How do i find info on a service bulletin?

[heatherlb]

Hi, I just posted about a problem I'm having with my 02 Grand Caravan. I've found that there are two service bulletins pertaining exactly to my problem, but I've called the local dealer and they won't look it up for me, they want me to bring it in for a $130 diagnostic. How do I find what info is in this service bulletin? These are what I've found:

TSB #02018 -- POWER SLIDING DOOR AND/OR POWER LIFTGATE WILL POP OFF BUT NOT POWER OPEN. *TT (NHTSA ID #10000327, OCTOBER 09 2002)



TSB #2300403 -- POWER SLIDING DOOR AND / OR POWER LIFTGATE WILL POP OFF BUT NOT POWER OPEN. *TT (NHTSA ID #10000869, JANUARY 31 2003

Thanks!
Heather

[Rick99]

The bulletins are available on alldata.com-- you can subscribe for your vehicle for $25 a year. I read these bulletins when I had the problem with my door. There are rubber bumpers on the power liftgate door frame that are compressed when the door is closed. When the door "pops" before opening, these bumpers provide the bounce for the pop. The theory of the TSB is that after a time, the bumpers don't provide enough bounce to pop the door and allow it to open. The fix is to install some shims under the bumpers to squeeze them up against the door a little more so they give enough bounce.

If you want to experiment with that theory, just make some cardboard shims and put them under the bumpers to see if that helps. If it does, you can either order the shims from the stealer or make some out of something more permanent that you have around the house.

I posted on your other thread what I think your problem is, but hey, you could give this a shot.

[heatherlb]

Thank you for both your responses. I got ahold of a second dealer who was friendly enough to look up a service bulletin for me and said that the bulletin said that the computer needs to be reprogrammed w/ a software update. I'm thinking this MIGHT be possible since the door and hatch seem to have problems together. If it was a shim or a latch problem, I would expect them to have problems seperately. When they work, they both work. But when one doesn't, the other doesn't. Any thoughts on that?

Also, I guess I didn't remember correctly about what the overhead buttons were doing. They are working fine open/close with the driver door which has no problems, but doing the same pop/not slide with the other two. So apparantly the overhead thing doesn't haev a problem of its own.

Thanks again for your help, I defintiely appreciate it!
Heather

[TomQuick]

You need to avoid the dealership that wanted to charge you a diagnostic fee too. I called a local dealership looking for info on the clock spring tsb for my 97 caravan. They took my vin over the phone, told me that there were three outstanding recalls on my van, got the parts and performed all three for me with no hassles, no bs about diagnostics, no charge.