406oc.co.uk

The passenger side rear door handle on my estate has not opened from the outside or inside for a number of months.

My dad borrowed the car for some estate car duties and when I got it back I walked up to the door in question forgetting about its fault and it opened. While opened I sprayed copious amounts of WD40 in, opened and closed it with a screwdriver imitating the striker plate and it worked.

However, I when I closed the door, locked the car and unlocked it the door will not open again. I can hear the solenoid in the door do its thing as the signal comes from the key, and the internal lock snib moves but the door will not open from either the inside or outside.

Is there any reason why this would happen? If I could get the door opened again I would remove the panel and change the mechanism. I'd rather this than have to pry the door card off while the door is closed.

I've had this on some of my estates - always the rear drivers side in my case...
Try walloping the door near the solenoid whilst using the remote to see if it frees it up.
It's possible to remove the rear door card when the door is closed, you can fold the rear seats down to get to the fixings - I think... ( I remember thinking I was glad mine was an estate as the seats would fold, when I removed the door card... )

I had exactly the same problem with my drivers rear door on my estate some months ago,i wish i had changed the door lock mechanism when it was just "playing up" and openong on occasions but it failed shut totally in the end.The door card was reasonably easy to remove with the seat base removed with the door shut,however removing the lock mechanism was a totally different kettle of fish.It was deadlocked and no amount of pulling the levers and rods would open it,in the end i cut the actuating rods with a junior hacksaw,removed the exterior door handle and then had to completely destroy the door lock mechanism with a hammer and and long chisel to get to door relaese lever to open the door.I found a used lock mechanism on ebay but made sure it worked before i fitted it!
I joined the rods back together with a couple of those "chocolate block" electrical connectors with the plastic outer cut off and it's worked fine for a few months now.Make sure you reseal the inner splash membrane to the inner door skin thoroughly though or you'll get water in your footwell