[dbruno025]

Hello fellow Sienna owners. My 2004 Sienna LE has I problem I need to fix. The sliding door on the drive's side will not open. I tried all of the tips I could find here and on Youtube all to no avail. I pulled the inside handle cover back to reveal the latch mechanism and used a scewdriver to push the upper arm with the two cable in it forward as hard as I could but it still would not budge.
I managed to pull back the door card and all the cables look fine.
This is a problem that will cause the Sienna to fail our safety inspection here in MA and it is past due. I already got a warning from the State Police and have to fix it fast or junk an otherwise very nice vehicle.
Any chance it could be something to do with the switch behind the gas door?
Any help would be greatly appreciiated.

 

[bencahill]

I don't think it should be a gas door issue. The door should still open a few inches even with that stuck.

What does it feel like when you pull the outside or inside handles...do you feel pressure like it is still activating the mechanism, or does it feel loose and wobbly like it is totally disconnected?

Is this a manual or powered door? If powered, did you try turning the power door feature off? Also, if powered, does the motor make any noise when you press the open button?

 

[dbruno025]

Thanks so much for the quick reply. The handles (inside and out0 feel ok and I can see the mechanism move through the openig behind the plastic cover.
The door is manual on the drive's side.

 

[bencahill]

Does it open at all or is the back of the sliding door still flush with the rear quarter panel of the van?

Can you try leaning into the door from the outside, and then pulling the handle, to see if that helps? It may help to do this with two people, with the other person applying pressure to the back of the sliding door.

When was the last time this door worked? Did it just suddenly stop working, or has it not been used for a while?

Are you outside in a cold region? Any chance it is frozen?

 

[dbruno025]

Does it open at all or is the back of the sliding door still flush with the rear quarter panel of the van?

Can you try leaning into the door from the outside, and then pulling the handle, to see if that helps? It may help to do this with two people, with the other person applying pressure to the back of the sliding door.

When was the last time this door worked? Did it just suddenly stop working, or has it not been used for a while?

Are you outside in a cold region? Any chance it is frozen?

It does not open at all. still flush with the quarter panel.
I tried the lean on it idea. Unfortunately, this morning is about 20 F so, it may be frozen now. I'll try this again when it is above freezing.
It has been stuck for at least a year. It is cold in MA now, it did not work this autumn even in NC when I picked it up.
Thanks

 

[bencahill]

Thanks. I'm not super familiar with how the sliding door latch works, but I'm guessing there are two latches, front and back, and the back one is stuck. That would prevent the door from opening at all. Maybe someone else will chime in with more details.

If it were me, I would probably try this with three people:

Person A stands outside or inside (try both) and holds the handle in the open position
Persons B and C are inside and outside at the rear of the sliding door alternating pushing the door to see if it can be rocked loose.

 

[paul r]

2004 manual sliding door stuck closed

After trouble with opening both sliding doors all winter, suddenly neither one would open from outside, and the driver's side not at all. I started with the passenger side and it soon became apparent that there was an easy fix for its problem. I removed the cover around the inside door handle...

www.siennachat.com

This may help you

 

[thatguy427]

I would return to the latch mechanism on the inside of the door. I had that problem happen to me and that was the only way I got it to pop open. The metal that holds one of the cables bent a bit I had to pry it so hard. I have a recording I made at the junk yard that I broke down the entire working of the doors down. I wish I could post it. You need to pull on the three cables at the top side of the mechanism behind the inside door handle. It is probably the black cable that is stuck that leads to the latch at the bottom of the door. Again, pull the cables and mechanism toward the inside door handle.
Unfortunately I think I got a PhD in 2nd gen Sienna doors the last time I fixed my doors. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Good Luck!

 

[Flagpole]

I have a recording I made at the junk yard that I broke down the entire working of the doors down. I wish I could post it.
Good Luck!

You can post your recording on YouTube and post the link here if you want. I do this for other sites.

 

[trunkmonkey108]

If I can dredge through my memory banks I had a 2005 without power doors, same problem first one door then the other. Seemed like a major lawsuit waiting for Toyota when somebody burned to death after an accident and couldn't get out of the van... Anyway, after determining that the cables had stretched I believe I made some tiny wedges with a slot and pushed them into the side of the cable attachment point so that they would take up maybe an eighth inch of slack and that worked for quite a while. Eventually bought new mechanisms for both sides, almost $200 apiece, I could tell the new ones had some modifications from the originals but still waiting for the class action suit to reimburse me for time and $....not. Like ThatGuy I now have a PHD in those doors.

 

[trunkmonkey108]

Oh my, completely forgot how I took up the slack. Looked at some of the pix from the older posts and now remember that where the plastic cable housing ends go through their holes I pulled them out and carved a new groove closer to the ends and then snapped them at the new grooves. This effectively took up a bit of slack and was what worked for me. Did this with all 3 of the cables I believe.