R36 Wagon - Driver side rear door exterior handle wont open door.

[RedDiablo]

Hi Guys,

The other day I discovered that the driver side rear door exterior handle wont open the door.

The car is unlocked and the door can be opened via the interior handle.

Before I dive in and start pulling the door apart I thought I'd ask and see if anyone has experienced this issue?

Regards,

Red D.

[Vr32wa]

I did and had to replace the lock assembly, only thing is mine wouldn't open from the inside either intermittently so yours may just be the handle (hopefully)


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[mercury260]

I noticed the other day when I was trying put on the child lock on the door that there is another lock that looks similar to the child lock. It is located underneath a rubber grommet that has a padlock symbol on it. When I turned it it seemed to lock the outside handle but leave the inside active. Any chance you can play with this and see if it makes a difference?

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[RedDiablo]

Just a quick update to say that the problem is intermittent and I'm pretty sure that it is an electrical issue.
Some times it will open and some times it won't.
Today I unplugged the door connector and inspected the wires after viewing a Youtube video where a couple of wires had broken on an earlier modem Passat. I thought it highly unlikely as the rear doors are not used very often. Nothing observed with mine but I gave the contacts a spray with electrical contact cleaner.
No improvement. I locked/unlocked a couple of times successfully and then it wouldn't open again.
Reached around and opened using the inside handle.

You can feel the difference when you hold the door handle. Definitely a stronger unlatching feel when it is working correctly.

To be continued.......

[kamold]

These are a common failure in the golf I assume the lock mechanism is similar if not the same in the Passat. You can buy them reasonably priced from the UK. Replace it before it completely fails as it's a big job if it's stuck closed.

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