Running out of happy feels for my 2006 GC and 2009 T&C. Spent $300 on the latter today for fixing a bad Chrysler engineering decision. (Planned obsolescence, I'm sure.) But I'm here for the GC.

The driver side sliding door is stuck shut. The lock on the door is stuck in the locked position; I was unable to pull it up to unlock it. Googled the problem, watched some youtube videos, and my amateur diagnosis was a bad lock actuator.

I removed the door panel and peeled back the moisture shield. Disconnected the rod from the actuator. Tried the fob unlock button to see if the actuator responded; it did not. Found the T15 screw holding the actuator to the frame and removed the actuator. Got the Dorman replacement and, before mounting it to the door frame, I plugged in the power, and the new actuator responds positively to the key fob lock and unlock buttons.

Before I mount the new actuator, I want to manually open the door to make sure the lock on the latch wasn't stuck, for fear of ruining the new actuator. There are two spring loaded cables mounted next to the actuator, so I tried playing with those, but this had no effect on opening the door. I am cognizant of the gas door interlock, but am unsure how to check this with the sliding door stuck shut. Given that I was unable to manually pull up the lock button, I doubt that the gas door interlock is the issue here. But I am trying to look at all of the possibilities.

Ideas appreciated!

 

Solved the problem. Went ahead and mounted the actuator, and all is well. The lever on the old actuator was stuck in the locked position, and I presume that is why I was unable to manually unlock the door.