2000 Astro Back Door issue..

[Ms Grumpy]

I have owned my Astro for 9 years and we love this van. In the past few years we have had problems with the back door locking mechanism. We now it is totally broken. I turn the key to lock, and have no tension or "click", same goes when I try to unlock.

With these vans there is no handle on the inside of the door, and I have tried to take off the inside panels. But I am pretty sure that they are not panels, just the cloth glued to the door.

Anyway, I am looking for any suggestions on what to do to fix this problem. I went to my friends body shop today and asked him what it would cost for him to fix it. He told me that in the past when they have seen vans with this problem, they have broken the trim to get into the door and that the cost could be over $400.00 for his shop to fix it.

HELP !!!!