My 2016 Caravan divers sliding door will not open. Electronic lock only, no power window no power open. The door will not open manually or with the push button. Other doors work fine. I have the trim panel off but can’t get 2 remaining bolts off, they are at the back end of the door and up against the body. To access them the door needs to be open, then you have 2 inches to access them.
All the Youtubes have the door open to access the actuator. I did replace the actuator on the passenger side about a year ago, but the door worked manually.
Any one have ideas on how to get the door open?
This failure seems to be happening a lot with this vintage van, dealers charge $800 + to fix it.
Someone at the minivan forum at allpar.com might have answers.
One of the few dealer repairs I had to have on one of my Chrysler minivans was a sliding door problem. A few hundred dollars, IIRC. Good luck!
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I made some calls to a couple Dodge dealers near me in New Jersey. That $800 is close to what they charge also. You might try checking with a couple body shops. If you get one that’s not busy, they may be a few bucks less
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this might be a dumb question but did you check all the fuses and relays first? also if the child safety lock is on the door wont open from the back just the drives master switch. it could just be a problem with the master switch not working for that door with the child safety lock on. just a thought. good luck
All fuses good, all other doors working. If the child latch was bumped I can’t open the door to move it. I have the trim off and trying to reach in, but no luck. Looking like a trip to the local body shop Monday AM.
And to boot I dropped a cheap magnetic flashlight in the door well, can’t pull it out. ggrrr
I’ve never dropped or misplaced a cheap magnetic flashlight. I only lose the $90 ones I buy from the Snap-On dealer.
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$701.00 later and the door is fixed by the dealer. On Monday I went to my local body shop and before I could finish my tale of woe he was shaking his head no and said the dealer is the only place to go. I called the dealer and they had time so I dropped it off Monday lunch time and it was done Today Tuesday am. Most of the charge is labor. I could get the actuator for $25, they charged $148, but that is how it is.
I had thought about pulling the trim on the rear quarter panel and drilling through the body to access the 2 bolts. I quickly let that thought pass. No way was I going to be lucky enough to have a clean hole big enough for the socket to go through. Especially on the first try, I would have ended up hogging a nasty hole.
I just got a letter from FCA Chrysler extending the warranty on 2016 Caravans sliding door actuators to 15 years / 150,000 miles. If repairs were already done they have a reimbursement program. So I just copied my receipt from the dealer and sent it to FCA. I am pretty happy about that.
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Happy to hear your good news even if it took a long time.
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