kevin_standlee

The rear door of my Astro van has one outside latch on the right side of the split door, and a second latch on the left side, with the left door latch located "inside" — that is, you can only open it once you've opened the right door. That left inside latch has been troublesome for some time now, and during the last stay in Fernley, it broke completely. Fortunately, we can still open the right side of the door and there was nothing inside that couldn't come out either the rear or sliding side door. Lisa examined the handle, consulted the shop manuals, and said that she could fix it if we had the part. But describing the part in a way that I could order it was difficult; besides, most of what was online seemed to be imitations of the GM part, and I'd rather stick with GM parts if I can. (After all, while this handle did break, it had lasted 22 years.) So today on the way to the office, I stopped off at a GM dealership and ordered a replacement handle. They didn't have one that old in stock, but they can have a new one sometime tomorrow, they tell me. We'll work on fixing the handle while I'm in Fernley over Christmas.