Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'90 Plymouth Voyager, Sliding Door Won't Open
Q:
My '90 Plymouth Voyager sliding door is closed and it will not open. The
back portion of the door will not pop out when I try to unlock it. With
the door sealed tight, how can I get the door panel off to try and see
what is causing the problem?
- John W.
A:
Getting the door panel
off is a bit of work. But you should know that it is designed to be removed
with the door in the closed position. To make getting to the side door
panel easier I suggest going in through the back hatch and remove both
rear seats, which will give you some room to move. As you inspect the
door trim you'll see the screws and plastic clips that hold the upper
arm cover and trim panel. If you're mechanically inclined you'll catch
right on to removing these parts. The challenge comes in when you start
to remove the lower trim panel. This panel is held on with clips that
are called frog legs. Getting these frog leg clips to unlock can be a
test but you must use care. Plastic gets brittle with age, not to mention
the cold. If you pull too hard on the door the frog leg clips will stay
in place with part of the door panel still attached and the other part
in your hands. There are 5 of these little buggers and they work really
good at holding the trim on. Once you're done fighting the trim panel
you'll find that there is an inner panel cover that will expose the linkage
to the rear latch. The linkage will be unhooked or the rear latch will
be rusted from lack of maintenance. Once repaired, reverse the frustration
to assemble. After that take the rest of the weekend off.
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