97 caravan sliding door stuck

[a.karrick]

My van has the sliding door on both sides. The drivers side sliding door is stuck. It has been that way since i got it. I was just wondering if anyone else had problems with the sliding doors being stuck, and how i can fix it without making it worse.

[a.karrick]

lol. I dont know why i didnt do a search on that first. Didnt realize how big of a problem it was with these piece of junk vans. Wow. I could still use some advice on how i could fix it myself, if i can.Is it just a latch on the inside of the door that is stuck? Thanks in advance for the advice.

[rwhit59]

Originally Posted by a.karrick

My van has the sliding door on both sides. The drivers side sliding door is stuck. It has been that way since i got it. I was just wondering if anyone else had problems with the sliding doors being stuck, and how i can fix it without making it worse.

I have the same problem. Did you have any luck opening the door.

[rometireman]

Had same problem. The solution to getting the door open is the gas tank latch. Its activated when the door is shut and fuel door open. The only problem is the latch wears out requiring some injenous method to unlatch so the door will open. you can access the latch mechanism by removing the back quarter panel. if You can't get it to unlatch just break off the control(held in place by two small welds) then jimmy open latch with screwdriver. After you have the door open remove the rest of the latch. This will leave both the door and fuel door operational at the same time so be carefull. If not get new latch from dealer and reattach to fuel door. Have had no success with spray lube onto latch but have heard that it sometimes works. good luck.

[rwhit59]

Originally Posted by rometireman

Had same problem. The solution to getting the door open is the gas tank latch. Its activated when the door is shut and fuel door open. The only problem is the latch wears out requiring some injenous method to unlatch so the door will open. you can access the latch mechanism by removing the back quarter panel. if You can't get it to unlatch just break off the control(held in place by two small welds) then jimmy open latch with screwdriver. After you have the door open remove the rest of the latch. This will leave both the door and fuel door operational at the same time so be carefull. If not get new latch from dealer and reattach to fuel door. Have had no success with spray lube onto latch but have heard that it sometimes works. good luck.

Thank you rometireman, I will try that this weekend end. That make sense. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.