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Sliding door stuck closed

5K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  95AstroLT 
#1 ·
Sliding door is stuck closed on my 96 Safari. I opened the interior panel and the handles and rods are all connected. I'm guessing the dirty grease is holding the latch closed.

Attached is the photo of the latch. So this is looking inside the sliding door, towards the rear.

Red rod is the door lock.
BLUE rod is actuated by the EXTERIOR door handle.
GREEN rod is actuated by the INTERIOR door hanidle.
The blue/green part moves up and down when the door handles are pulled.

Can someone can tell me what to push and pull in order to get the door unstuck? Thanks!
 

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#2 ·
start shooting PB blaster at that latch. early and often. there is a rotating latch part that always gets in the wrong position and stuck. mine almost always has an issue where is shuts with the door open and its hard to get open to close the door. i think you have the same issue except your door is closed and wont open. same part, same position, but your door is closed.

i hope that makes sense
 
#3 ·
Also verify that there is nothing stuck in the door keeping it from completely latching. I've seen where something real small gets stuck in the door and it appears to be closed but the latch doesn't quite make it to fully "closed" so you could be stuck mid way. Latched enough to keep the door from rattling, but not latched far enough to flip the little cam that allows you to release the latch. (could also be an alignment issue) where the block/pin that the door latches on to is ever so slightly bent from being slammed too many times when the latch is not open, and now the latch can't make the complete "latch" process.
 
#4 ·
What I found on my older 96 astro, was sometimes I got to this almost latched status and the fix was to lean into the door right where it meets the latch. I've had to actually slam my shoulder or hip into that spot to get it to flip that latch. Then the regular pull would pop it out. I finally had to have someone cut out and re-weld the pin in the correct place to get the alignment correct.
 
#5 ·
Coaster said:
start shooting PB blaster at that latch. early and often. there is a rotating latch part that always gets in the wrong position and stuck.
Yes that has happened to me recently but this is the first time while the door was closed. In my photo where is the money spot to spray the PB? Would obviously prefer to pinpoint it than shotgun it everywhere.
 
#6 ·
Help please. Recap... sliding door stuck closed, rods in tact, tried PB Blaster to loosen potentially gunked up latch, no progress.

How do I manipulate the sliding door latch (from inside the door) to get it open? In my original photo there is a torx head in the center of the assembly and I'm wondering if turning that opens and closes the latch.
 
#7 ·
I don't think that Torx will do anything - usually it's just a rod pulling on the latch(es). I would take a look at all the rods you can see and make sure they're attached, and make sure the lock/unlock switch is attached, and try to work the interior door handle. If you can see that it pulls everything it's supposed to pull when you work it, then try to move the cam that moves on the latch by hand. My driver's door handle stopped working last week and it would pull the cam down, but not far enough to release the latch. It may be an issue like that. Then I would try giving the door a kick while holding the handle back just in case the latch is frozen.
 
#8 ·
TBLBill said:
If you can see that it pulls everything it's supposed to pull when you work it, then try to move the cam that moves on the latch by hand.
Ah this is what I'm trying to do but couldn't find the words. How do I move the cam, when the door is shut? I'm guessing it's gunked up and jammed in the closed position
 
#10 ·
Got it open. Since I was about 80% sure it was a gunked up cam, I just had my teenage son pull on the handle and then I kicked the door open from the inside! No problem.

Well, except it looks like the metal that the latch is attached to is cracked. Must've been some combination of gunk plus cracks that held my sliding door hostage. I will probably remove the latch assembly and inspect the cracks closer to see if it is repairable.
 
#12 ·
Getting a little off topic but now that I have the sliding door open, here are photos of the latch from the outside, as well as the cracks on the metal door.

I don't think the cracks were causing the door to get stuck closed so I will probably address those cracks later
 

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#13 ·
Welded up the crack. All good. Cleaned and lubed up the latch assembly. Reinstalled. Sliding door isn't stuck closed anymore but it still has a couple issues, which has been around for awhile but since I have the door panel off I figured I should try to address these.

