Chrysler Repair: 1994 plymouth voyager air distribution/sliding door, windshield wiper arms, plymouth voyager

Question
our minivan has 140k miles, new transmission and works relatively well. our heat/air does not work, there is a plug (something) blocking the flow so we get nothing from the vents. is this worth fixing and what would be a good quote? also, the sliding passenger door does not shut. something is wrong (i believe)with the hinge. i hate to take it to a dealer as the cost would be high. any suggestions? i am hoping perhaps i can fix it myself with some guidance? do these problems seem to significant for the van? should i just start looking for another one? it is paid off.
thanks!

Answer
Hi Lisa,
I am surprised that no air at all comes from the vents. I assume the blower will work?  There is no normal setting of the distribution doors that will stop all air, as far as I know. So see if you can determine any other reason/and positioning of the levers that allows some air to be distributed. Maybe there are leaves blocking the air intake at the base of the windshield? Remove the windshield wiper arms and the screws holding the cover plate for the cowl to get a look at the air intake over on the passenger side.
There are about four pages from the '93 manual I have that shows how to remove various aspects of the sliding door. I can xerox copy and postal mail these to you and then you can give it a try. Use the "thank and rate" tab to enter your mailing address in the comments area. I will be able to do that task in the latter half of next week.
The heater door actuators can be checked by going under the dash, but getting inside the heater air handling duct system may require removal of the whole unit so it would be worthwhile trying to narrow down the cause of your air handling problem. I hope you can repair these items to your satisfaction rather than giving up. That is why I do this sort of advising.
Roland