with a good flashlight while someone moves the door back and forth will highlight any improper tracking, height issues, track issues and/or binding. Good luck.

Aqua_Aura

Mine will either have trouble closing or opening in the last few inches. It's like it is caching on something. Anyone ever have that issue or know the problem? 

Willhound

Aqua_Aura said:

Mine will either have trouble closing or opening in the last few inches. It's like it is caching on something. Anyone ever have that issue or know the problem? 

Mine sometimes does that but I think it's the trucks catching. If you run the door back and forth it often frees up. That's when I know they nwed cleaning and more silicone spray.  @Michael T 's post has merit too. Never tried that.

Aqua_Aura

Hmm ok I'll have to look into it further when I'm on the boat. Never looked at it very closely but then I saw this thread so I started to think about it more. 

Dream_Inn

They key is to clean, clean, and more clean.  Get all of the dirt out first.  Use paper towels, tooth brush, whatever is needed to get the dirt out of first (top and bottom tracks).  Then, use a silicon spray. 

rasbury

Here is my two cents as I have had this issue to. First, the "truck" that moves back and forth on the track is a pretty good design as it does not actually ride in the track- and while you should keep it clean unless you have a huge build up of crap that sticks out of it, not likely your problem- if you have a bunch at the end of the run when you close it, could interfere. That "truck" rides on a couple of balls and they ride on just the very top area of the track so your good there. Can't hurt to lubricate for sure- they are a very hard plastic so would think they would last just about forever. The thing I notices on mine and may be more of a problem for a smaller boat like my 270- think about the trac for a moment- you have the guides on the top and then the track / truck on the bottom. So if the top and the bottom are perfectly parallel to each other, life is good and it should go back and forth. When I first got ours, in looking it over I noticed the end of the track under the helm was loose and seem to flop around a bit. Well, the deck on the boat does not appear to be flat and has a curve to it albeit slight.  When I got in there ( with much effort) to tighten it down, it got much worse so I did back it off and put some washers under the ends of it to support it and it seemed to work better!

Pat310

I have same model and door was not sliding very well despite PO loading the track with heavy black grease. Uggg. Read somewhere on this forum that the track screws can come out causing stiff door operation. Sure enough when I checked the screws in the end of the lower track are gone. If I figure out how to get at them to fix them I will share them here lol

Black_Diamond

Grease will make it worse!  Attracts too much dust and dirt. Silicone spray at best as noted  

rasbury

@Pat310
If you read my post above yours, it might make it worse....you may need to add some shims and raise that end of the track a little...