1. When opening the sliding door with the exterior handle, I need to stick one of my left fingers into the track and pull the door out. What do I need to adjust?

2. When closing the sliding door with the exterior handle, the locking cam on the bottom track stays locked so I have to use the interior handle to close the door. Again, what do I need to adjust?

FYI all rods and components appear to be in place. Just seems like something needs adjustment.
 
#15 ·
With a crack like that, unless you corrected any alignment issues before welding, you will continue to have interesting issues.

On my 96, when I had to re-weld the pin, we had to cut out the plate where the pin was to be installed, and patch it, then using a known good astro as a template, we positioned the pin before re-installation.

My issues before this (long gone astro now) were door not latching, having to slam the door or press in the door while closing in order to get the door to latch. Very often it would get into that "mid latched" position I described in earlier post" where the door would not open or fully latch and I had to push the door in real hard to get the latch to flip before it would allow me to open the door. Also because it was not latching properly/completely sometime when driving, it would pop open, not so much that the door would slide but just enough to let noise and air through. and because I had power locks very often the power lock contacts would not be made cleanly so I would have to use the key to lock and unlock the door. Once we repaired the alignment on that pin to latch. All those problems went away.

BTW I believe there are some "bumpers" on the corners of that door that will apply some outward pressure on the latch so that when it gets "unlatched" it should push the door open.. If those are worn down, missing, or not adjusted (some have a way to be adjusted) then they may not be creating enough pressure to pop the door latch creating your issue of having to insert your finger and put some pressure on the latch to get it to release.
 
#16 ·
I had issues with my slider ('91 Astro), the door wasn't latching properly, and one day the door slid open while turning left. Thankfully my kids were buckled in and no one was sitting in the seat by the sliding door. Mine was cracked there too, and I tried welding but I'm no welder. Fixed it by replacing the whole door from the junkyard. I now make sure to lube all the rollers and latches, so the door glides smoothly.

-Andrew
 
#17 ·
Have you tried opening the Latch from Outside AND Inside while pushing OUT on the door quite briskly and "Goddamned ( sorry, Golldarned ) Hard".

Until I greased and cleaned a bit of our side / sliding door, I used to have to 'wedge my fingers into the gap' on the left side Outside , while pulling 'Back' on the handle.

Remember - that handle is designed to "go both ways" ( no , not like that ), freeing the door from slamming shut while driving w/ it open. Only mentioned it so you are not pushing things in the wrong dir. ( don't ask... )
 
#18 ·
Jawon said:
Welded up the crack. All good. Cleaned and lubed up the latch assembly. Reinstalled. Sliding door isn't stuck closed anymore but it still has a couple issues, which has been around for awhile but since I have the door panel off I figured I should try to address these.

1. When opening the sliding door with the exterior handle, I need to stick one of my left fingers into the track and pull the door out. What do I need to adjust?

2. When closing the sliding door with the exterior handle, the locking cam on the bottom track stays locked so I have to use the interior handle to close the door. Again, what do I need to adjust?

FYI all rods and components appear to be in place. Just seems like something needs adjustment.
1. I've found lubrication is the key to being able to open the door externally without sticking a finger in the track. WD-40 works OK but only for a few days. Recently tried Fluid Film with good results. Spray the latches and the lower track, making sure the lower track is free of debris. Also suggest that if you need to assist the door opening, try pulling outward at the top rear of the door - less risk of getting fingers pinched.

2. Had this happen on both our 95 and 97. On the 95 I was able to access the rod for opening from the outside behind the door panel and bending it a little to shorten it. That worked great! On the 97 the door panel didn't want to cooperate so I put a split washer between the ball at the end of the cable and the locking cam, effectively shortening the cable. I don't like this method as well, but so far it has kept working. I suspect what happens is the cable stretches over time and the outside handle doesn't have enough travel to pull it far enough.
 
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