Chrysler Repair: Electrical Issues, clock spring, electrical issues

Question
I have two things happening with my 2001 Town and Country Limited 3.8L.  

First, the steering wheel controls on the back side of the wheel that control the radio have quit working (happened about a week ago).  The cruise control functions on the front of the wheel work fine.

Secondly, the button that controls the sliding doors on the side of the van (not the overhead mounted buttons) are not working as of today.

My question is, is there a way for me to check to see what is wrong without extensive work such as removing panels and such.  I have a warranty and if it's going to be more than $100 worth of work I will just let the dealer fix it.  Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Travis,
Unfortunately I don't have a shop manual for the post-2000 vans, so I am totally in the dark about how those two systems are wired and powered. It is always a good approach to check the fuses for those systems if your owner's manual might list them specifically.
I have some general ideas:
Any contols that are on the steering wheel are dependent on flexible wires arranged like a clock spring (and is so-called the clockspring unit) which are subject to breakage OR you might look at the wires that pass into and out of the steering column near its base (in the cabin) which might have been dislodged from a junction block where they connect to other wires that go to the radio. Your shoe might have gotten caught on a wire and disconnected from the junction socket.
I have no knowledge about the sliding door's wiring. If the door still operates with an alternative control button then the fuse/circuit breaker is o.k., and the wiring of the dead switch is probably the fault.
Roland