So the rear passenger door hasn't opened from the external handle after unlocking since I got the car. I had seen the repair vids and tried clearing out the contacts and motors as it looked filthy. Following that had a couple of times when it opened and a couple where it opened on the second attempt and then back to not working.

Opening from the inside and the external handle would work fine so looked like the deadlock not releasing.

Got a new replacement lock and still having issues. You can hear and feel the motor activating when you activate the fob. Checked the continuity from the latch to the control unit and the wiring all looks good.

Noticed if I pull the external handle 3 times it will release the deadlock and this seem to be a consistent behaviour.

Anyone know if the external handles or the cables have issues or prone to stretching that would mean they don’t have the force to release the lock from the deadlock state?

Electrical continuity may seem to be fine, but it often happens that the insulation of the cables inside the corrugated rubber bellows between door and frame is cracked, allowing the circuit to short out erratically. They need a visual inspection, not just an electrical test, including the drivers door which is the master that controls all the others.

The door control unit is fixed to the door behind the door card. It looks like the wiring from lock to control unit is local to the door. The wiring diagram I have found doesn't show any connections other than control unit to lock unit.

Ill take a look and chase the wiring back as it cant hurt.

Just to add there are no codes logged for doors when checking VCDS

Edited April 26Apr 26 by MWilliams