97 Astro Rear hatch problems

I would say that is bad news. Did the upper door fall and hit the bottom ones?

Are the hinges bent? That is visible from outside. You may have to get the pins driven out of the hinges and and then get them bent back into position.

To get the door to swing you might be able to use a crow bar. Put a flat board under it so it doesn't bend something else.

No, she said that she was able to open the hatch fine at the store. She opened the right-side barn door and rested the bottom of the hatch door on the top of the barn door so she could scoot some packages inside. Then she raised the hatch a few inches, closed the barn door, then closed the hatch just like she always does. When she got home, she couldn't get the left side to open.

There is nothing visible from outside that looks amiss. I think that the door latch on the left side is stuck or busted somehow. The question is how to free it so I can get the door open so I can work on the latch.

Hmmm.

By parking the van such that the right-rear tire was in a ditch, I slightly torqued the chassis and was able to get the door pushed left far enough to clear the obstruction that kept the right side from closing. The door is now closed. The pin in the door that engages in the latch mechanism is stuck fast in the mechanism; that is what is not releasing when we "pop the hatch." At this point, freeing the latch mechanism is my main concern.

Karl

This happened to me to. The shocks are expensive and I haven't figured out how to make the cheaper ones work yet As for the upper door, my right side is now bent out a bit. If you can get the trim panel off the upper door from the inside you can release the latch by hand. The most likelly problem is the connecting rod that goes from the actuator to the latch on the side has slipped out of the cam on the actuator. This seems to be due to wear on the plastic retainer that holds it in place. I plan on using some stainless steel tie wire and very neatly tying the rod to the cam, making sure that everything will still move like it should. My rambling is now done. let me know what happens.

Good Luck

Gus

Are you saying that after-market shocks that cost about USD$35 each are expensive, or that the Chevy brand ones are expensive and you haven't figured out how to make the USD$35 after-market ones work?

I'll look at that. Thanks for the tip.

Karl

I had the same problem.

I removed the inside hatch panel (some prying and cracking resulted because it is closed) The linkage had come out of the actuator, probably because the hatch was closed hard because you lack the shocks. New linkage retainers are required.

I have a 95 so the actuator is electric. I find that it sometimes take 3 times before the one side finally unlatches. It is also the left side I have have problems with.

Richard