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Unveiled at the 2000 North American International Auto Show on January 10, 2000, the redesigned 2001 Dodge Caravan and 2001 Chrysler Town & Country were released for sale in August 2000.

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rear door will unlock but not go up by itself

my rear door on my 2003 grand caravan sport van will unlock but will not open by itself as it used to.how do i locate the problem?

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Think about it one step at a time. Observe everything that's happening. Try to answer these questions to locate the problem.

When you push the button, do you hear any sounds from near the door? If you pull the door open a bit when you push the button, does it go up? If you open the door fully, and push the button to close it, does it close? Inside one of the door frames there is a motor and an actuator of some kind. Does the door stay open if you open it? If you don't hear any noise when the button is pressed, perhaps the motor isn't getting power. Check your fuses. If you hear noise, but the door doesn't move, perhaps the actuator is broken. If the door opens when you pull it up a bit, perhaps there's a gear in there that is missing some teeth.

Trying these things will help diagnose the problem as a technician would at the repair shop. Once you have an idea of the problem, you can proceed to take apart the vehicle to confirm your idea. Then you can fix the problem.

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+ sounds like a chess player to me ;-)

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There is one piece missing to the above answer, and it happened to me although on a different vehicle. There are two gas assist struts for operation of the door in addition to the power lift arm. If even one of these assist struts fails, it will cause the motor to labor excessively, causing heat and blowing the fuse. Remember, if a fuse blows, it's for a reason and replacing it will not solve the problem for long. So the problem is likely a compound one.

My suggestion is to remove the lift assist struts one at a time while bracing the door up with a 2x4 or a broom handle or something. If you remove the good one, it will come down on you. If you remove the bad one, it will stay up. You will know it is a bad strut if it does not extend when you remove it from the door. There may even be evidence of failure such as dust collected on the failed strut from leaking oil. Or an oily coating.

In any event, after you find the failed strut replace it, then replace your fuse and you should be back in the business of opening up the rear hatch with the touch of a button.

OR, then there is this...

Good Luck, let us know.

Frank

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+ good thinkin'

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Just replacing one strut will not keep the door up. Always replace them in pairs, just like headlights. Also, the bad one will still be extended when you take it off, so you cant diagnose using that method.

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I have a similar problem but the door will not open at all even when I use the handle. It won't move an inch. Any insight as to what the issue is

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Dealer wanted to replace the latch assembly, a $400 part, but I know that is not the problem. The door does not open far enough by itself to clear the latch mechanism unless I open and close it manually several times. Then releasing it with the key it will spring open a couple of inches. Then it will work properly under power for the day. It appears there is nothing to start the door opening other than the struts. Replacing the struts seems to fix the problem for several months, to a year. Then the problem comes back. So the aftermarket struts do not seem to have the same fully closed force as the originals.

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stan will be eternally grateful.
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