2000 Venture - Power Door Won't Unlock

[ggcatt]

2000 Venture with Power Sliding Passenger Door, 72K miles. Anyone had the problem where the sliding door won't unlock? The lock tab on the door won't budge upward, even though pressing the power unlock switch tries to move it upward. Forcing it doesn't work either. Wife isn't happy about this, and I can't find a way to take the door apart when it is locked closed. Any help here is appreciated. Thanks.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by ggcatt

2000 Venture with Power Sliding Passenger Door, 72K miles. Anyone had the problem where the sliding door won't unlock? The lock tab on the door won't budge upward, even though pressing the power unlock switch tries to move it upward. Forcing it doesn't work either. Wife isn't happy about this, and I can't find a way to take the door apart when it is locked closed. Any help here is appreciated. Thanks.

I too, have had this problem for the past couple of years. It doesn't happen all the time though. I thought it was not unlocking from my kids fooling around with it, and playing with the tab on the sliding door which unlocks it, or my son who constantly kicked at it while in his car seat. It is annoying and my wife hates it too. I have found that playing with the lock / unlock button on the main switch on the driver's door tends to unlock the door. But that is hard when you are alone and trying to open the sliding door, (in my case a 3 door, so I have to go around to the other side of the van to play with the button.) I have not had time to look further into it, but I'm sure there is a better fix for it. My sliding door at the present time is unoperable,meaning we have to manually open and close it. Been that way for about 3 years, just got tired of the constant problems with it opening right after it closed when you hit the button to close it, and sometimes not even responding when you hit the switch.

[ggcatt]

97V, thanks for the quick reply. I'll try working with the driver's door unlock button tonight to see if that helps. I've also read that cleaning the contacts between the door and the doorpost may help (but first I need to get the door to open). Anyway my wife loves the van and I need to keep things that way. Otherwise the door was working fine.....

[ggcatt]

97V, I tried the door unlock button numerous times but it wouldn't budge the power door look open. I also tried to reset the door per the manual, but no help. Unless someone else has an idea, I'm likely to start removing (and maybe damaging) some door panels to get to the locking mechanism. Or,maybe I'll just have people climb in through the window....

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by ggcatt

97V, I tried the door unlock button numerous times but it wouldn't budge the power door look open. I also tried to reset the door per the manual, but no help. Unless someone else has an idea, I'm likely to start removing (and maybe damaging) some door panels to get to the locking mechanism. Or,maybe I'll just have people climb in through the window....

I wonder if some part of the linkage could have become disconnected, not allowing the tab to go up to unlock the door. Have you checked the contacts for the sliding door to see if they need to be cleaned ? I had a GM mechanic tell me that when the contacts get dirty to clean them with a pencil eraser. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with the problem.Good luck if you have to disassemle the door panel to see what the problem is and I hope that if you have to go that route, you will be able to find and fix the issue.

[ggcatt]

Just a quick update for you, I found some info on the web that speaks of an interference with the internal mechanism in the door and the metal door itself, which causes the linkage to bind. I pulled the plastic interior door panels away from the handle, and was able to then get the door unlock to function. By wiggling the interior door handle, the mechanism frees itself and I can open the door. I will leave it at that for now, but it's a pain. If we avoid using the outside door handle, and just rely on the key fob to open the power door, it seems to be OK.