92 AstroVan rear doors stuck shut

[Cat Kahuna]

Here's one for the body people.
I have a 92 Chevy Astro Van. The rear doors recently decided that I no
longer need to open them and they feel almost like they're locked shut.
They aren't locked and the lock mechanism feels like it's working, but
the doors just won't open. For about 2 weeks before this, I noticed I
had to push on the doors right by the latch to get them to release when
I pulled the handle. Akward to say the least. Now they don't open no
matter how creative I get. And yes, they're unlocked. ;)

My manual for the van (Clymers I think) says to fix the latch I need to
first open the doors to access the latch screws. How exactly do I get
these back doors open to do that?

I'd guess pry off the inner panels somehow to access the mechanism from
inside, but I'd like to know if that's the right thing to do before I do
something stupid and wreck the panels. Then I'd have rear barn doors
that won't open AND have ripped up inner panels. ;)

Cheers

[dzlman95]

Post by Cat Kahuna
Here's one for the body people.
I have a 92 Chevy Astro Van. The rear doors recently decided that I no
longer need to open them and they feel almost like they're locked shut.
They aren't locked and the lock mechanism feels like it's working, but the
doors just won't open. For about 2 weeks before this, I noticed I had to
push on the doors right by the latch to get them to release when I pulled
the handle. Akward to say the least. Now they don't open no matter how
creative I get. And yes, they're unlocked. ;)
My manual for the van (Clymers I think) says to fix the latch I need to
first open the doors to access the latch screws. How exactly do I get
these back doors open to do that?
I'd guess pry off the inner panels somehow to access the mechanism from
inside, but I'd like to know if that's the right thing to do before I do
something stupid and wreck the panels. Then I'd have rear barn doors that
won't open AND have ripped up inner panels. ;)
Cheers

Cat,

I am not a body & fender guy, but I can tell you what happened to my '91
Astro Van... The plastic part that connects the door handle to the latch
broke... same thing, couldn't open the rear doors from the outside, no
handle inside... The Tech at the dealership climbed in the back and popped
the speaker grille off, removed speaker, then reached inside the rear door
and tripped the latch with his hand... of course once they got the door
open, they could easily disassemble it the rest of the way to replace the
broken linkage... Hope this helps and works for you.

Good Luck

[mudmonkey]

Post by dzlman95

Post by Cat Kahuna
Here's one for the body people.
I have a 92 Chevy Astro Van. The rear doors recently decided that I no
longer need to open them and they feel almost like they're locked shut.
They aren't locked and the lock mechanism feels like it's working, but the
doors just won't open. For about 2 weeks before this, I noticed I had to
push on the doors right by the latch to get them to release when I pulled
the handle. Akward to say the least. Now they don't open no matter how
creative I get. And yes, they're unlocked. ;)
My manual for the van (Clymers I think) says to fix the latch I need to
first open the doors to access the latch screws. How exactly do I get
these back doors open to do that?
I'd guess pry off the inner panels somehow to access the mechanism from
inside, but I'd like to know if that's the right thing to do before I do
something stupid and wreck the panels. Then I'd have rear barn doors that
won't open AND have ripped up inner panels. ;)
Cheers

Cat,
I am not a body & fender guy, but I can tell you what happened to my '91
Astro Van... The plastic part that connects the door handle to the latch
broke... same thing, couldn't open the rear doors from the outside, no
handle inside... The Tech at the dealership climbed in the back and popped
the speaker grille off, removed speaker, then reached inside the rear door
and tripped the latch with his hand... of course once they got the door
open, they could easily disassemble it the rest of the way to replace the
broken linkage... Hope this helps and works for you.
Good Luck- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

once its open make sure the connectin rods are still on the latch, i
used some apoxy to fix it on m;y burb( temp ) now lookin for a real
fix

[Cat Kahuna]

Post by mudmonkey

Post by dzlman95

Post by Cat Kahuna
Here's one for the body people.
I have a 92 Chevy Astro Van. The rear doors recently decided that I no
longer need to open them and they feel almost like they're locked shut.
They aren't locked and the lock mechanism feels like it's working, but the
doors just won't open. For about 2 weeks before this, I noticed I had to
push on the doors right by the latch to get them to release when I pulled
the handle. Akward to say the least. Now they don't open no matter how
creative I get. And yes, they're unlocked. ;)
My manual for the van (Clymers I think) says to fix the latch I need to
first open the doors to access the latch screws. How exactly do I get
these back doors open to do that?
I'd guess pry off the inner panels somehow to access the mechanism from
inside, but I'd like to know if that's the right thing to do before I do
something stupid and wreck the panels. Then I'd have rear barn doors that
won't open AND have ripped up inner panels. ;)
Cheers

Cat,
I am not a body & fender guy, but I can tell you what happened to my '91
Astro Van... The plastic part that connects the door handle to the latch
broke... same thing, couldn't open the rear doors from the outside, no
handle inside... The Tech at the dealership climbed in the back and popped
the speaker grille off, removed speaker, then reached inside the rear door
and tripped the latch with his hand... of course once they got the door
open, they could easily disassemble it the rest of the way to replace the
broken linkage... Hope this helps and works for you.
Good Luck- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

once its open make sure the connectin rods are still on the latch, i
used some apoxy to fix it on m;y burb( temp ) now lookin for a real
fix

Thanks folks, just what I was looking for.

Cheers

[Lisa McIntosh]

replying to dzlman95, Lisa McIntosh wrote:
We cannot get the rivots off the speaker to fix the inside barn door handle.
Husband was going to rig it while the one I ordered ships. It's my work van
need to load 2000lbs boxes back there for my deliveries and no way with left
/driverside back door broke. Each box is 40 to 60lbs. He said if he messes up
the rivots my speaker wont go back in right. I dont want him to mess up my
interior. How'd you get the speaker back in? TIA Lisa

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