01 Olds Silouette passenger slider
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Bought a nice little van at the action, but the right power sliding door is stuck shut. Got the panel off to look, and it turns out the front latch mechanism is bad. I can reach the release but seems to be broke and won’t open the claws. There is nothing wrong with the door itself, or I’d just cut the skin off. Any ideas, short off cutting the skin?
not to be a smart a$$ but some of those power sliders are connected to the fuel door. there is a cable that keeps the door from opening when the fuel door is open. maybe there is something wrong with that. usually if you can get at it from the inside they will open. try soaking it with some wd40. maybe its just corroded some
You are right, Ding, I never thought of the fuel door possibly being the problem. It is not open, but could possibly be causing a problem with a bad cable or something. I knew the door didn’t work when I bought it, but could tell someone had tried to get it apart to look. They must have gave up and dumped it at the auction, LOL!
hehehehee i own a sillohette that i clipped yrs back an the only door thats left that still works is the drivers door:blush: :blush: :blush:
the latch if im not mistakin is in the back of the door not in the front by the handle thats just a pin that it sldes into unlatch the back an she will open
Jeez i just cant recall the guts of these doors. Maybe unhook all rods-cables from the latch and work it because one slightly tweaked lock rod can frig a door from opening, but im sure you know the obvious fiddling. Does the power open actuator work? I think theres a safety switch that will only allow the door to open if van is in park. Unplug everything and put 12 volts to it. If it still wont open the child lock may be in middle swing requiring a lucky stroke of the ole coat hanger. If it still wont open knock $100 off the price and sell her as a three door before you go mid evil on it.:) Keep us posted because i wont sleep right until i know what the hell is keeping that bitch shut because its unusual that a fella cant get a door latch undone even when smashed big time. Sorry for rambling and i probably am far from sensible at 12:39am on my weeks end but i wish i was there to mess with it. Also theres a gay procedure to reset the door after ya dick with em.
Thanks guys. I’m getting ready to go in and tackle this thing again. It’s about 15 degrees out, though, so I’m not real excited.
I have most of the guts out of the door and can push on the release on the claw latch. It’s on of those freakin plastic coated GM latches and I think the plastic is bound up in it. I have to say they are on my list of very stupid designs. I have a couple ideas yet to try. If you see a black van driving around with a big blue tarp taped to the side of it, you’ll know the saws-all idea worked, LOL!
I have cut door sticker/pins off before , with a sawzall , worked pretty good if you can keep from hackin something else up B)
not sure if thats possible here though :unsure:
Ya, honestly Stone, I thought I would just do that and be done in about 20 minutes. Wrong,LOL! This thing is buried in the jamb. I really think I may have to cut an access door in the skin, and I really hate to do that. I’m out there jackin around with it now. Now I know why I got it so cheap,LOL!
I’m not overly familiar with these things myself, I tried to search out some info for ya. Some people have had the same problem and said that disconnecting the battery would take the lock off of the latch and you can open the door manually. Don’t know if this applies to your situation but thought I’d toss it out their.
did you have any luck. i know it wasnt the fuel door cause that seems to be on the drivers side:blush: . i checked em out today. they a latch in the front and back. might be a 2 person job to get em both to open. but it did seem like a fairly simple task. of course i’m sure if it was easy we wouldnt be having this conversation
Well guys I got the door figured out. I feel like an idiot, but none the less, at least the door is off the van, temporarily.
As it turns out, the latch was bad, but it was actually stuck in the “open” position. That is why it made no clicking sound, or had any tension on the lever, when I pushed down on it. The next thing I thought of was grabbing one of those inflatable bags you use for those lockout kits, to see if maybe I can gently put some pressure on it. When I wiped the dirt off the bottom of the door before sticking the bag in the gap, I noticed something odd. There were little bumps on the bottom of the door, and looked like someone tried to touch it up. You really wouldn’t notice unless you were looking for it. Want to guess what it was? Some num-nut tack welded the bottom of the door to the rocker panel. That also helps explain that horrible power motor cable grinding sound.
You know, I’ve been a dealer and went to auctions for a long time, and thought I knew every trick in the book to get one through the auction. I was wrong. I forgot “weld the freakin door shut so you don’t have to buy a latch”, LOL!
Anyway, I appreciate the help. I wish someone would have said “the first thing I do is check to make sure the door isn’t welded shut”, LOL!
Jim
man and that was the first thing i thought of too :whistle: but then i said “hey, no one would weld the bottom of the door shut”:huh: wonder if that was a car bondo worked on:laugh:
It really never dawned on me. The thing is pretty nice low mile with leather, and I would have never guessed someone would mess it up like that. Have to give the guy credit though, he was a helluva welder, you could barely see them. I should have caught it sooner, but in my own defense, I’ve got a horrible cold, and spent most of the week in a Nyquil stupor, LOL!
Those latches were recalled for doors opening on the highway, maybe you can get a free one.
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