[Bksmith]

I've been dealing with the "power sliding doors are unavailable" for a few weeks now. Often I can open one of the doors, but then cannot close it with the outside button, A pillar button, or overhead button as I get the unavailable message. I did notice that when I start the car, it is not as strong a start as it had been in the past and leads me to believe that there is some sort of battery/power issue causing this.

To add to this, my dash glitched out, went dark then back up, and then the car promptly died while I was driving. Fortunately I was in a residential area and could take the time to pull over. I got the "Service ESS" message just before it died. I was able to restart it and get it home, but when I tried to start it in the morning, I got no response from the vehicle on the first attempt. The second time it did start and I was presented with "Service Shifter" followed by "Service Emergency Brake". I let the car sit a few hours and decided to take it to the dealer. Of course it was operating correctly when I dropped it off.

It has been at the dealer for 7 days now and they think they have pinpointed the issue to the battery not having the proper voltage. They are replacing that and then mentioned that they will be doing software updates to see if that will correct any other issue. I am out of warranty by 3,000 miles so I am being charged a $160 diagnostic fee that will be applied to service credit, the battery at $170, the software updates and labor...for a rough estimate of $600 for this fix. I'll know the particulars tomorrow when they call to give me an update on the vehicle.

I would love to know how this turned out, I believe my is battery also as the power slide door and rear lift gate do not work.
If I open the slide door remotely then it wont remotely close it and also my car wont start.
If I just get in the car it will start and slide gate works from. Button inside, so i think it's a battery issue, i have 33k miles on in.

 

[Bksmith]

I believe my is battery issue as the power slide door and rear lift gate do not work remotely.

If I can first open the slide door remotely then it wont remotely close it and also my car wont start.

If Idont open the slide door and just get in the car it will start and slide gate works from Button inside, so i think it's a battery issue, i have 33k miles on in.

 

[Bksmith]

also if I get in my car and am able to start it, I can open doors with my key fob.
I am going out of town this weekend so will buy a new battery just incase, sure hope I dont get stuck somewhere and ruin our trip.

 

[SciTchr]

I believe my is battery issue as the power slide door and rear lift gate do not work remotely.

If I can first open the slide door remotely then it wont remotely close it and also my car wont start.

If Idont open the slide door and just get in the car it will start and slide gate works from Button inside, so i think it's a battery issue, i have 33k miles on in.

In your case the battery is a good place to start. It should be covered under the 36 mo/36,000 mile warranty.
If you put your van info in the signature line it will show up at the bottom of each post.

 

[Patty G]

I have the 2018 Pacifica Hybrid and have been having this problem (sliding door power unavailable) intermittently forever. I've taken it in to the dealership at least 3 times specifically for this problem (and reported it at every other visit) and they never find anything. They say they reprogram and reset. It's ok for a while and then happens again.

I think it maybe linked to temperature. This last summer, I don't think it happened once, but now that its cooling again, it's happening in the mornings during school drop off. (Which is not a good thing when you have a lineup of impatient parents behind you.) It doesn't happen in the afternoon at pickup. I've checked around the doors. No items blocking the tracks.

Typical scenario, early morning, kid hits button on outside of passenger slide door. It works fine. Hit button inside door to close. Works fine. Drive to school. Kid hits button inside. Door failure message. Kid hauls on the handle to open manually. Sometimes the button will close it, sometimes not. I pull away and find a place to park. I hit the button. Now it works fine. Sigh.

Last week, I had it into the dealership specifically for this issue. They had it for two days and found nothing. Reset and reprogrammed.... it will be good they said.... happened again this morning.

This is obviously a flaw in the design somewhere. This thread is almost 2 years old. When are they going to figure this out??

 

[SciTchr]

I have the 2018 Pacifica Hybrid and have been having this problem (sliding door power unavailable) intermittently forever. I've taken it in to the dealership at least 3 times specifically for this problem (and reported it at every other visit) and they never find anything. They say they reprogram and reset. It's ok for a while and then happens again.

I think it maybe linked to temperature. This last summer, I don't think it happened once, but now that its cooling again, it's happening in the mornings during school drop off. (Which is not a good thing when you have a lineup of impatient parents behind you.) It doesn't happen in the afternoon at pickup. I've checked around the doors. No items blocking the tracks.

Typical scenario, early morning, kid hits button on outside of passenger slide door. It works fine. Hit button inside door to close. Works fine. Drive to school. Kid hits button inside. Door failure message. Kid hauls on the handle to open manually. Sometimes the button will close it, sometimes not. I pull away and find a place to park. I hit the button. Now it works fine. Sigh.

Last week, I had it into the dealership specifically for this issue. They had it for two days and found nothing. Reset and reprogrammed.... it will be good they said.... happened again this morning.

This is obviously a flaw in the design somewhere. This thread is almost 2 years old. When are they going to figure this out??

If the inside door button is pressed before the van is in park, you may get the power door unavailable message. So even though that may not be the solution to your problem, it might be worth checking.

 

[Minion0904]

mjr0483,

I had this exact problem today and figured it out. The online manual states if there is something obstructing it, it shuts off. To reset it, here's what I did. There is a small black box under the track where wires run into both sides. On top you will find a red switch. Switch it in the other direction, leave for a few seconds, then switch it back. Then pull the door all the way back until it clicks and locks. Make sure it doesn't slide forward at all. Then pull the handle out and slide the door to the closed position. When closing, you should feel some resistance. When fully closed, try the button then. Hopefully this will fix it. If not, could be another deeper issue. Hope this helps!

The switch tip worked for me. Thanks!

 

[Patty G]

If the inside door button is pressed before the van is in park, you may get the power door unavailable message. So even though that may not be the solution to your problem, it might be worth checking.

Nope. They wait for me to be in park and unlock the doors.

 

[Patty G]

The switch tip worked for me. Thanks!

There are no obstructions. If you read back in this thread, this doesn't do anything. It's just a relay connection.
Once the kids pull the door manually, it 'resets' and doesn't happen again for a few days. It's an intermittent fault. It never stays in failure mode.

 

[mrmagicmph]

I just had this occur and I think I know what might have caused it for me. My 2018 PacHy Limited has, as all of this model & trim level do, the key dongle. When I got the message, I'm 95% certain that the dongle had gotten "trapped" between the seatbelt & my leg in such a way that it probably activated the button to open the sliding door. I'm not saying at all that this is definitely what happened to anyone else, nor can I say 100% it is what the cause was with mine, but, it does line up perfectly.

Good luck, whatever the cause(s) are or may be!

 

[Texas vanman]

mjr0483,

I had this exact problem today and figured it out. The online manual states if there is something obstructing it, it shuts off. To reset it, here's what I did. There is a small black box under the track where wires run into both sides. On top you will find a red switch. Switch it in the other direction, leave for a few seconds, then switch it back. Then pull the door all the way back until it clicks and locks. Make sure it doesn't slide forward at all. Then pull the handle out and slide the door to the closed position. When closing, you should feel some resistance. When fully closed, try the button then. Hopefully this will fix it. If not, could be another deeper issue. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the suggestion, it worked for me! I had to repeat the process three times but it got working on its own after the third reset. Saved me a trip to the dealership!