"The jam nut that holds the cable in position for the rear latch (yes, 
     there are two latches on the door) has probably come loose.  My '83 
     does it all the time."
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     
       Have you tried using a thread locking compound (like one of the 
     Loc-Tite products) to keep the nut from vibrating loose.  We use these 
     compounds on equipment that works 24hrs a day, 7 days a week to keep 
     things from loosening  I can make a recommendation of one of these 
     products that you can find at most automotive or hardware stores if 
     you tell me what the two pieces are made of that are to be lock 
     together (i.e. Steel vs. Aluminum vs. plastic).
     
     Regards,
     
     Vince
     '84 GL Westy
     '90 Mit. Eclipse GSX

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: RE: Stuck Sliding Door
Author:  Non-HP-vanagon (vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu) at HP-Corvallis,shargw1
Date:    12/18/96 5:54 PM

Tim,
     
The jam nut that holds the cable in position for the rear latch (yes, there 
are two latches on the door) has probably come loose.  My '83 does it all 
the time.  To fix, remove the upolstery from the inside of the door and 
tighten up the nut on the cable housing.  Then it will open.
     
Good luck.  It IS an easy fix...
     
Jim
     
>Yup, the sliding door on my '84 vanagon is stuck.  I tried to open it from 
>the outside, and the handle felt and sounded like I disengaged the door 
>mechanism (ya know what I mean, the sound and feel it makes when you open 
>the door).  However, the door didn't open at all.  Simillarly, the inside 
>handle has no tension on it, as if the door opening mechanism was stuck.