Chrysler Repair: 01 T&C Rear driver side sliding door wont open, sliding door latch, mechanical linkage

Question
The rear sliding door on the driver's side won't open.  This is the same side as the gas tank door -- we read in the manual that the door won't open if the fuel tank door is open -- could this somehow be misfunctioning and not letting us open the door at all?

Answer
Hi Ray,
I am at a disadvantage in that my most recent minivan manual is a '98. In that manual there are a couple of pages that show a mechanical linkage between the filler door and the rear sliding door latch which would accomplish what you describe. If this is still the design in '01 then the best thing I can do is xerox copy and postal mail you the pages that show how the system is serviced. On the other hand, if you have a power door system then I would suspect that the interlock is electrical in nature, and my manual shows nothing about that. So if you would like the pages on the mechanical interlock use the "thank and rate" tab where there is a space for you to put in a postal mailing address.
Roland