Sliding door stuck

Well, it never rains but it pours!! Now the brakes are working, my slidey door won't open
to be honest, it was another thing that wasn't great anyway as I could only open it from the inside - but now it's got stuck approx half an inch open (can't open it, can't shut it). I took the door card off last night and can't see anything untoward there, I suspect there's a problem with the mechanism where the handle is, but don't know how to get into this??
Can anyone throw anything into the pot that I can try as a novice, before having to pay someone to fix it for me :'(
Thanks again
xx

 

My door sometimes doesnt throw out when you operate the handle and i have to pull the rear outwards and then its ok. im guessing your problem is a little more than that, but im sure if it operates from the inside theres no reason for it not to operate from outside.

 

you have nothing to lose by getting some oil in the lock leaving it to soak in for a bit then agitate it also if you can get the card of you might be able to see whats going on then more oil from inside

 

possibly as the others have said, problem could be the rear is not popping out completely.

the cause maybe the mechanism at the rear of the door, or quite likely the nylon block or roller has come off the end of the hinge bracket causing it to jam in the upper runner.......or possibly the bottom roller jamming in the lower track.

have a look under the rear track cover with a torch and see if the guide is still there and on the track correctly

then have a look at the bottom front of the sliding door and see if the roller is still on the bracket in the lower track

there not that much of the mechanisms to see under the door cards other than cables, and it doesnt sound like the cables or the front mechanism is causing the problems

 

thanks for your replies guys - the van has been in the garage so not been able to look into this any further until now (brake overhaul, master cylinder, CV joints & corroded fuel lines all sorted now & £700 lighter in my wallet!!!)
I had hoped that the mechanic would look at the door for me, but he's got too much on until off-season...problem is, I'm driving a couple of friends to their wedding in it on Bank Hol weekend so I'm getting twitchy now that it won't be operational in time :/

I've WD40'd all the locks & moving parts behind the door card and nothing happens by pushing on the door either - it seems to be jammed fast which leads me to believe, as Diddymen posted, that a bit has dropped off inside. I will have a look at the bits suggested, although not sure where some of them are, or exactly what I'm looking for!!
So, if a bit has dropped off or jammed, how on earth do I get the door off to fix it???

Thanks in advance (and sorry for not posting for a while :'( )
S
x

 

just to recap, is your door still open slightly - not open/not closed?

if its slightly open then it is probably the rear hinge mechanism

have a look at the rear of the sliding door about half way up, you should see a large 'U' shaped part, follow this part towards the rear of the van and it dissapears under the cover below your rear side window. get a torch and look under the cover (sliding door track cover) below the window, you should see a metal roller which should be sitting on the edge of the track (if it is not that is your problem) behind this should be a nylon block which sits inside the track, if its dropped out or jammed in the track that will be the problem.

to get the door off you need to remove the track cover and slide the door back half way untill the nylon block lines up with the cutout in the track, then you can lift the back of the door out of the track, slide the door completley back, opent the door outwards so the bottom roller will come out of the bottom track....but you need to get the door to move first!

 

They get stuck in no man's land. Shoulder it shut at the rear and it should then open as normal.